Patent Number: 6562841
Docket Number: 9100
Serial Number: 9978154
Date Patented: 05/13/2003

Technology Description: ARS scientists discovered that certain piperidine analogs (a class of chemical compounds) are more effective than commonly used repellents at warding off blood-sucking arthropods, like mosquitoes and ticks. When ARS’s mixture is applied to human or animal skin, it has significant repellent effects. In laboratory and field tests, ARS’s mixture is equally or more repellant than a commonly used repellant called DEET. Today, millions of people worldwide apply DEET to their skin; it's the main active ingredient in about 200 commercial products. ARS researchers are looking for alternatives to DEET and other chemical repellants, because some mosquito species are not repelled by DEET. Also, DEET is a plasticizer that causes permanent fogging of plastic eyeglass lenses and other plastic products that come in contact with it. The ARS formula does not do this. The annual arthropod repellant market worldwide is about one billion dollars. New and improved repellants from these piperidine analogs may displace DEET in the worldwide repellant market. Companies that manufacture market mosquito and tick repellants could use this invention. Military personnel and the general public will benefit from products developed from this discovery. Reference: Please refer to USPN 6,562,841 (Docket #0091.00), "Methods and Compositions for Repelling Arthropods," which issued on May 13, 2003.  Foreign rights are not available. Inventor: Jerome A. Klun Henry A. Wallace Beltsville Agricultural Research Center Chemicals Affecting Insect Behavior Beltsville, MD 20705 (301) 504-9388 / Fax: (301) 504-6580 klunj@ba.ars.usda.gov