Essential Oils as Repellents against Arthropods

The development of effective and safe repellents against arthropods is very important, because there are no effective vaccines against arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses) and parasites. Arboviruses and parasites are transmitted to humans from arthropods, and mosquitoes are the most common arthropods associated with dengue, malaria, and yellow fever. Enormous efforts have been made to develop effective repellents against arthropods, and thus far synthetic repellents have been widely used. However, the use of synthetic repellents has raised several concerns in terms of environmental and human health risks and safety. Thus, plant essential oils (EOs) have been widely used as an alternative to synthetic repellents. In this review, we briefly introduce and summarize recent studies that have investigated EOs as insect repellents. Current technology and research trends to develop effective and safe repellents from plant EOs are also described in this review.