Repellent Effect of Camomile and Lavender Essential Oils against House Dust Mite in Bed Fabric

Abstract

House dust mite (HDM) allergens has been associated with allergic disease such as asthma, allergic rhinitis and atopic dermatitis. In order to control of house dust mites, various acaricidal agents have been suggested but their remains act as allergens even after death. Therefore, expelling the mite is more effective policy than killing them because of avoidance of allergen. In this experiment, we compared the repellent effect of two essensial oils (Matricaria chamomilla, Lavandula vera) against house dust mites, Dermatophagoids farinae and D. pteronyssinus in bed fabric. The essential oils were applied by direct contact method at various doses (0.1, 0.05, 0.025, 0.0125, 0.00625 μl/cm2) and at a various exposure times (30, 60, 120, 180, 240 min). The result of this experiment suggests two oils have a significant repellent activity. Camomile essential oil in 0.0125 μl/cm2 at 240 minutes caused 93.7% repellent effect and lavender essential oil in 0.05 μl/cm2 at 180 minutes caused 88.9% of repellent effect. The result show that camomile essential oil has more potent repellent activity than lavender essential oil in particular concentration.