This report from Gajapreneur, first published on 21 October 2024.

A study published in the journal Insects found that hemp-derived CBD killed both species of yellow fever mosquito in their larval phase, including one that had developed insecticide resistance. The team, from The Ohio State University, pulverized air-dried hemp leaves into a fine powder soaked in methanol to reach the desired CBD concentrations.

The researchers found that CBD killed the insects within 48 hours.

In an interview with Ohio State News, Erick Martinez Rodriguez, lead author of the study and a graduate student in entomology, noted that “Mosquitoes are one of the deadliest animals in the world, mainly because as adults they serve as vectors of disease.”

“If you compare the amount of hemp extract needed to kill 50% of the population to other synthetic conventional insecticides, it is on the high side, but when you compare it side-by-side to other natural extracts we have tested in our lab, only a relatively low amount is required to produce high mortality values in larvae.” — Martinez Rodriguez to Ohio State News

Peter Piermarini, co-author of the study and a professor of entomology, told Ohio State News that more research is needed to investigate whether hemp and CBD would target organisms like honey bees or other pollinating insects that scientists don’t want to kill or disrupt by introducing potentially harmful additives to the environment.

“CBD is a compound that appears to be safe for people and our companion animals to ingest,” Piermarini said in the report. “It’ll be interesting to learn more about how CBD interacts with various proteins in mammals and insects to understand why it’s safe for people but not insects.”

Conventional synthetic insecticides are chemical tools for killing mosquito larvae populations, but overuse has led to both insecticide resistance and other negative environmental effects.

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