HOUSTON -- It is mosquito season in the Bayou City, and anyone who s been outside for just a few minutes after dark knows it, so it s time to figure out which repellents are the most effective.
Dr. Cole Church, a veteran entomologist, has fought bugs for the U.S. Navy in Louisiana, and now heads up one of the largest private mosquito control efforts in the world.
The globe-trotting doctor s latest adventure is for Houston-based Mosquito Zone in Papa New Guinea. He's the project manager for fighting mosquitoes at a huge gas pipeline project. Ultimately, that covers some 12 to 15,000 people, over roughly 200 miles.
So, who better to advise consumers on which mosquito repellents work?
We started with Thermacell. It s a hand-held device, with a blue insecticide screen that s burned over low heat using a butane cartridge. It creates a small cloud of personal protection for up to 15 feet in diameter, according to the box.
Does it work?
I do like it. I own two or three of them, Church said.
It's the same idea behind the Off Clip. The insecticides work well in still air.
You can't a have breeze blowing away the chemical, Church said.
A very new product now on the market is a Vitamin B-1 patch. It s absorbed through the skin and supposedly emits an odor that the mosquitos don't like.
In controlled trials it doesn't fair too well, Church said.
He said the same goes for many home remedies: from garlic to catnip.
It's amazing. If one person says it s true, it hits the Internet and everyone thinks it true, he said.
As for traditional bug sprays, those with Deet or Picardin work well. Another attack is to kill mosquito larvae in standing water.
Mosquito Dunks is one brand name. The large tablets can be dumped in rain barrels, unused swimming pools and rain gutters. Gutters often get clogged up in the summer and are good breeding grounds for mosquitoes. One tablet should last 30 days.
What does the doctor himself do when he goes to work in the jungle?
He said he wears killer clothing.
When its new, it kills mosquitos that lands on me and when it gets older, it repels, he said.
The chemically-treated clothes reportedly last 70 launderings. They are required at the Papa New Guinea worksite.
This is essentially my uniform, Church joked.
It's an unusual job, and Church said he loves it.
For more info:
American Mosquito Control Association Website: http://www.mosquito.org/mosquito-information/faq.aspx#14
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