Insect Repellent Lemon Eucalyptus Oil

Despite having similar names, OLE is a different product than lemon eucalyptus essential oil.

Lemon eucalyptus is the essential oil that’s distilled from the leaves of the lemon eucalyptus tree. It has many different chemical components, including the major component citronellal. This is also found in other essential oils like citronella.

OLE is an extract from the leaves of the lemon eucalyptus tree. It’s enriched for an active ingredient called para-menthane-3,8-diol (PMD). PMD can also be chemically made in a laboratory.

OLE, which is an extract of the lemon eucalyptus tree, is predominantly used to repel pests. These can include mosquitoes, ticks, and other biting bugs.

Extracted OLE is refined to increase the content of PMD, its active ingredient. Commercially available OLE products often contain 30 percent OLE and 20 percent PMD.

Synthetic PMD is made in a laboratory. It’s also used as a bug repellent. Although OLE and synthetic PMD have the same active ingredient, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates them separately.

Commercially available synthetic PMD products have a lower PMD concentration than commercial OLE products. Products with synthetic PMD have a PMD concentration of about 10 percent.

Lemon eucalyptus essential oil uses

Like OLE and PMD, lemon eucalyptus essential oil is also used as a bug repellent. You may also see people using it for things like:

• skin conditions, such as wounds and infections
• pain relief
• respiratory conditions, like colds and asthma

Research into OLE and PMD concern their use as a bug repellent. A 2016 review of older studies indicates that the active ingredient PMD may:

• have comparable activity and duration to DEET
• offer better protection against ticks than DEET, affecting tick attachment and feeding
• be effective against some types of biting midges

Let’s look at a snapshot of what more recent research says:

• A 2018 studyTrusted Source looked at the effect of 20 percent PMD on the feeding of Aedes aegypti, a mosquito that can transmit dengue fever. Exposure to PMD led to significantly less feeding compared with a control substance.
• A 2015 studyTrusted Source compared the effectiveness of commercially available bug repellents for two species of mosquito. One of the products used was an OLE product called Cutter lemon eucalyptus.
• While DEET was the most effective repellent in the 2015 study, Cutter lemon eucalyptus had a similar efficacy. It had a strong, long lasting effect for one mosquito species and a less strong (but still significant) effect on the other.
• A 2009 studyTrusted Source assessed PMD from OLE and its effect on immature ticks (nymphs). Nymphs can transmit diseases like Lyme disease. PMD was toxic to nymphs. The effect increased with the PMD concentration.

SUMMARYOLE and its active ingredient PMD have repellent properties that may be comparable to DEET in some cases. PMD may also affect mosquito feeding behavior and have toxicity to ticks.

Lemon eucalyptus essential oil benefits

Many of the proposed benefits of lemon eucalyptus essential oil are based off anecdotal evidence. That means they’re based off someone’s personal experience rather than scientific research.

A small bit of research has been performed on lemon eucalyptus essential oil. Here’s what some of it says:

• A 2018 studyTrusted Source compared properties of lemon eucalyptus essential oil with eight other eucalyptus species. They found that lemon eucalyptus oil had high antioxidant activity but lower antibacterial and anticancer activity.
• A 2014 studyTrusted Source looked at the effect of lemon eucalyptus essential oil on three species of fungi. It was observed that lemon eucalyptus essential oil inhibited spore production and growth of all three species.
• A 2012 study investigated the antioxidant activity of lemon eucalyptus essential oil using a variety of tests. It was found that lemon eucalyptus oil as well as some of its chemical components had antioxidant activity.

SUMMARYLimited research has been performed on lemon eucalyptus essential oil. However, some research suggests it has antioxidant and antifungal properties.