Design, development and assessment of an essential oil based slow release vaporizer against mosquitoes

•Fabrication and assessment of a novel vaporizer with integrated safety and toxicity study.•The semi-field trial showed promising results against Ae. albopictus and An. stephensi.•It is the first ever report on mosquito repellent vaporizer with multidimensional study.•This study covers the elements of insect behavior, formulation, and mammalian toxicity.•The sub-chronic toxicity study substantiates the nontoxic nature of the developed product. Mosquitoes (Diptera; Culicidae) are a biting nuisance and are of economic and health importance, especially for people living in tropical countries like India. Given the environmental concerns and health hazards of synthetic insecticides, development of natural products for the control of mosquito and mosquito-borne diseases are needed. In view of this, an essential oil based novel liquid vaporizer formulation with citronella and eucalyptus oils has been developed using a computer aided Artificial Neural Network and Particle Swarm Optimization (ANN-PSO) algorithm approach, aiming to predict the best optimized formulation (OF). Following the development, OF was characterized by Fourier Transform-Infra Red (FT-IR) spectroscopy and gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC–MS). The efficacy of the OF was assessed against two major mosquito vectors viz. Anopheles stephensi and Aedes albopictus using a Peet-Grady chamber. Finally, toxicological impacts of the OF following its inhalation were investigated as per the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) guidelines. The results revealed all the ideal characteristics of the OF which were found to provide a slow release of up to 450 h at room temperature. Most importantly, the OF, exhibited 50% mosquito knock down (KT50) within 11.49±1.34 and 14.15±2.15 min against An. stephensi and Ae. albopictus respectively. Toxicity assessment showed a non toxic nature of the OF following inhalation. Thus the present development would be beneficial for controlling both An. stephensi and Ae. albopictus without any associated health hazards. [Display omitted]