An insect repellent company has urged people not to use its products for coronavirus protection after seeing a surge in customer interest of more than 1,000 per cent on the back of a Daily Express front cover.
Preliminary findings were published by the paper on Wednesday which claimed such substances could kill off the causes of Covid-19.
Pyramid Products, owned by the Scotmas Group, has since witnessed a staggering increase of more than 10 times the usual daily inquiries for its range of insect repellents – used for ticks and midgies.
EXPRESS: Insect spray can kill virus says minister #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/5MWcCbOO9v
— Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) August 26, 2020
Alistair Cameron, managing director of Scotmas Group, said: “We have absolutely no interest whatsoever in profiting from unproven research.
“During a Scottish summer, sales of our insect repellent are always strong, but these last 24 hours have been unprecedented.
“While we are in full and complete support of scientific research in this area, the results of preliminary findings being issued only feeds into the overwhelming sea of misinformation which can have a detrimental impact on the world’s fight against the coronavirus.
“This needs to be thoroughly tested. In the meantime, everyone should continue to use hand gel, which has been proven to be effective.
“Hopefully this doesn’t begin a trend and we start to see people wearing mosquito nets instead of face masks.”
Trek Natural, Pyramid’s repellent which contains Citriodiol – the active ingredient listed in the study – has been removed from its online shop.
However, even products with no mention of the substance have experienced a rise in sales.
Daily web impressions for these products have also increased from 2,000 to more than 13,000 since the study was released.
Related: Boris Johnson branded a “joke” and a “hypocrite” as NHS workers protest outside Downing Street
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