Bug spray efficacy
This article was originally published in The Rose Sheet
Executive Summary
Avon Skin-So-Soft Bug Guard Plus deterred mosquitoes for only one hour and ticks for four hours in study published in Consumer Reports May issue. In testing effectiveness of nine mosquito repellents, Skin-So-Soft, with 7.5% active ingredient IR3535 came in last. 3M Ultrathon (33% DEET) and Off! Deep Woods for Sportsmen (100% DEET) ranked at the top of the list, with 13 hours of effective mosquito repellency. Study included three testers who exposed repellent-treated arms to 200 mosquitoes for 3 minutes. Number of biting insects was counted and process was repeated every half-hour until "at least one mosquito bit during two successive exposures." Testing for repellency of ticks was treated in similar fashion...