Pyrethroids: Not as safe as you think
©2000 Melissa Kaplan
are the pyrethroids?
The fact that they are derived from plants causes some people to think - a point played up by companies using this toxin in their products - that they are safe. Lots of plants are toxic, some in small quantities, others in large. Just because it comes from something lush and ornamental does not mean it can't be lethal. Oleander, azalea, mistletoe, and foxglove are just a few of the pretty - and highly toxic - plants with which we live.
Permethrin is a synthetic pyrethrin (C21H20Cl2O3). In other words, it is a man-made poison that is a copy of two poisons found in plants.
Ectoparasiticide: It has a potential application for forest protection and vector control for the control of noxious insects in the household and on cattle, for the control of body lice, and in mosquito nets.
Nematocide, Acaricide: Control of larvae (and also adults and eggs) of chewing lepidopterous and coleopterous insect pests on pome fruit, stone fruit, berry fruit, citrus fruit, vines, olives, vegetables, cereals, maize, oilseed rape, cotton, tobacco, soya beans, and in conifer nurseries; whiteflies and other glasshouse pests on glasshouse cucumbers, tomatoes, and ornamentals; and sciarid flies and phorid flies on mushrooms.
Also used for control of crawling and flying insects (e.g. flies, ants, fleas, cockroaches, silverfish, etc.) in public health, and in agricultural premises including animals houses; and as an ectoparasiticide on animals.
Widely used in home and garden pest sprays and in schools, both in the buildings and on the grounds.
To ensure long-lasting effects, the pyrethroid may be mixed with a fixative to make it stay on plants and soil longer, and other chemicals, such as piperonyl butoxide, which prevent the insects from detoxifying, and "inert ingredients". One of the problems is that manufacturers are not required to list the inert ingredients - even though they may themselves be highly toxic or cause know allergic and other reactions in organisms exposed to them - such as you, your children, and your pets.
Some insects have developed ways to detoxify the naturally occurring pyrethrums encountered when feeding on the nectar of feverfew and chrysanthemums, a not uncommon adaptive response. Unfortunately, while insects and plants have had millions of years to work out these survival pathways, we humans haven't.
An increasing number of insects have developed high levels of resistance to pyrethroids, such as cockroaches, head lice, and tobacco budworm, pear psylla, fall army-worm, German cockroach, spotted tentiform leafminer, diamondback moth, house fly, stable fly, head lice, and tobacco budworm. Many of these species are resistant to more than one pyrethroid. Because insects reproduce - and adapt - far more quickly than do vertebrates, they are far better able to evolve defenses against the toxins we throw at them, resulting in an ever expanding range of poisons developed and thrown into our environment.
Pyrethroids, like all toxins, are indiscriminate: they affect all the organisms who come into contact with them in the air, on plants, on the ground, in the soil, and in the water. While your local grower - or you - may be applying it to deal with a specific pest, the products affect everything around it. And, since particulates are easily airborne, they travel, often great distances, from the actual point of application.
Skin contact: rash, itching, or blisters.
Long term effects: disrupts the endocrine system by mimicking the female hormone, estrogen, thus causing excessive estrogen levels in females. In human males, its estrogenizing (feminizing) effects include lowered sperm counts. In both, it can lead to the abnormal growth of breast tissue, leading to development of breasts in males and cancerous breast tissue in both male and females.
Neurotoxic effects include: tremors, incoordination, elevated body temperature, increased aggressive behavior, and disruption of learning. Laboratory tests suggest that permethrin is more acutely toxic to children than to adults.
Other: A known carcinogen. There is evidence that pyrethroids harm the thyroid gland. Causes chromosomal damage in hamsters and mice; deformities in amphibians; blood abnormalities in birds.
Eyes: eye irritation.
Long term effects: A known carcinogen.
Inert Ingredients: Some known ones include:
what's the big deal?
what's the alternative?
In the home, there are a wide range of non-toxic alternatives depending on what type of pest you are trying to control. Information and links on IMP and home alternatives can be found at my Natural Pest Control page and at the Institute of IPM site.
If you are trying to get rid of reptile mites, there are ways to do it without the use of any toxin on or near the reptile, or even in the enclosure. See my Reptile Mites article for more information.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language,
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