Volcanic Glass Spray Shows Promise in Controlling Mosquitoes
upstart writes in with an IRC submission for RandomFactor:
Volcanic glass spray shows promise in controlling mosquitoes:
The volcanic glass material used in this new intervention is perlite, an industrial mineral most frequently used in building materials and in gardens as a soil additive. The tested insecticide created from perlite, called Imergard WP, can be applied to interior walls and ceilings -- and perhaps even inside roofs -- as an indoor residual spray. The spray contains no additional chemicals, is not toxic to mammals and will be cost effective. Early results show that mosquitoes do not appear to have resistance to the perlite spray.
In the study, North Carolina State University entomologists worked with the Innovative Vector Control Consortium (IVCC) based at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and Imerys Filtration Minerals Inc. to test Imergard WP. Researchers used the spray in experimental huts in the Republic of Benin (West Africa) to test the effects of the spray on both wild and more susceptible strains of Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes, the primary malaria vector in sub-Saharan Africa.
[...] Results showed mortality rates of mosquitoes alighting on Imergard WP-treated walls were greater than 80% up to five months after treatments, and 78% at six months.
[...] "The statically transferred perlite particles essentially dehydrate the mosquito," said Mike Roe, William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor of Entomology at NC State and the corresponding author of the paper. "Many die within a few hours of contact with the treated surface. Mosquitoes are not repelled from a treated surface because there is no olfactory mechanism to smell rock."
Journal Reference:
Deguenon, Jean M., Azondekon, Roseric, Agossa, Fiacre R., et al. ImergardTMWP: A Non-Chemical Alternative for an Indoor Residual Spray, Effective against Pyrethroid-Resistant Anopheles gambiae (s.l.) in Africa, Insects (DOI: 10.3390/insects11050322)
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