Jungle oil is extremely effective at keeping mosquitoes and other insects at bay. The oil is based on DEET, which is a controversial substance. In this article, you can read about what jungle oil is, where to buy it, the best alternatives to jungle oil, etc.
The best alternative to jungle oil
There are currently only two mosquito repellents on the Danish market that contain DEET: MosquitoFree and Apotekets Insect Spray. The products are approved under the Biocides Regulation and are therefore completely legal in Denmark. They are probably the most effective mosquito repellents on the Danish market. The DEET content in jungle oil is 20%, while it is 9.5% in MygFri and 40% in Apotekets Insect Spray.
Autan: the best DEET-free alternative to jungle oil
Autan is by far the best alternative to jungle oil. This is due to three things: 1) Autan is not harmful to health, 2) Autan is almost as effective as jungle oil and 3) Autan is approved by the Danish Environmental Protection Agency and therefore legal to use in Denmark.
We recommend Autan mosquito repellent because it is the most effective mosquito repellent on the Danish market
In addition, we recommend Autan Cooling Insect to reduce the itching and swelling of mosquito bites.
Facts about Autan
- Authorization: Autan was approved by the Danish Environmental Protection Agency in 2003, which is a seal of approval of the product's safety in relation to health
- StatusAutan is today the only legal chemical mosquito repellent in Denmark
- EffectAlthough the efficacy of all mosquito repellents varies from person to person, Autan is the most effective mosquito repellent on the Danish market
Natural mosquito repellents as an alternative
If you prefer other mosquito repellents than Autan, there is still a large selection on the Danish market. The vast majority of other mosquito repellents are - unlike Autan - not chemical, but based on essential oils or other natural ingredients.
Among the natural mosquito repellents, we particularly recommend the following products:
What is jungle oil?
Jungle oil is also called jungle oil or jungle oiland is a mosquito repellent that is applied to the skin or clothing. Jungle oil has a deterrent effect on mosquitoes and is highly effective.
Many Danes have heard of jungle oil because in the period 1996 - 2003 it was much more effective than all mosquito repellents on the Danish market. In 2003, the mosquito repellent Autan was launched on the Danish market, which is almost as effective as jungle oil.
Jungle oil's effect comes from the active ingredient diethyltoluamide, which is also known as DEET. This substance has long been suspected of being harmful to health. However, jungle oil is just one of countless foreign DEET mosquito repellents. The Swedish mosquito repellent Mygga - which many Danes have also heard of - is also a DEET repellent.
Is it illegal to buy jungle oil?
You are allowed to buy and use jungle oil abroad - but you are not allowed to bring it across the Danish border, as this is considered 'illegal import'. In practice, this means that you can buy a bottle of the original jungle oil in, for example, Sweden and use it there, but you cannot bring it back to Denmark.
There are occasionally a few Danish webshops that sell the original jungle oil, even though it is illegal. In addition, you sometimes also see Swedish webshops that market the jungle oil in e.g. Danish search engines, which is also illegal.
In other words, you are not allowed to buy the original jungle oil on the internet if you have a delivery address in Denmark.
The history of Jungleolia
Previously, jungle oil and Mygga, as well as a few other DEET products, were legal in Denmark.
Specifically, it was an American manufacturer of diethyltoluamide (DEET) that had been granted a time-limited approval by Environmental Protection Agency to market its products in Denmark. The approval expired in 1996, but the manufacturer was given the opportunity to extend it if documentation could be presented that DEET was harmless to health. It was also a requirement that the documentation had to be made publicly available. For reasons of competition, the manufacturer chose not to provide the documentation and the approval was therefore never extended.
Since then, DEET has also been found to have several adverse health effects. Today, DEET products are also banned in many other EU countries, while regulations in Sweden and to some extent Norway are less strict. Part of the explanation for this is of course political, but also that the mosquito problem is generally much bigger in Sweden and Norway than in Denmark, for example. The mosquito problem is especially severe in the northern parts of Sweden and Norway, where summer can be unbearable without DEET mosquito repellents.