New Portable Mosquito Repellent Device Passes U.S. Military Testing

A device developed at the University of Florida for the U.S. military provides protection from mosquitos for an extended period and requires no heat, electricity, or skin contact.

Funded by the Department of Defense Deployed Warfighter Protection program, the controlled-release passive device was designed by Nagarajan Rajagopal, a PhD candidate and Dr. Christopher Batich in UF’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering in the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering. It recently was tested successfully in a four-week semi-field study at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Gainesville in a collaboration with Dr. Daniel Kline, Dr. Jerry Hogsette, and Adam Bowman from the USDA’s Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology.

Results showed the controlled release of the repellent transfluthrin was effective in preventing multiple species of mosquitos from entering the testing site. Transfluthrin is an organic insecticide considered to be safe for humans and animals.

“Our device eliminates the need for applying topical repellents and for insecticides that are sprayed across an open area, which can contaminate surrounding plants or bodies of water and have a negative impact on beneficial pollinators like bees and butterflies,” Rajagopal said. “This is versatile, portable, easily deployed, and doesn’t require electricity or heat to activate the solution.”

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