<p>Concerned about the spread of West Nile Virus and other mosquito-borne diseases, two inventive Georgians have turned an inexpensive gasoline-powered lawnmower into a mosquito-killing machine for budget-minded homeowners.</p><p>"Even if there was no West Nile, one of the most irritating things in the world is mosquitos," said Dean Robbins, who became frustrated with the swarms of mosquitos that spoiled his family's cookouts and yard work. He turned to his friend, retired engineer Warren Hall, for help.</p><p>After some brainstorming, they came up with an idea for a mosquito fogger that uses heat from a lawnmower's exhaust to produce a fog. The user aims an exhaust pipe extension into shrubs and trees while mowing. The fog kills mosquitoes that hang out in the foliage during the daytime.</p><p>"We're all going to cut our grass," Robbins said. "You might as well do two things at once."</p><p>Their lawnmower fogger consists of a plastic reservoir for insecticide mounted on the mower's handle. Below the reservoir is a valve that regulates insecticide flowing through the tube to a vaporizing chamber. Hot exhaust gasses heat the chamber and turn the chemical into a white, mosquito-zapping cloud that shoots out the side of the mower.</p><p>"It worked so well, we started thinking, 'Maybe we should market it,'" Hall said.</p><p>Now that they have it protected with a patent application, they are looking for a company to manufacture and distribute it.</p><p>They say their goal was to develop a system that "Mr. Average" could purchase without straining the family budget.</p><p>Although they haven't worked out a price, they say it should sell for considerably less than the popular Black Flag Fogger, a $60 hand-held unit powered by either propane or electricity, or Coleman's Mosquito Deleto systems which sell for $170 to $400, or the various models of American Biophysics Corp.'s Mosquito Magnet, which range from about $260 to $1,200.</p><p>"The idea was to build something that could be bought by anyone," Hall said.</p><p>The Mosquito Deleto and Mosquito Magnet are passive systems that attract and kill mosquitos. In contrast, the Black Flag fogger and the lawn mower require human action.</p><p>"With this device, you feel you're doing something for yourself, instead of beating on the door of City Hall saying, 'Why aren't you fogging my yard?'" Robbins said.</p><p>The fogging mower uses a common EPA-approved mosquito insecticide containing 0.2 percent resmethrine. It is distributed by Black Flag, one of the leading suppliers of consumer bug-fighing products, for use in its hand-held foggers.</p><p>With the growing mosquito concern, sales of the Black Flag fogger have grown about 15 to 19 percent per year for the past few years, said Steve Hill, the company's president. Consumers hold the fogger and aim the cloud into shrubs and trees.</p><p>"When you fog, you're going to be pretty much mosquito-free for the rest of the day, but it takes an active person," he said.</p><p>Robbins has no desire to use products that attract mosquitos before killing them.</p><p>"We kill 'em," he said. "We don't see any reason to attract them. Maybe it's more humane. But I just don't have a problem killing mosquitos."</p><p>Hall and Robbins hope to persuade a Georgia company to make their device, since it would mean more jobs and economic development for their state.</p><p>During a demonstration, Hall pushed the mower around the shrubs in his yard and the fog sometimes enshrouded him.</p><p>"It doesn't bother me at all," he said. "I don't think I've got a third eye off my nose. I have no need to sneeze or cough."</p><p>Hill said Black Flag tried a lawnmower fogger in the 1980s before he joined the company. He said he didn't know why the company no longer makes it.</p><p>His advice to the Georgia inventors: have frequent talks with consumers during the development process.</p><p>The Black Flag insecticide has been used for more than 40 years, it's EPA registered and proven safe, but the fog "is not something you want to stand in," Hill said. "That's the downside of doing it on your lawnmower."</p>
