iCHAPTER I: THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

This chapter includes background of the study, significance of the study, statement of the problem,

scope and limitation and assumption of the study.

1.1 Background of the Study

The purpose of this study is to develop a new beneficial purpose of scented candles. Nowadays dengue

fever has always been such a big matter in our country, though mosquito repellent already exist

most of it is not safe when exceedingly inhaled and have an unpleasant smell , this leads

researchers to conduct a study that innovates scented candles into mosquito repellent scented

candle with the use of citronella oil produced by lemon grass. Lemongrass contains citronella oil

and musk scents that attract mosquitoes such as carbon dioxide and lactic acid found in humans.

In other words, by applying and spraying repellent with citronella oil ingredients, it blocks the

scents being sensed by mosquitoes. This makes it harder for mosquitoes to detect and locate

someone. Research has shown that citronella helps to reduce mosquito landing around 40%.

Lemongrass is a natural repellent because it has high geraniol and citral content that can help to

prevent insects bite. Lemongrass is extremely safe and is listed on the EPA’s Generally Regarded

as Safe or GRAS list. (Dr. Axe 2018)

The lemongrass oil is obtained by steam distillation of the fresh leaves and flowering tops of

lemongrass which take about two to three hours. The oil has strong lemon like odor due to high

percentage of citral in the oil. The characteristic smell of oil makes it use in scenting of soaps,

detergents and insect repellent preparation. However, the major use of oil is as a source of citral,

which goes in perfumery, cosmetics, and beverages and is a starting material for manufacture of

ionone’s which produces vitamin-A (Pharm, 2013). As a natural insecticide, lemon grass and its
oil are not associated with some of the toxic or harmful side effects of other insecticides. The oil

of lemon grass is extracted from fresh or dried lemon grass by steam distillation or simply by

pouring boiling water over the foliage. The composition of lemon grass oil depends partly on

geographical region or where it is grown. Major constituents of lemon grass oil are citral, geraniol,

myrcene, citronellal and limonene.

While some might think that lemongrass repels mosquitoes, actually only the oil obtained from

the grass will repel mosquitoes and not the plant itself. So it won’t help to repel mosquitoes when

you reside next to the citronella grass (Karen, 2018). While the plant itself is not effective for

repelling mosquitoes, citronella oil is classified and registered by the Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA) as a bio-pesticide. This means that it has an effective and yet non-toxic effect on

the human body. The National Pesticide Information Center describes oil of citronella as an

effective repellent of insects. It works by masking scents that are attractive to insects. This

characteristic makes it more difficult for insects to locate a target. While citronella oil is classed

as a natural insect repellent, research is conflicting as to the effectiveness for repelling mosquitoes.

The mosquito repellent scented candle lamp is a unique one, initially targeted toddlers ,parents as

well as students that will eventually appealed to a wide range of audiences from various ages and

demographics.

1.2 Significance of the Study

The study focused on determining the effectiveness of lemongrass as an alternative material for

mosquito repellent and at the same time fragrant to the scented candle. Moreover, the result

of the study will be beneficial to the following:

● Respondents. The respondents will have an awareness on the importance of using

lemongrass and changing what they used into organic materials for the improvement

of using lemongrass as an effective for mosquito repellent.

● Parents. The result of this study will help the parents to lessen their worries to their

children of getting mosquito diseases. They will feel secured for their children as

knowing the fact that using lemongrass as mosquito repellent will help it remove

unwanted insects.

● Adults/Campers. The findings of the study will help the adults most especially the

campers who are mostly prone in mosquito bites whenever they tend to sleep outdoors

and the product will also serve it as a source of light,

● Meditator. The result of the study will help a person who like to meditate or for those

people who wants to simply relax at home and let their stress go away by just simply

using the fragrant of the scented candle.

● Future Researchers. The findings of the study will serve as a reference material and a

guide for future researchers who wish to conduct the same experimental study or prove

the effectiveness of using lemongrass in different matter.

1.3 Statement of the Problem

 The study strived to investigate the effectiveness of lemongrass in a scented candle lamp as a

mosquito repellent.

Specifically this aims to answer the following questions:

1. What is the effect of using lemongrass as a replacement in other mosquito repellent?

2. Which among the variables significantly predicts the effectiveness of using lemongrass as

a mosquito repellent, considering the following moderator variables?

a. Age

b. Gender

c. Socio-economic status

d. Improvements

1.4 Scope and Limitation

This study focused on the effectiveness of lemongrass in a scented candle lamp as a mosquito repellent.

The respondents of the study were composed of 35 randomly selected individual whose age range

from 13 –above in Paco and Tondo Manila area. The result of this study is applicable only to the

respondents of this study.

1.5 Assumption of the Study

In conducting this study the proponents have made the following assumptions. It was assumed
that:

● The lemongrass is an effective and safe raw material to be used as an insect repellent, And
at the same time fragrant;
● The project's lighting would be efficient in the same manner as the user's routine; and
● The product could be an effective alternative to mosquito repellents and scented candles.