BALMY ARMY BANS CITRONELLA

The recent warm, wet weather has created perfect conditions for a population explosion of biting insects. However, manufacturers are now forbidden from using citronella to keep those insects off horses.

Known as ‘Horse balm’ in the USA, citronella oil has been used to deter flies and other biting insects from horses and humans for many years. However, it recently fell victim to The EU Biocidal Products Directive (08/8/EC), which came into effect on 1st September 2006.

It became a banned substance by default: not because it was shown to be harmful, but because no organisation using it in their products was prepared to pay £90,000 for the necessary tests and administration to prove that it was not.

The US Environmental Agency reports “Oil of Citronella has been widely used since 1948 without any reports of adverse affects.” The citronella plant is a grass and is one of the most widely used sources of essential oils, owing its popularity to its pleasant, fresh fragrance. Widely used to keep midges at bay in Scotland, it has long been a popular and natural insecticide for horses.

It is also commonly used in inexpensive household and toilet soaps and aerosols or incorporated into otherwise unpleasant-smelling products in order to mask the smell of the other active ingredients.

So, you can (and probably often do) put it on your own hair, but manufacturers are now forbidden from putting it into shampoos and repellents for horses…!

It is now a criminal offence for a firm to include citronella, which is still on sale in supermarkets, pharmacies and health shops throughout the land, not to mention everywhere else in the EU.

The EU directive does not however apply to Citronella’s use in products destined for export beyond the EU and ironically, it is still widely available and there is no law preventing anyone making up a recipe for an insecticide spray for their own use.

Many of the well-known brands of insecticide have now been forced to use much more harmful chemicals to repel flies. A wide range of these potentially lethal chemicals is still legal; they are tested and manufactured by large pharmaceutical companies capable of paying £millions for the testing and paperwork needed to get their biocidal products on the accepted list!

HorseIT user, Lindsay Willerton said, “Citronella remains the most natural way to keep flies at bay. Since the changes last year, I make up my own spray using citronella oil bought over the counter and use bedding treated with citronella which makes the stable smell nicer too.”

This article was kindly provided by Bliss Bedding, manufacturers of Bliss Citronella.

For further information:
and your nearest stockist, please visit www.blissbedding.com, emailinfo@blissbedding.com telephone 01335 310202,
fax 01335 310298 or write to Bliss Bedding (Yew Tree Products Ltd), Yew Tree Farm, Wetton, Ashbourne, Derbyshire DE6 2AF.