Pyrethrum is the oldest insecticide known to man and well recognized for low mammalian toxicity and non-persistence in the environment. It rapidly knocks-down and kills a wide variety of insect pests such as cockroaches, mosquitoes, fleas, houseflies, etc.






It is also widely used in horticulture and by growers of organic crops for the control of leaf hoppers and other common pests. Major use areas include:

Indoor Residential (Home & Garden)
Household Aerosols (FIK & CIK)
Trigger Sprayers
Mosquito Coils & Mats
LED's
Shampoos for pets

Indoor Food
Sprays & Fogs for Farms & Dairies
Protection of Food Processing & Handling
Protection of Stored Products
Sequential Aerosols for Restaurants

Terrestrial Non-Food
Mosquito Control
Public Health Measures (Flies)

Terrestrial Food
Organic crops protection
Minor crops protection
Horticulture

Most formulations will contain a synergist such as Piperonyl Butoxide to enhance the performance. Recently many "organic" products omit these synergists for reasons of purity. Instead vegetable oils are added.


Characteristics and Benefits
Natural Pyrethrum possesses a unique combination of insecticidal properties which have made it the most useful allround insecticide available today.

These qualities include:

Safety-----------
It is one of the safest insecticides known, as it has a very low Mammalian toxicity, and is rapidly metabolised if accidentally swallowed by warm blooded animals.

Flushing action-----------
Disturbs insects so that they move out of their hiding places and expose themselves to the insecticidal spray. Pyrethrum has greater 'flushing' power than any other commercial insecticide.

Fast knockdown and kill-------------
Against insects, it has a very rapid paralytic action, knocking them down followed by kill.

Repellency--------------
Pyrethrum is repellent to insects at very low concentrations, a property used in the protection of stored grain, the preparations of insect resistant packaging, and in deterring mosquitoes, both by spray-on repellents and mosquito coils. In addition, the smoke from Pyrethrum-based mosquito coils will inhibit mosquitoes from biting.

Biodegradeable, non-pollutant--------------
Pyrethrum is rapidly degraded by sunlight into harmless breakdown products, but at the same time it can be safely stored for years in suitable containers.

Minimal insect resistance--------------
Despite its long history of use, very few cases of insects resistance to Pyrethrum have been discovered, and these have mainly arisen as a result of cross-tolerance conferred by the insects developing resistance to another insecticide. This is in strong contrast to synthetic insecticides where innumerable cases of resistance have been discovered throughout the world.

Broad spectrum of activity---------------
Pyrethrum is effective against a wide range of insect pests including mosquitoes, cockroaches, fleas, flies, aphids, etc. Thus a single can of a suitably formulated aerosol can be safely used against any insect found in the house or garden.