Gateway on Pesticide Hazards and Safe Pest Management

Updates from the Daily News Blog

Study Maps the Gut Microbiome and Adverse Impacts of Pesticide Residues
June 11, 2025

Hypertension and High Blood Pressure Linked to Pesticide Metabolites in Elderly, According to Research
June 4, 2025

Farmers and Farmworkers Face DNA and Cellular Damage with Chronic Pesticide Exposure, Study Finds
May 29, 2025

Literature Reviews Add to Wide Body of Science Connecting Pesticides to Parkinson’s Disease
April 23, 2025

Literature Review of Over 200 Studies Highlights Pesticide Threats to Women’s Reproductive Health
April 8, 2025

Study Finds Increased Offspring Mortality in Pesticide-Laden Bird’s Nests
February 11, 2025

Study Links Numerous Chemical Families of Pesticides to Endocrine Disrupting Effects, Including Obesity
December 17, 2024

Review Cites Memory and Learning Impairments; Children, Workers, and Nontarget Organisms at Risk
December 12, 2024

Review of Pesticide Residues in Human Urine, Lower Concentrations with Organic Diet
August 21, 2024

Study Links Pesticide Exposure During Preconception and First Trimester to Stillbirth
August 14, 2024

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Cypermethrin

Includes alpha-cypermethrin

General Information

• Fact Sheets: Synthetic Pyrethroids.pdf, Cypermethrin.pdf
• Product Names:

  Bonide Cyper-Eight Concentrate (Bonide Products), formulated with petroleum distillates
  Ammo (FMC) 
  Arrivo 
  Barricade 
  Basathrin 
  Cymbush 
  Cymperator 
  Cynoff FMC 
  Cypercopal 
  Cyperguard 
  Cyperkill 
  Demon (Syngenta) 
  Crash! Wipe-On Insecticide/Repellent (Farnam), forumlated with Butoxypolypropylene glycol, Dipropyl isocinchomeronate, Piperonyl butoxide, Pyrethrins
  Crossfire Multi-Purpose (Farnam), forumlated with Allethrin, Piperonyl butoxide
  Prevail (FMC) 

• Chemical Class: Synthetic pyrethroid insecticide
• Uses: Agricultural use as a foliar application on food and feed crops including cotton, pecans, peanuts, broccoli, and sweet corn, livestock and horses. industrial, commercial, and residential sites; soil residual termiticide.
• Alternatives: Organic lawn care, Least-toxic insecticides, Organic Agriculture
• Beyond Pesticides rating: Toxic

Health and Environmental Effects

• Cancer: Possible (10)
• Endocrine Disruption: Yes (36)
• Reproductive Effects: Yes (13)
• Neurotoxicity: Yes (4)
• Kidney/Liver Damage: Yes (4)
• Sensitizer/ Irritant: Yes (6)
• Birth/Developmental: Yes (6)
• Detected in Groundwater: Not documented
• Potential Leacher: Not documented
• Toxic to Birds: Not documented
• Toxic to Fish/Aquatic Organisms: Yes (8)
• Toxic to Bees: Yes (8)

Residential Uses as Found in the ManageSafe™ Database

• Ants
• Carpenter Bees
• Centipedes
• Chiggers
• Fleas
• Wasps and Yellowjackets
• Termites
• Spiders
• Chinch Bugs
• Cockroaches
• Bagworms
• Bed Bugs
• Carpenter Ants
• Fire Ants

