Health and Insecticides

Pyrethroids are synthetic chemicals similar to pyrethrins in the pyrethrum extract which is obtained from Chrysanthemum plant. Historically, pyrethroids have been classified into two classes that differ in their chemical structure and symptoms of exposure: Type I pyrethroids include allethrin, tetramethrin, d-phenothrin, permethrin, and bioresmethrin. Type II pyrethroids include cypermethrin, cyphenothrin, deltamethrin, cyfluthrin, fenvalerate , (Klaassen et al, 1996; Ray, 1991). Pyrethroid kills the insects that eat or come in contact with it by quickly affecting the insect’s central nervous system (Tomlin, 1994; Costa, 1997). Cypermethrin is one of the most widely used type II pyrethroid insecticide, first synthesized in 1974 (WHO, 1989; Patel et al, 2006).