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Mosquito Coil

Mosquito coils are incense coils made from pyrethrum powder that repel mosquitoes when burned. They were invented in Japan in the 1890s by Eiichiro Ueyama as an improvement on simply burning pyrethrum powder to repel mosquitoes. Ueyama's wife suggested making the incense thicker and in a spiral shape, which allowed it to burn slowly for over 8 hours while repelling mosquitoes. Modern coils can burn for 12 hours and provide around 80% protection from mosquitoes.

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296 views2 pages

Mosquito Coil

Mosquito coils are incense coils made from pyrethrum powder that repel mosquitoes when burned. They were invented in Japan in the 1890s by Eiichiro Ueyama as an improvement on simply burning pyrethrum powder to repel mosquitoes. Ueyama's wife suggested making the incense thicker and in a spiral shape, which allowed it to burn slowly for over 8 hours while repelling mosquitoes. Modern coils can burn for 12 hours and provide around 80% protection from mosquitoes.

Uploaded by

blackphoenix303
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Mosquito coil

A mosquito coil is a mosquito repelling incense, usually shaped into a


spiral, and typically made from a dried paste of pyrethrum powder. The coil is
usually held at the center of the spiral, suspending it in the air, or wedged by
two pieces of fireproof nettings to allow continuous smoldering. Burning
usually begins at the outer end of the spiral and progresses slowly toward
the centre of the spiral, producing a mosquito-repellent smoke. A typical
mosquito coil can measure around 15 cm in diameter and lasts around 8
hours. Mosquito coils are widely used in Asia, Africa, South America and
Australia.
Invention
Pyrethrum was used for centuries as an insecticide in Persia and Europe, and
the mosquito coil was developed around the 1890s by a Japanese business
man, Eiichiro Ueyama. At that time in Japan, people usually mixed pyrethrum
powder with sawdust and burned it in a brazier or incense burner to repel
mosquitoes. Initially, Ueyama created incense sticks mixed from starch
powder, dried mandarin orange skin powder, and pyrethrum powder.
However, the bar-shaped mosquito sticks quickly burned up in about 40
minutes, too brief for a long repelling action. In 1895, his wife Yuki proposed
making the sticks thicker and longer, and curling them in spirals. In 1902,
after a series of trials and errors, he finally obtained the desired incense
burning effect out of a spiral-shaped mosquito repellent. The method
involved cutting from a thick bar of incense to a certain length and manually
winding it. This method continued to be used until 1957, where mass
production was made possible through machine punching, making a far
larger manufacturing scale possible. After the Second World War, his
company, Dainihon Jochugiku Co. Ltd, set up joint-venture firms in various
countries, such as China and Thailand, to produce products suited to local
conditions.
Ingredients
Active ingredients found in mosquito coils may include:

Pyrethrum - a natural, powdered material from a kind of


chrysanthemum plant; performance moderate

Pyrethrins - an extract of the insecticidal chemicals in pyrethrum

Allethrin - sometimes d-trans-allethrin, the first synthetic pyrethroid

Esbiothrin - a form of allethrin

Butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) - an optional additive to prevent


pyrethroid from oxidizing during burning

Piperonyl butoxide (PBO) - an optional additive to improve the


effectiveness of pyrethroid

N-Octyl bicycloheptene dicarboximide (MGK 264) - an optional additive


to improve the effectiveness of a pyrethroid

Advantages
Modern day Mosquito coils burn without flame for around twelve hours. In
quantitative tests, they provide about 80% protection. Mosquito coils are also
inexpensive and easy to use. They are portable and fit into normal household
practices of lighting candles or incense.
Disadvantages
Mosquito coils can be hazardous. In 1999, sparks from mosquito coils ignited
a fire that swept through a three-story dormitory building at a summer camp
in South Korea; 23 people, including 19 children, died in the blaze. Recent
studies showed that the smoke generated from a burning mosquito coil is of
certain health concerns one burning mosquito coil produces the same
amount of particulate mass (diameter up to 2.5 m) as 75-137 burning
cigarettes would; and the emission of formaldehyde from one burning coil
can be as high as that released from 51 burning cigarettes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosquito_coil

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