Top 6 insect repellents

Insect repellents are your best defense against those pesky pests, but a new analysis by Consumer Reports finds some bug sprays don’t offer much protection and may even contain potentially harmful ingredients.

The good news: The more effective insect repellents rated by Consumer Reports were also among the safer choices. In fact, the two top-rated products — Sawyers Fisherman’s Formula and Repel Lemon Eucalyptus — outperformed products that contained up to 25 percent DEET, a chemical that can cause serious side effects. 

The active ingredient in Sawyer Fisherman’s Formula is 20 percent picaridin, and for Repel Lemon Eucalyptus it’s 30 percent oil of lemon eucalyptus. Both products were able to keep mosquitoes and deer ticks away for at least seven hours, the analysis showed.

“They are not side-effect-free, but those problems are less severe than DEET,” said Ellen Kunes, Consumer Reports’ heath and food content development team leader. “Still, all repellents should be used sparingly and only for the time you need them — especially on children and older people.”

Testers applied repellents to their forearms and reached small cages containing 200 female mosquitoes. Experts recorded bites every hour and ranked the products, accordingly.

Top-rated repellents:

• Sawyers Fisherman’s Formula.
• Repel Lemon Eucalyptus 
• Repel Scented Family (which contains 15 percent DEET).
• Off! Deepwoods (25 percent DEET).
• Natrapel 8 Hour.
• Coleman SkinSmart

Lowest-rated products:

• EcoSmart Organic.
• Off! Family Care II Clean Feel.
• California Natural Baby Bug Blend.
• All Terrain Kids Herbal Armor.
• BullFrog Mosquito Coast
• Babyganics Natural.
• Burt’s Bees Herbal.
• Cutter Natural.
• Cutter Skin Sensations.

Consumer Reports tests also found that products with natural plant oils — such as citronella, lemongrass, and rosemary — did not always live up to their manufacturers’ claims they are “proven effective” against mosquitoes or “repels mosquitoes for hours.” In addition, two products — Babyganics Natural and EcoSmart Organic — imply that they’re organic. But neither contains certified organic ingredients, as per U.S. Department of Agriculture provisions.

But Consumer Reports experts noted two natural alternatives to DEET — picaridin and oil of lemon eucalyptus — did well in the tests. Both have less serious side effects than DEET, but care should still be taken whenapplying such products on kids.

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