Because of global warming the distribution of mosquitoes has expanded from tropical

regions to northern latitudes, and that leads to a spread in sources of viral infection from
mosquitoes. Especially, the West Nile fever virus, which has infected many people around
the world recently, has become a big issue.

To ensure our security and safety from the future hazards, we need to equally develop the
technology for our protection. With regard to textiles, the protective textile field of the
smart textiles has to fulfill this requirement.

A Mosquito repellent textile is one such textile product.

It protects the human beings from the bite of mosquitoes and thereby promising safety
from the diseases like malaria and Nile fever.

To impart this character a finish of the mosquito repelling agent is given to the textile
material using Alaroma IMR & Alaroma-IR.



Ordinarily, the bites of mosquitoes and other insects are just
a nuisance, although the bite may cause itching or swelling.
The symptoms of an insect bite can usually be treated with
over-the-counter medications. However, in rare situations,
an insect bite can transmit certain diseases such as West
Nile virus, St. Louis encephalitis and California (LaCrosse)
encephalitis.

Insect-repellent textiles are considered by public health
agencies worldwide to be an increasingly important
component in the fight to reduce the incidence of insect-
borne infectious diseases such as malaria, West Nile virus,
encephalitis, dengue fever, Lyme Disease and numerous
others. Insect-borne diseases afflict hundreds of millions of
people each year and represent a significant portion of
overall infectious diseases, which globally rank second
among all causes of death. Vaccines and therapeutic drugs
have yet to be developed to treat many of these diseases, so
preventive measures must be taken to control these insects
and avoid contact with them.

Mosquitoes have complex methods of detecting hosts and
different types of mosquitoes react to different stimuli. Most
mosquitoes are active at dawn and dusk, but there are also
mosquitoes that seek hosts during the day. You can avoid
being bitten by making sure you aren't attracting mosquitoes,
using attractants to lure mosquitoes elsewhere, using a
repellent, and avoiding actions that diminish the effectiveness
of the repellent.
Mosquito Attractants : Items and activities that attract
mosquitoes as a list of things to avoid or that can be used as
bait to lure mosquitoes away from you.
Dark Clothing : Many mosquitoes use vision to locate hosts
from a distance. Dark clothes and foliage are initial attractants.
Carbon Dioxide : You give off more carbon dioxide when you
are hot or have been exercising. A burning candle or other fire
is another source of carbon dioxide.
Lactic Acid : You release more lactic acid when you have been
exercising or after eating certain foods (e.g., salty foods, high-
potassium foods).
Floral or Fruity Fragrances : In addition to perfumes,
hair products, and scented sunscreens, watch for the
subtle floral fragrance from fabric softeners and dryer
sheets.
Skin Temperature : The exact temperature depends on
the type of mosquito. Many mosquitoes are attracted to
the slightly cooler temperatures of the extremities.
Moisture : Mosquitoes are attracted by perspiration
because of the chemicals it contains and also because it
increases the humidity around your body. Even small
amounts of water (e.g., moist plants or mud puddles) will
draw mosquitoes. Standing water also allows mosquitoes
to reproduce.
Alaroma-IMR: DEET BASED for synthetic fabrics
DEET (N,N-diethyl-m-toluamide) is a versatile and effective
insect repellent. Insect repellents containing
DEET have been used for more than 40 years by millions of
people worldwide to repel mosquitoes, ticks, fleas, biting
flies and chiggers. These products are available in many
formulations, including lotions, creams, gels, aerosol and
pump sprays, and towelettes. Insect repellents can reduce
the risk of mosquito and tick bites, but products containing
DEET must be used properly.
Alaroma-IR (Permethrin based-For all type
of fabric substrates especially cotton)

Permethrin is used:
as an insecticide
in agriculture, to protect crops
in agriculture, to kill livestock parasites
for industrial/domestic insect control
as an insect repellent or insect screen
in timber treatment
as a personal protective measure (cloth
impregnant, used primarily for US military
uniforms and mosquito nets)
in pet flea preventative collars or treatment.

