Toxicologic Information About Insecticides
Used for Eradicating Mosquitoes
(West Nile Virus Control)
April 2005
The Division of Toxicology of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) prepared this document in response to queries to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and ATSDR regarding environmental health issues associated with insecticide applications that have been or may be used for eradicating mosquitoes, particularly the mosquito that is a vector of West Nile Virus transmission. The insecticides summarized in this document are four organophosphates (fenthion, malathion, naled, and temephos); three of the pyrethroids (resmethrin, phenothrin, and permethrin); and the larvicide, methoprene.
The document provides health assessors within ATSDR and other public health officials with a single source of summaries of toxicologic issues of the insecticides of interest. Along with background information about insecticide use, environmental factors, the potential for human exposure, health effects/toxicity in humans and animals, toxicokinetics, and standards and guidelines for protecting human health, toxicity data are summarized in tables that provide no-observed-adverse-effect levels and lowest-observed-adverse-effect levels for endpoints for each study.
The organophosphate insecticides have varying degrees of acute toxicity, with temephos and malathion appearing to be the least toxic, followed by naled, and fenthion. The pyrethroids have relatively low mammalian toxicity, being typically used as insecticides for both home and commercial use. Methroprene is an insect growth regulator and is used as a larvicide. It has very low toxicity for animals and humans.
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