Are Pyrethroids Safe?

Pyrethroids are insecticides widely used inagriculture and gardening. They form a group ofchemically different compounds with a high degree ofefficacy and low human toxicity. Pyrethroids areoften regarded as a modern of 'safe' insecticides,because they are rapidly metabolised in mammals andecosystems, which explains their low toxicity.The natural pyrethroid compounds, pyrethrins, werealready known in China in the first century AD. Inthe 1940s the producing of synthetic pyrethroidsbegan, and pyrethroid compounds are now routinelysynthetised by the agrochemical industry. The neurotoxicity of pyrethroids is based on theireffects on the neuronal cell membrane. The non-neurotoxic effects referred to are e.g. allergeniceffects, estrogenic effects and interaction with thecell cycle. The present study showed that the neural membraneintegral protein ATPase is a target for the effectsof pyrethroids. The in vitro study on breastcarcinoma cell line showed the possibly estrogen-like effect of pyrethroids.... Mehr