Alaroma-IR (Permethrin based-For all type of
fabric substrates especially cotton)

Permethrin kills ticks on contact with treated clothing.
A method of reducing deer tick populations by
treating rodent vectors involves stuffing
biodegradable cardboard tubes with permethrin-
treated cotton.

Permethrin is used in tropical areas to prevent
mosquito-borne disease such as dengue fever and
malaria. Mosquito nets used to cover beds may be
treated with a solution of permethrin.

This increases the effectiveness of the bed net by
killing parasitic insects before they are able to find
gaps or holes in the net. Military personnel training in
malaria-endemic areas may be instructed to treat
their uniforms with permethrin, as well. An
application should last several washes.

Action of repellent agent for blood-sucking insects
including mosquitoes can be broadly divided into two
types which are actions to repel insects by acting on
the olfactory and tactile senses.
Action of repellent on sense of smell is called
transpiration repelling, and this has the effect of
keeping insects away without them touching a surface
processed with the repellent agent. How it works is
that repellent molecules block insects humidity
sensory holes, which makes humans inaccessible to
insects by inhibiting the function of sensing moisture,
while insects usually use warm and humid convection
rising from the human body as a guide for contacting
humans sensing an increase in atmospheric carbon
dioxide concentrations.
Action of repellent stimulating sense of touch is called
direct-contact repelling, and this drives insects off the
processed surface before blood sucking even after
touching the surface. Biting insects use chemical,
visual, and thermal cues to locate hosts.

DEET is believed to work by blocking the chemical receptors for carbon dioxide and
lactic acid, two of the substances released by our bodies that serve as attractants.
Although DEET helps keep insects from locating people, there is probably more
involved in DEET's effectiveness, since mosquitoes won't bite through DEET-treated
fabric. However, skin only a few centimeters away from DEET is susceptible to bites.
It is believed that repellent substances work on insects peripheral nervous systems
when contact is made, causing a collaterally-expressed confusional state and inhibition
under sublethal doses before knockdown and lethal action.
L.N. Chemicals anti-mosquito finishing agent, Alaroma IMR, has excellent effects
based on the mechanism of the direct-contact repelling type.
It can be effective mainly in outdoor-related textile products, promoted for
garments/tents for mountain climbing and trekking and fishing wear for outdoors,
bedroom curtains, towel blankets, pajamas, bedding, garments/gloves for gardening,
and work clothes for farming.
Mode of action:

Permethrin is a common synthetic chemical, widely used as an insecticide,
acaricide, and insect repellent. It belongs to the family of synthetic chemicals called
pyrethroids and functions as a neurotoxin, affecting neuron membranes by
prolonging sodium channel activation

This action is negatively correlated to temperature, thus, in general, showing more
acute effects on cold-blooded animals (insects, fish, frogs...) over warm-blooded
animals (mammals and birds):
No definitive studies exist in the scientific literature about
what concentration of DEET is safe for children. No serious
illness has been linked to the use of DEET in children when
used according the product recommendations. The
American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Committee on
Environmental Health has recently updated their
recommendation for use of DEET products on children,
citing: "Insect repellents containing DEET (N,N-diethyl-m-
toluamide, also known as N,N-diethyl-3-methylbenzamide)
with a concentration of 10% appear to be as safe as
products with a concentration of 30% when used according
to the directions on the product labels."
There are no reported adverse events
following use of repellents containing DEET in
pregnant or breastfeeding women.
The AAP and other experts suggest that it is acceptable to apply repellent with low
concentrations of DEET to infants over 2 months old. Other guidelines cite that it is
acceptable to use repellents containing DEET on children over 2 years of age.
Repellent products that do not contain DEET are not likely to offer the same degree
of protection from mosquito bites as products containing DEET. Non-DEET
repellents have not necessarily been as thoroughly studied as DEET, and may not be
safer for use on children.
Is Permethrin approved for children?
Permethrin-treated fabrics should be safe for children of
any age. Once the Permethrin has dried on the clothing, it
is bound so tightly to the fibers that any potential for
absorption through the skin is negligible.

