Mosquitoes, Shmosquitoes..

As our final days in Italy come to a close, Sanet and I are enjoying a three-night stay in Venice. With the colorful people and the bustling atmosphere as hundreds and thousands of tourists roam the almost-flooded streets during high tide, we escaped the main island today for a tour of the four islands around the edge of Venice: Murano, Burano, Cimetero, and Torcello. Murano is known for its fabulous Venetian glass, Burano for its handmade lace, Cimetero for its centuries of graves of deceased Venetians, and Torcello for its miniscule population (20) and its leaning church bell tower, which leans at the same degree as Pisa’s famous torre. Way back when, Torcello was actually the birthplace of Venice. People from the mainland would settle here to avoid barbarian masses roaming the lands. But even today, you can see why not many could survive on this island- there is no fresh water, the land can't be farmed, and there is a significant number of mosquitoes. When I read this in Rick Steve’s, I had to curse these “bastard butterflies,” as our Italian friends from Siena liked to call them. Over the past two days, I have been eaten alive by mosquitoes, so I decided to look into some chemistry of how to repel these nasty buggers.
There are many products on the market that claim to repel mosquitoes, both natural and synthetic. The most common natural repellent is citronella oil, which is made from a grass that grows in Southeast Asia. The leaves are picked and dried, then steam-distilled to extract the essential oil, which is added to lotions, candles, etc. Citronellal is the main terpenoid in the oil which gives it the lemon scent it is known for. Sadly for us, citronella is not actually a very successful repellent, proven by a study published in the Journal of American Mosquito Control Association. Citronella candles and incense reduced the biting rate by less than 50%. A second study published in the same journal found that citronella was the least effective out of three types of essential-oil candles (geraniol candles reduced biting rate by 85%).
Another repellent option which has been controversial for half a century is DEET (N,N-diethyl-3-methylbenzamide).There are two possible reasons for why DEET repels mosquitoes so well. First, DEET inhibits the carbon dioxide receptors in the bugs' nervous systems, thus rendering them senseless when it comes to smell. Or, instead of jamming their senses of smell, perhaps mosquitoes just don't like the smell of DEET and would prefer to avoid it. Apparently there is a lot more research to be done on this topic. The bad news is that in larger concentrations and with longer exposure times, DEET can be toxic and lead to severe neurological problems.....

So what can I do to keep from becoming completely covered in mosquito bites? Not much since I have no idea how to ask for repellent in Italian. But it's not a big deal since we leave for Atlanta on Saturday morning, to my dismay... At least I will find solace in the fact that I have some awesome anti-itch cream waiting for me in my apartment.

Arrivederci, Italia, you will be missed.

Pharmacokinetics, formulation, and safety of insect repellent N,N-diethyl-3-methylbenzamide (deet): a review. ( http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8827606)

Evaluation of the efficacy of 3% citronella candles and 5% citronella incense for protection against field populations of Aedes mosquitoes. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8827606)

Indoor Protection Against Mosquito and Sand Fly Bites: A Comparison Between Citronella, Linalool, and Geraniol Candles (http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.2987/8756-971X(2008)24%5B150%3AIPAMAS%5D2.0.CO%3B2)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citronella_oil#Use_as_an_insect_repellent
http://expertvoices.nsdl.org/connectingnews/2008/08/26/after-50-years-scientists-still-not-sure-how-deet-works/