Mr. Li, a reader in Beijing, asked: every summer when we sleep, we can always hear mosquitoes buzzing in our ears, so we light mosquito coil incense all night long in order to have a safe sleep. However, when I saw the words “low toxicity” and “slight toxicity” marked on the package of mosquito repellent incense, I always worried that mosquito repellent incense was toxic. Will it really harm human beings?
Ye Qiao, director of the Department of occupational disease and poisoning medicine of Beijing Chaoyang Hospital Affiliated to Capital Medical University, answered: mosquito repellent incense can achieve the effect of repelling mosquitoes by igniting or heating it and releasing insecticidal drugs. Traditional mosquito repellent incense is divided into thread incense and coil incense. Later, liquid and solid electric mosquito repellent incense emerged. The effective components and mosquito repellent principles of various types of mosquito repellent incense are similar. As early as 2004, mosquito repellent incense was included in the scope of pesticide management. The toxicity of pesticides in China is divided into five grades: acute toxicity, high toxicity, medium toxicity, low toxicity and slight toxicity. The toxicity level of mosquito repellent incense stipulated by the state is low or slight.
The main components of mosquito repellent incense are a small amount of insecticidal pesticides, including organophosphorus, carbamate and pyrethroid. Among them, organophosphorus is the most toxic and pyrethroid is the weakest. The effective ingredient of most mosquito repellent incense is pyrethroid insecticide. More than 90% of mosquito repellent incense on the market contains pyrethroid insecticide, which is a low toxicity and high efficiency insecticide permitted by the state and has a prescribed proportion of use in mosquito repellent incense. The smoke of traditional mosquito repellent incense contains fine particles, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, carbonyl compounds and benzene, which may pose a threat to the human body. In view of its small content, reasonable use is basically harmless. It should be noted that the smoke of mosquito repellent incense may cause allergic reactions and induce asthma attacks. People with such diseases should use it with caution.
If excessive mosquito repellent incense is placed in a closed room, it may cause dizziness, headache, nausea, blurred vision, dyspnea and other poisoning symptoms. It is recommended to place a tray of mosquito repellent incense in a room of 15 square meters. For safety, it is better not to place the mosquito coil incense near the head to reduce the inhalation of smoke. In the evening and before dark, it is a good time to use mosquito repellent incense. When using, the doors and windows should be closed tightly, and people and pets should leave. After that, the windows should be opened for ventilation.
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