A SPRAY THAT KEEPS MOSQUITOES AT BAY
PRAYAGRAJ: An atomiser spray which is actually a mosquito repellent?
A few sprays of this ‘magic’ liquid on your clothes and not only do you keep mosquitoes at an arm’s length but you also manage to keep diseases like dengue, Japanese Encephalitis and malaria at bay. It has been developed at a cost of just₹ 40 for a 100 ml bottle. The best part of it is that you can wash your clothes more than 15 times and the repelling qualities of the spray will remain!
Shivani Srivastava, a researcher of Allahabad University’s home science department has come up with this formulation under the supervision of prof Sangita Srivastava, a professor of AU, presently serving as vice-chancellor of Prof Rajendra Singh (Rajju Bhaiya) University, Prayagraj.
The liquid has been prepared using extracts of a combination of essential oils of two aromatic plants easily available in the country, and therefore, quite affordable, said Shivani, who has recently submitted her doctoral thesis and taken her viva-voce examination.
Interestingly, there is no possibility of the mosquitoes developing a resistance to this spray repellent, as that is seen only in chemical-based repellents, Shivani claimed. Mosquitoes are unable to overcome the effectiveness of repellents made from aromatic plants and extracts.
The 30-year-old researcher who has also done her BSc and MSc (Textile and Apparel designing) from AU, said that it took her three years of research to come up with the perfect combination of ingredients for the mosquito repelling liquid and findings of whose effectiveness have been published in a number of reputed research journals with the latest being the ‘International Journal of Family and Home Science’. “We decided to come up with an eco-friendly, side-effects free and affordable mosquito repellent liquid that could turn our clothes as mosquito repellents,” Shivani said. “The liquid comes in a spray and one needs to just spray the liquid on the clothes for long-lasting effect. It’s completely safe and drives mosquitoes away. The liquid has been tested on different fabrics i and even after 15 to 20 washes it maintains its repelling qualities,” she said.