Insecticides are substances used to kill insects. They include ovicides and larvicides used against insect eggs and larvae, respectively. Insecticides are used in agriculture, medicine, industry and by consumers. Insecticides are claimed to be a major factor behind the increase in the 20th-century's agricultural productivity. Nearly all insecticides have the potential to significantly alter ecosystems; many are toxic to humans and/or animals; some become concentrated as they spread along the food chain.
Pyrethrum was a genus of several Old World plants now classified as Chrysanthemum or Tanacetum which are cultivated as ornamentals for their showy flower heads. Pyrethrum continues to be used as a common name for plants formerly included in the genus Pyrethrum. Pyrethrum is also the name of a natural insecticide made from the dried flower heads of Chrysanthemum cinerariifolium and Chrysanthemum coccineum. Its active ingredient are pyrethrins.
Piperonyl butoxide (PBO) is a pale yellow to light brown liquid organic compound used as a synergist component of pesticide formulations. That is, despite having no pesticidal activity of its own, it enhances the potency of certain pesticides such as carbamates, pyrethrins, pyrethroids, and rotenone. It is a semisynthetic derivative of safrole.
The pyrethrins are a class of organic compounds normally derived from Chrysanthemum cinerariifolium that have potent insecticidal activity by targeting the nervous systems of insects. Pyrethrin naturally occurs in chrysanthemum flowers and is often considered an organic insecticide when it is not combined with piperonyl butoxide or other synthetic adjuvants. Their insecticidal and insect-repellent properties have been known and used for thousands of years.
Bifenthrin is a pyrethroid insecticide. It is widely used against ant infestations, including the invasive red fire ant, by influencing its nervous system. It has a high toxicity to aquatic organisms.
A pyrethroid is an organic compound similar to the natural pyrethrins, which are produced by the flowers of pyrethrums. Pyrethroids are used as commercial and household insecticides.
Fenvalerate is a synthetic pyrethroid insecticide. It is a mixture of four optical isomers which have different insecticidal activities. The 2-S alpha configuration, known as esfenvalerate, is the most insecticidally active isomer. Fenvalerate consists of about 23% of this isomer.
Permethrin, sold under the brand name Nix, among others, is a medication and an insecticide. As a medication, it is used to treat scabies and lice. It is applied to the skin as a cream or lotion. As an insecticide, it can be sprayed onto clothing or mosquito nets to kill the insects that touch them.
Formication is the sensation that resembles that of small insects crawling on the skin when there is nothing there. It is one specific form of a set of sensations known as paresthesias, which also include the more common prickling, tingling sensation known as "pins and needles". Formication is a well documented symptom, which has numerous possible causes. The word is derived from formica, the Latin word for ant.
Deltamethrin is a pyrethroid ester insecticide. Deltamethrin plays a key role in controlling malaria vectors, and is used in the manufacture of long-lasting insecticidal mosquito nets; however, resistance of mosquitos and bed bugs to deltamethrin is becoming widespread.
Phenothrin, also called sumithrin and d-phenothrin, is a synthetic pyrethroid that kills adult fleas and ticks. It has also been used to kill head lice in humans. d-Phenothrin is used as a component of aerosol insecticides for domestic use. It is often used with methoprene, an insect growth regulator that interrupts the insect's biological lifecycle by killing the eggs.
Dichlorodiphenyldichloroethane (DDD) is an organochlorine insecticide that is slightly irritating to the skin. DDD is a metabolite of DDT. DDD is colorless and crystalline; it is closely related chemically and is similar in properties to DDT, but it is considered to be less toxic to animals than DDT. The molecular formula for DDD is (ClC6H4)2CHCHCl2 or C14H10Cl4, whereas the formula for DDT is (ClC6H4)2CHCCl3 or C14H9Cl5.
Cyhalothrin is the ISO common name for an organic compound that, in specific isomeric forms, is used as a pesticide. It is a pyrethroid, a class of synthetic insecticides that mimic the structure and properties of the naturally occurring insecticide pyrethrin which is present in the flowers of Chrysanthemum cinerariifolium. Pyrethroids such as cyhalothrin are often preferred as an active ingredient in agricultural insecticides because they are more cost-effective and longer acting than natural pyrethrins. λ-and γ-cyhalothrin are now used to control insects and spider mites in crops including cotton, cereals, potatoes and vegetables.
Prallethrin is a pyrethroid insecticide. Prallethrin 1.6% w/w liquid vaporizer is a repellent insecticide which is generally used for the control of mosquitoes in the household.
A fogger is any device that creates a fog, typically containing an insecticide for killing insects and other arthropods. Foggers are often used by consumers as a low cost alternative to professional pest control services. The number of foggers needed for pest control depends on the size of the space to be treated, as stated for safety reasons on the instructions supplied with the devices. The fog may contain flammable gases, leading to a danger of explosion if a fogger is used in a building with a pilot light or other naked flame.
Cyfluthrin is a pyrethroid insecticide and common household pesticide. It is a complex organic compound and the commercial product is sold as a mixture of isomers. Like most pyrethroids, it is highly toxic to fish and invertebrates, but it is far less toxic to humans. It is generally supplied as a 10–25% liquid concentrate for commercial use and is diluted prior to spraying onto agricultural crops and outbuildings.
The California Department of Pesticide Regulation, also known as DPR or CDPR, is one of six boards and departments of the California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal/EPA).
Tefluthrin is the ISO common name for an organic compound that is used as a pesticide. It is a pyrethroid, a class of synthetic insecticides that mimic the structure and properties of the naturally occurring insecticide pyrethrin which is present in the flowers of Chrysanthemum cinerariifolium. Pyrethroids such as tefluthrin are often preferred as active ingredients in agricultural insecticides because they are more cost-effective and longer acting than natural pyrethrins. It is effective against soil pests because it can move as a vapour without irreversibly binding to soil particles: in this respect it differs from most other pyrethroids.
Sulfoxaflor, also marketed as Isoclast is a systemic insecticide which acts as an insect neurotoxin and is a member of a class of chemicals called sulfoximines which act on the central nervous system of insects.
Fenpropathrin, or fenopropathrin, is a widely used pyrethroid insecticide in agriculture and household. Fenpropathrin is an ingestion and contact synthetic pyrethroid. Its mode of action is similar to other natural (pyrethrum) and synthetic pyrethroids where in they interfere with the kinetics of voltage gated sodium channels causing paralysis and death of the pest. Fenpropathrin was the first of the light-stable synthetic pyrethroids to be synthesized in 1971, but it was not commercialized until 1980. Like other pyrethroids with an α-cyano group, fenpropathrin also belongs to the termed type II pyrethroids. Type II pyrethroids are a more potent toxicant than type I in depolarizing insect nerves. Application rates of fenpropathrin in agriculture according to US environmental protection agency (EPA) varies by crop but is not to exceed 0.4 lb ai/acre.
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