Do I have to worry about using it around my pets?
Permethrin should not be sprayed around ponds or any
other areas where fish are found, since the chemical is
toxic to fish. Permethrin has not been shown to be toxic to
birds. Although there are Permethrin sprays specifically
sold for use on dogs, these products should never be used
on cats. Because of their grooming habits and slow
metabolism of Permethrin, cats are much more
susceptible to toxicity from Permethrin. Again, once the
Permethrin has dried on any fabric, toxicity should no
longer be of any concern.
Is there any toxicity associated with Permethrin use that I
need to worry about?
Since Permethrin is not intended for direct use on the skin, there are very few
concerns about toxicity. Any Permethrin that might inadvertently get on the skin,
however, is very poorly absorbed (less than 2% of the applied dose). Permethrin is
rapidly inactivated by skin and liver esterases, and its metabolites are then readily
excreted by the kidneys. There is no evidence that Permethrin accumulates in human
tissues. Although occupational exposure to large amounts of Permethrin has been
associated with transient symptoms of itching, burning, or numbness, these
symptoms have not been reported in consumers applying the products to clothing.
Studies have not shown Permethrin to be a human teratogen, mutagen, or carcinogen.

Given that Permethrin is an insecticide, am I hurting the
environment when I use it?
Studies have shown that Permethrin is environmentally safe. Permethrin is degraded
by sunlight, which limits its persistence in the environment. Its half-life is less than 30
days in soil, and the chemical is readily metabolized by soil microorganisms. Once
dried on fabric, Permethrin is so tightly bound to the fibers themselves, that
"leaching" into the environment is essentially not possible.

This procedure complies with a protocol which was
developed for the Stiftung Warentest, the German
equivalent of the Consumer Reports in the United
States. The test rooms are air conditioned, and the
number, age, and species of the mosquitoes used in
the study can be controlled. This test is a good
alternative field tests: More realistic than cage tests,
but possible at any time and at less expense.
Tests of insecticide-treated textiles and surfaces

The effectiveness of insecticide-treated textiles (such as bed nets, canvas, etc.) or
surfaces is usually studied in standardized cone bioassays with insecticide-
susceptible strains of the malaria mosquito, Anopheles gambiae. The procedure is
promoted by the WHO and other international and national organizations. In the case
of the evaluation of insecticides with additional repellent properties, where exposed
mosquitoes might spend more time resting on the cone and not on the treated
surface, alternatives such as the wire-ball test (wrapping the textile around a wire
frame and introducing mosquitoes into this ball), cylinder tests (the inside of a test
cylinder is covered with the textile), and other methods are often applied.

Tick tests
Effective protection from ticks, the carriers of Lyme disease (borreliosis) and tick-
borne encephalitis (TBE), is becoming increasingly important. This is why, in
collaboration with tick specialists, we also offer efficacy tests with ticks. We cater for
all requirements from basic in vitro lab tests (moving object assays) to lab tests
with human subjects and field studies.

Mosquitoes (usually malaria
mosquitoes, Anopheles gambiae) are
introduced into a standardized cone for
a defined time span, then removed and
transferred to small cages to determine
the knock-down and knock-dead rates.

Field tests: the most meaningful evidence for the
efficacy of a treated textile:

Field studies are the ultimate verification of the performance
of your product. The most realistic conditions deliver the most
meaningful results. We perform field tests in Europe, North
America, Brazil, and Australia.

Testing repellent-treated textiles in the field near
Regensburg:

The location in which these tests were performed is especially
rich in the floodwater mosquitoes Aedes vexans and
Aedes/Ochlerotatus sticticus. Ae. vexans is distributed almost
world-wide, Ae./Oc. sticticus in Europe, northern Asia, and
North America.
Application:
By Pad:
50-80 g/l of Alaroma-IMR disperse in water, then add 5.0
g/l of Fixer-ALN and stir well.

This dilution should be set at 80-100% of pick-up ratio,
dry-100-105C & cure at 170-180C for 40 -60 secs.