Additional Information

• Regulatory Status:
  • EPA Reregistration Eligibility Decision (RED) signed (1/2008)
• Supporting information:
  • Daily News Blog entries (Beyond Pesticides)
  • Asthma, Children and Pesticides (Beyond Pesticides)
  • NCAP Cypermethrin Factsheet (Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides)
  • Extoxnet Cypermethrin Factsheet (Extension Toxicology Network)
  • PAN Pesticides Database: Cypermethrin (Pesticide Action Network)
• Studies:
  • Common Pesticides Poison Homes (Beyond Pesticides)
  • Comparison of residents' pesticide exposure with predictions obtained using the UK regulatory exposure assessment approach.. Galea KS, MacCalman L, Jones K, Cocker J, et al. 2015. Regul Toxicol Pharmacol.73(2):634-43.
  • Cypermethrin alters the status of oxidative stress in the peripheral blood: relevance to Parkinsonism.. Tripathi P, Singh A, Agrawal S, et al. 2014. J Physiol Biochem. 70(4):915-24.
  • Cypermethrin induced pathological and biochemical changes in reproductive organs of female rats.. Sangha GK, Kaur K, Khera KS. 2013. J Environ Biol. 34(1):99-105
  • Cytotoxicity induced by cypermethrin in Human Neuroblastoma Cell Line SH-SY5Y.. Raszewski G, Lemieszek MK, Łukawski K. 2016. Ann Agric Environ Med. 23(1):106-10.
  • Developmental neurotoxic effects of two pesticides: Behavior and neuroprotein studies on endosulfan and cypermethrin.. Lee I, Eriksson P, et al. 2015. Toxicology. 335:1-10.
  • Dopaminergic system modulation, behavioral changes, and oxidative stress after neonatal administration of pyrethroids.. Nasuti C, Gabbianelli R, Falcioni ML, et al.2007. Toxicology. 229(3):194-205.
  • Evaluation of the Toxic Potentials of Cypermethrin Pesticide on Some Reproductive and Fertility Parameters in the Male Rats. Elbetieha, A, Da'as, SI et al. 2001. Arch Environ Contamn Tox. 41(4):522-528
  • Five office workers inadvertently exposed to cypermethrin. Lessenger JE. 1992. J Toxicol Environ Health 35: 261-267
  • In vitro-in vivo correlations for endocrine activity of a mixture of currently used pesticides.. Taxvig C, Hadrup N, Boberg J, et al. 2013. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol.272(3):757-66
  • Individual and combined effect of chlorpyrifos and cypermethrin on reproductive system of adult male albino rats. . Alaa-Eldin EA, El-Shafei DA, Abouhashem NS. 2016. Environ Sci Pollut Res. doi:10.1007/s11356-016-7912-6
  • Genetic Polymorphisms of Pesticide-Metabolizing Enzymes and Transporters in Agricultural Workers and Thyroid Hormone Levels. Sirivarasai, J., Chanprasertyothin, S., Kongtip, P. and Woskie, S. Risk Management and Healthcare Policy, 14, p.3435.
  • Individual and joint effects of glyphosate and cypermethrin formulations on two human cell lines. Coalova, I., March, H., de Molina, M.D.C.R. and Chaufan, G., 2023. Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology, 461, p.116398.
  • Occurrence of pesticide residues in indoor dust of farmworker households across Europe and Argentina.. Navarro, I., de la Torre, A., Sanz, P., Baldi, I., Harkes, P., Huerta-Lwanga, E., Nørgaard, T., Glavan, M., Pasković, I., Pasković, M.P. and Abrantes, N., 2023. Science of The Total Environment, p.167797.
  • Organic farming reduces pesticide load in a bird of prey. Fuentes, E. et al. (2024) Organic farming reduces pesticide load in a bird of prey, Science of The Total Environment. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969724029255.
  • Pre-Conception And First Trimester Exposure To Pesticides And Associations With Stillbirth. Furlong, M. et al. (2024) Pre-conception and first trimester exposure to pesticides and associations with stillbirth, American Journal of Epidemiology. Available at: https://academic.oup.com/aje/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/aje/kwae198/7714541.
  • A Comprehensive Review on Pesticide Residues in Human Urine. Hakme, E., Poulsen, M. and Lassen, A. (2024) A Comprehensive Review on Pesticide Residues in Human Urine, Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. Available at: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.jafc.4c02705.
  • Advances and future prospects of pyrethroids: Toxicity and microbial degradation. Singh, S. et al. (2022) Advances and future prospects of pyrethroids: Toxicity and microbial degradation, Science of The Total Environment. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048969722016540.
