An insect repellent firm is urging customers to use its sprays to protect against bugs, not coronavirus.
Pyramid Products, owned by the Scotmas Group, saw interest surge by more than 1,000 per cent after new research suggested a product in popular sprays could help kill the Covid-19 virus.
After the study’s preliminary findings were published on Wednesday, Pyramid saw daily enquiries for its range of tick and midge repellents soar by more than 10 times their usual rate.
Alistair Cameron, managing director of Scotmas Group, said: “We have absolutely no interest whatsoever in profiting from unproven research."
He continued: “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 Ministry of Defence 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.
