ABSTRACT
Variety of Repellent Products ......................................................................................................305
Agents: Natural vs. Chemical ......................................................................................................307
Why Use a Natural Repellent Product? .......................................................................................307
References ....................................................................................................................................308
Prehistoric humans may have found that sitting around a smoky fire kept the pestiferous insects from
biting. This could have been the first natural repellent. This method is still used in many remote places by
indigenous tribes. Other primitive methods consisted of covering the skin with mud or applying a variety
of animal fats and greases. Native Americans rubbed cedar tree needles or used the fat from bear to
prevent the nuisances caused by the biting insects. Some wore various herbs and poultices around their
necks or on their clothing. Written records of repellents against insects were mentioned in classical
Roman literature by Pliny, the naturalist, and Dioscorides (AD 40-90), a Greek physician who described
how wormwood (Artemesia absinthium) could repel gnats and fleas.
