Using FDA approved food additives to control arthropods of medical importance

Mosquitoes are considered the most serious insect pest threats to public health because of their capability to vector several mosquito-borne pathogens, such as malaria, filariasis, Japanese encephalitis, dengue fever, epidemic polyarthritis, yellow fever, and chikungunya. Application of conventional synthetic pesticides to control these disease vectors has obtained some positive results, but also resulted in critical concern about their negative impact on the humans, wildlife, and environment. In addition, the effectiveness of these synthetic pesticides is being challenged by the emergence of insecticide resistance. Alternatively, the use of natural products has gained attention due to their human safety, good efficacy, and eco-friendly characteristics. We have discovered that the methyl benzoate (MB), a floral volatile organic compound that has been found in various plants to attract bees for pollination, and some MB analogs, showed spatial/topical repellent property, knockdown effect, and lethal activity against the yellow fever mosquito. Activities of some compounds are comparable with the “gold standard” mosquito repellent, DEET, under laboratory conditions. Therefore, these compounds are the most promising DEET alternatives and have high potential to be used in development of new products, providing improved real-world protection against mosquito and other blood-sucking animals and reducing their damage to human health.