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Design and development of aqueous nanoformulations for mosquito control

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Abstract

Microemulsions (ME) are thermodynamically stable isotropic mixtures of oil, water, and surfactant; they would also be attractive as potential insecticidal products due to the high bioviability of the active ingredient, attributable to the small sizes of the oil drops. A laboratory study was conducted in order to compare the biological effect of oil in water (o/w) geranium essential oil (EO) and geraniol MEs and emulsions, against Culex pipiens pipiens mosquito larvae. The systems were based on three nonionic surfactants (Cremophor EL, Brij 35, Tween 80). The MEs showed dispersed phase diameters in the range of 8 to 14 nm and had low PDI values (<0.2). The MEs were analyzed by TEM, indicating that they had nearly spherical morphology. The microemulsified systems based on geranium EO and those of geraniol produced a notable increase of the larvicidal activity when compared with the respectably emulsions, concluding that the biological effect is related with the diameter of the dispersed phase. The smallest drops achieved the highest larvicidal activity, being the aqueous nanoformulations based on geraniol most effective than those of geranium EO. However, geranium microemulsions are preferred due to their residual toxicological profiles. The results indicate that these novel systems could be used in integrated pest management program for the C. pipiens pipiens.

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge Universidad Nacional del Sur and Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas for the financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. FIA Laboratory, Analytical Chemistry Section, INQUISUR (UNS-CONICET), Universidad Nacional del Sur, Av. Alem 1253, B8000CPB, Bahía Blanca, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Antonela Rita Montefuscoli, Jorge Omar Werdin González & Beatriz Fernández Band

  2. Laboratorio de Zoología de Invertebrados II, Departamento de Biología, Bioquímica y Farmacia, Universidad Nacional del Sur, San Juan 670, B8000CPB, Bahía Blanca, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Jorge Omar Werdin González & Adriana Alicia Ferrero

  3. Departamento de Farmacia, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, UNITEFA (UNC–CONICET), Ciudad Universitaria, Córdoba, 5000, Córdoba, Argentina

    Santiago Daniel Palma

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  1. Antonela Rita Montefuscoli
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  2. Jorge Omar Werdin González
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  3. Santiago Daniel Palma
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  4. Adriana Alicia Ferrero
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  5. Beatriz Fernández Band
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Correspondence to Jorge Omar Werdin González.

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Montefuscoli, A.R., Werdin González, J.O., Palma, S.D. et al. Design and development of aqueous nanoformulations for mosquito control. Parasitol Res 113, 793–800 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-013-3710-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-013-3710-y

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