  • Subacute oral toxicity of combinations of selected synthetic pyrethroids, piperonyl butoxide, and tetramethrin in rats. Yavuz O, Aksoy A, Das YK, et al. (2013). Subacute oral toxicity of combinations of selected synthetic pyrethroids, piperonyl butoxide, and tetramethrin in rats. Toxicology and Industrial Health. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0748233712469651
  • Exposure to multiple pesticides and neurobehavioral outcomes among smallholder farmers in Uganda. Samuel Fuhrimann, Andrea Farnham, Philipp Staudacher, Aggrey Atuhaire, Tiziana Manfioletti, Charles B. Niwagaba, Sarah Namirembe, Jonathan Mugweri, Mirko S. Winkler, Lutzen Portengen, Hans Kromhout, Ana M. Mora, Exposure to multiple pesticides and neurobehavioral outcomes among smallholder farmers in Uganda, Environment International, Volume 152, 2021, 106477, ISSN 0160-4120, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2021.106477.
  • Impact of Endocrine Disrupting Pesticide Use on Obesity: A Systematic Review. Pérez-Bermejo, M. et al. (2024) Impact of Endocrine Disrupting Pesticide Use on Obesity: A Systematic Review, Biomedicines. Available at: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9059/12/12/2677.
  • Air contamination by legacy and current-use pesticides in Brazilian mountains: An overview of national regulations by monitoring pollutant presence in pristine areas. de Souza Guida, Y. et al. (2018) Air contamination by legacy and current-use pesticides in Brazilian mountains: An overview of national regulations by monitoring pollutant presence in pristine areas, Environmental Pollution. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0269749118314441.
  • Immune response of Brazilian farmers exposed to multiple pesticides . Jacobsen-Pereira, C.H. et al. (2020) ‘Immune response of Brazilian farmers exposed to multiple pesticides’, Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 202, p. 110912. doi:10.1016/j.ecoenv.2020.110912.
  • A Th2-type immune response and low-grade systemic inflammatory reaction as potential immunotoxic effects in intensive agriculture farmers exposed to pesticides . Lozano-Paniagua, D. et al. (2024) ‘A th2-type immune response and low-grade systemic inflammatory reaction as potential immunotoxic effects in intensive agriculture farmers exposed to pesticides’, Science of The Total Environment, 938, p. 173545. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.173545.
  • Pesticide-Induced Inflammation at a Glance. Lopes-Ferreira, M. et al. (2023) ‘Pesticide-induced inflammation at a glance’, Toxics, 11(11), p. 896. doi:10.3390/toxics11110896.
  • Cypermethrin exposure during perinatal period affects fetal development and impairs reproductive functions of F1 female rats. Singh, D., Irani, D., Bhagat, S., & Vanage, G. (2020). Cypermethrin exposure during perinatal period affects fetal development and impairs reproductive functions of F1 female rats. The Science of the total environment, 707, 135945. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.135945
  • Perinatal exposure to low doses of cypermethrin induce the puberty-related hormones and decrease the time to puberty in the female offspring. Gan, H., Zhu, B., Zhou, F., Ding, Z., Liu, J., & Ye, X. (2023). Perinatal exposure to low doses of cypermethrin induce the puberty-related hormones and decrease the time to puberty in the female offspring. Environmental science and pollution research international, 30(2), 2665–2675. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-22328-x
  • Testicular deficiency associated with exposure to cypermethrin, imidacloprid, and chlorpyrifos in adult rats. Abdel-Razik, R. K., Mosallam, E. M., Hamed, N. A., Badawy, M. E. I., & Abo-El-Saad, M. M. (2021). Testicular deficiency associated with exposure to cypermethrin, imidacloprid, and chlorpyrifos in adult rats. Environmental toxicology and pharmacology, 87, 103724. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.etap.2021.103724
  • Adverse Effects of Pesticides on the Ovary: Evidence from Epidemiological and Toxicological Studies. Wang, L., Ma, X. and Liu, J. (2025) Adverse Effects of Pesticides on the Ovary: Evidence from Epidemiological and Toxicological Studies, Environment & Health. Available at: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/envhealth.4c00243.
