A study on the release of metofluthrin (a mosquito repellant compound) from a thin film of a cellulosic polymer matrix and the effect of various factors influencing release was undertaken. Experiments were carried out with metofluthrin impregnated cellulose films, kept at the center of a room, to primarily determine the effect of four factors on the amount of metofluthrin released in the room: temperature, initial metofluthrin loading in the film, velocity of air and surface area of the film. Modeling was done using unsteady state mass balances, with an assumption that diffusivity of metofluthrin inside the film follows an Arrhenius dependence on temperature, while the mass transfer coefficient from film to air follows a linear dependence on the velocity of air. The model explained all our experimental trends quantitatively. Finally, accuracy of the model was validated by successful prediction of experimental release data of another metofluthrin-impregnated, emanator-system reported in the literature. (C) 2016 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.