By exhaust
On 100% PE & PV(70-30/80-20 etc):
MLR 1:10
Alaroma-IMR 10-12 g/l
pH 5.0
Temperature 120-130C
Time 30-45 mins
Hot Water wash,
Cold wash, dry

Mosquito repellency Results:
Fabric Substrate: P/V(65/35) & 100 % Polyester
Dosage:
P/V(65/35) : Alaroma-IMR+ Fixer-ALN : (80+5) g/l
100% PE : Alaroma-IMR : 50 g/l

Test Method 1:

Modified WHO/CTD/WHO PES/IC/96.1
Mosquitoes Used: Male & Female Culex Species
No Of Mosquito used: 10
Excito Repellency Test Chamber:
Metal chamber measuring 26 x 26 cms with flexible sides & top
window for viewing
Size of the fabric: 1 meter
Duration of test: 30 minutes
Observations:

Fabric No of
Mosquitoes
released in
treated fabric
chamber
No of
Mosquitoes on
treated fabric
No of
Mosquitoes on
untreated fabric
No of
Mosquitoes
Showing
mobility
%
Repellency
Initial
10
mins
After
30 mins
Initial
10
mins

After
30
mins
Initial
10
mins

After
30
mins
Initial
10
mins

After
30
mins
100%
PE
10 10 Nil Nil 5 6 5 4 100
P/V
[65/35]
10 10 Nil Nil 6 8 4 2 100
Test Method 2 :
Results of US Patent 5, 198, 287 & USDA laboratory Method
Insect used: Female mosquito Culex species
No. of insects released in laboratory tent:
12 per 10 20 gms of fabric/ a meter
No. of hours of incubation: 3 hrs intermittent
3 hrs exposure of mosquito was carried out in a tent made by the provided
fabric. Every 1 hour, observations were made about the movements, biting
tendency and survival of mosquitoes. Following observations have been made
as mean average of experiment conducted two times:

Fabric Total No.
Knock Down
Total No.
Unable to fly
Bite counts
per 3 mins
Exposure
%
Repellency
Efficiency
Untreated Nil Nil 1-2 0
100% PE Nil 12 0 100
P/V [65/35] Nil 6 0 70

Mosquito repellency Results of Alaroma-IR :

Fabric Substrate: 100% cotton:
Dosage:
Cotton : Alaroma-IR+ Tristar-L-112 : (100+ 30) g/l

Test Method 1:

Modified WHO/CTD/WHO PES/IC/196.1
Mosquitoes Used: Male & Female Culex Species
No Of Mosquito used: 10
Excito Repellency Test Chamber:
Metal chamber measuring 26 x 26 cms with flexible sides & top window for
viewing
Size of the fabric: 1 meter
Duration of test: 30 minutes

Observations:
Sample
Identification

No. of
Mosquitoes
released in
Treated
chamber
No. of
Mosquitoes
on
Treated
Fabric
No. of
Mosquitoes
migrating to
Untreated side
No. of
Mosquitoes
showing
mobility
Percentage
repellency

Cotton Fabric
Finished with 100gpl
Alaroma-IR and
Binder Initial
10 0
(1 dead,
2 unable to
move)
7
(3 dead)

0 100
Cotton Fabric
Finished with 100gpl
Alaroma-IR and
Binder - Initial
(Half an hour)
10 0
(2 dead,
1 unable to
move)

7
(4 dead)

0 100
Cotton Fabric
Finished with 100gpl
Alaroma-IR and
Binder -After
10 washes
(Initial}
10 0
(1 dead, 1
unable to
move)

8
(4 dead)

0 100
Cotton Fabric
Finished with 1OOgpl
Alaroma-IR and Binder
After 10 washes
(Half an hour)
10 0;
(2 dead)

8
(4 dead)
0 100
OFFICE ADDRESS :
403, Antariksh, Makwana Road,
Marol Naka, Andheri (E),
Mumbai - 400 059

Tel.- 91- 22- 4221 6789 (30 Lines)
91- 22- 6692 4112
Fax -91-22- 2836 6434
FACTORY ADDRESS :
D- 14 /10, T.T.C. M.I.D.C Industrial area,
Turbhe , P. O. K. U. Bazar,
Navi Mumbai - 400 705

Tel.-91- 22- 4141 9899 (100 Lines)
Fax -91- 22- 4141 9888
Email ID: ketan@lnchem.in
nayana.lnchem@gmail.com