  • Occurrence of pyrethroids in the atmosphere of urban areas of Southeastern Brazil: Inhalation exposure and health risk assessment. Guida, Y., Pozo, K., Carvalho, G. O., Capella, R., Targino, A. C., Torres, J. P. M., & Meire, R. O. (2021). Occurrence of pyrethroids in the atmosphere of urban areas of Southeastern Brazil: Inhalation exposure and health risk assessment. Environmental pollution (Barking, Essex : 1987), 290, 118020. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2021.118020
  • Cypermethrin exposure reduces the ovarian reserve by causing mitochondrial dysfunction in granulosa cells. Wang, H., He, Y., Cheng, D., Pu, D., Tan, R., Gao, L., Cui, Y., & Wu, J. (2019). Cypermethrin exposure reduces the ovarian reserve by causing mitochondrial dysfunction in granulosa cells. Toxicology and applied pharmacology, 379, 114693. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.taap.2019.114693
  • Pyrethroids cypermethrin, deltamethrin and fenvalerate have different effects on in vitro maturation of pig oocytes at different stages of growth. Petr, Jaroslav & Chmelíková, Eva & Žalmanová, Tereza & Tumova, Lenka & Kheilova, Katerina & Kučerová-Chrpová, V & Jílek, F. (2012). Pyrethroids cypermethrin, deltamethrin and fenvalerate have different effects on in vitro maturation of pig oocytes at different stages of growth. Animal : an international journal of animal bioscience. 7. 1-9. 10.1017/S1751731112001140.
  • American Healthy Homes Survey: A National Study of Residential Pesticides Measured from Floor Wipes. Stout, D. M., 2nd, Bradham, K. D., Egeghy, P. P., Jones, P. A., Croghan, C. W., Ashley, P. A., Pinzer, E., Friedman, W., Brinkman, M. C., Nishioka, M. G., & Cox, D. C. (2009). American Healthy Homes Survey: a national study of residential pesticides measured from floor wipes. Environmental science & technology, 43(12), 4294–4300. https://doi.org/10.1021/es8030243
  • Oxidative stress and gene expression profiling of cell death pathways in alpha-cypermethrin-treated SH-SY5Y cells. Romero, A., Ramos, E., Ares, I. et al. Oxidative stress and gene expression profiling of cell death pathways in alpha-cypermethrin-treated SH-SY5Y cells. Arch Toxicol 91, 2151–2164 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00204-016-1864-y
  • Pyrethroid exposure alters internal and cuticle surface bacterial communities in Anopheles albimanus. Nsa Dada, Juan C Lol, Ana Cristina Benedict, Francisco López, Mili Sheth, Nicole Dzuris, Norma Padilla, Audrey Lenhart, Pyrethroid exposure alters internal and cuticle surface bacterial communities in Anopheles albimanus, The ISME Journal, Volume 13, Issue 10, October 2019, Pages 2447–2464, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41396-019-0445-5
  • Pesticide residues in fresh fruits imported into the United Arab Emirates. Osaili, Tareq & Sallagi, Maryam & Kumar, Dinesh & Odeh, Wael & Ali, Hajer & Ali, Ahmed & Cheikh Ismail, Leila & Mehri, Khadija & Pisharath, Vijayan & Holley, Richard & Shaker Obaid, Reyad. (2022). Pesticide residues in fresh fruits imported into the United Arab Emirates. Heliyon. 8. e11946. 10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e11946.
  • Assessment of genetic damage levels in agricultural workers exposed to pesticides in Paraíba, Brazil. Carvalho-Gonçalves, L. et al. (2025) Assessment of genetic damage levels in agricultural workers exposed to pesticides in Paraíba, Brazil, Environmental Toxicology and Pharmacology. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1382668925000900.
  • An assessment of exposure to several classes of pesticides in pet dogs and cats from New York, United States. Li, Z. M., Robinson, M., & Kannan, K. (2022). An assessment of exposure to several classes of pesticides in pet dogs and cats from New York, United States. Environment international, 169, 107526. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2022.107526
  • Monitoring of Non-Maximum-Residue-Level Pesticides in Animal Feed: A Study from 2019 to 2023. Giugliano, R., Armenio, V., Savio, V., Vaccaro, E., Ciccotelli, V., & Vivaldi, B. (2024). Monitoring of Non-Maximum-Residue-Level Pesticides in Animal Feed: A Study from 2019 to 2023. Toxics, 12(9), 680. https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics12090680
  • Mapping pesticide-induced metabolic alterations in human gut bacteria. Chen, L. et al. (2025) Mapping pesticide-induced metabolic alterations in human gut bacteria, Nature Communications. Available at: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-59747-6.