Properties and applications of pyrethroids.

Improved understanding of the factors determining the insecticidal activity, the mammalian toxicity, and the stability in air and light of natural and synthetic pyrethroids has led to a series of new compounds with a very favorable combination of properties. Their characteristics include outstanding potency to insects, low toxicity to mammals associated with rapid metabolic breakdown and, in appropriate cases, adequate stability on plant surfaces even in bright sunlight. Initial tests indicate that even the more stable compounds are degraded rapidly in soil, so if the trials at present in progress reveal no toxicological or environmental hazards, within a few years synthetic pyrethroids should be available to control a wide range of domestic, veterinary, horticultural, agricultural, and forest pests at low rates of application.