Pesticides What is a pesticide ? A pesticide is any substance or mixture of substances intended for: • Preventing There are mosquito pesticides that are used in water to kill only mosquito larvae and pupae and in the air to kill only adult mosquitoes. The parts of the products that are poisonous to the mosquito are the active ingredients. The two most common pesticides used in the residential mosquito misting systems are categorized as Permethrum and Pyrethrums. What is Permethrum? Permethrum is an insecticide (kills or controls insects) registered with the US EPS and first marketed in 1977. Permethrum falls under the classification of a pyrethroid. It is a synthetic chemical similar to the natural insecticide pyrethrum which comes from the chrysanthemum plant, but it remains effective for longer periods of time. What is Pyrethrum? About 200 years ago someone living in central Asia discovered, by accident, that dried, crushed
flowers of certain chrysanthemums were toxic to insects. During the Napoleonic Wars
(1804-1815) this "insect powder" was used to control flea and body lice infestations by French soldiers. Since then, pyrethrum has been used in many forms for effective, low toxicity insect control. However, because natural pyrethrum has almost no stability in sunlight it is not used in commercial agriculture. |
|