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What Are the Dangers of Pyrethrin?

Insecticides play an important role in keeping homes, farms, people and animals free of potentially harmful insects. While serving an important purpose, insecticides like pyrethrins could potentially be hazardous to the community. Pyrethrins have relatively low toxicity levels but research shows they should still be handled with care.

  1. Identification

    • According to the Toxicology Extension Network, Pyrethrins are natural insecticides produced by species of the chrysanthemum plant. After blooming, the flowers are harvested and pyrethrin is produced by drying the flowers, producing a powder from the dried flower or extracting oils with solvents.

    Uses

    • Pyrethrins affect the nervous system of insects, acting as a contact poison. They are primarily used to control human lice, mosquitoes, cockroaches, beetles and flies. Variants of the insecticide are also used on horticultural crops while compounds may be used in grain storage and in lice and flea products for dogs and cats.

    Toxicity in Animals

    • According to the National Pesticide Information Center (NPIC), pyrethrins are ones of the lease poisonous insecticides to mammals. Despite their low toxicity, rats exposed to pyrethrins experience rapid or difficulty breathing, lack of coordination, aggression and sensitivity to external stimuli.

    Toxicity in Humans

    • Human can experience reactions to pyrethrins as well. In findings reported by the NPIC, human exposure can produce symptoms including coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath, nasal congestion, chest pain and difficulty breathing. Contact with the skin can cause irritated skin, itching and blistering.

    Cancer

    • To date, scientists have little to no data on human work-related or accidental exposure cases that indicate whether pyrethrins cause cancer in humans. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) has reported that pyrethrins generally show carcinogenic effects in animals when animals have consumed large quantities of the insecticide over an extended period of time. The true carcinogenic impact of pyrethrins on animals and humans is still subject to continued testing and research.

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