Permethrin
Identification Number: CASRN | 52645-53-1

  Substance Attributes

• Carcinogenic Properties

  Accumulating evidence points to cancer potential. Exercise caution with this substance, explore your exposure routes and consider complete avoidance. See further details under Toxins.

• Metabolic Interference or Disruption

  Interferes with human metabolism. This can be a very serious thing. Some of these interference mechanics are well established. However, often long term effects and health consequences remain largely unknown. Additionally an emerging area of concern and one that is not currently studied, is the combined synergistic effects these metabolically disrupting chemicals have on human health.

  
  

  Metabolic interference happens when the substance produces highly reactive and often damaging intermediates during detoxification or when the substance binds to specific enzymes, important structural groups on molecules, receptors and membranes or targets DNA or mimics key nutrients.

• Exposure Produces Health Symptoms

  Symptoms maybe short term or long term depending on the exposure duration and intensity and effects areas like Cardiovascular, Gastrointestinal, Cognition, Fatigue. A substance with this attribute may cause an allergic skin reaction, serious eye irritation, allergy or asthma symptoms or breathing difficulties if inhaled.

• Toxic to Bees

  Bees pollinate plants. No pollination no plants. No plants no food. We go hungry or starve.

• Has known Side Effects

  This is often the result of long or short term medication use. The same medication can have a range of side effects ranging from none at all to totally debilitating symptoms within different individuals. Reasons for this include individual genetics, individual detoxification capacity, nutrition status, duration of use and total number of medications being taken.

  
  

  It becomes very difficult to establish clear causes of symptoms when multiple medications are being taken at once.

  
  

  See SIDE EFFECTS LINKOUT at end of this profile.

These attributes are ONLY based on peer-reviewed evidence. See link to Data Sources below. Everyone benefits from knowing this stuff. Please Share.

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• CATEGORIES: Medication or Drug | Pesticide | Household Toxin | Synthetic Toxin | PESTICIDE active ingredient | organic | insecticide | acaricide | Pesticide or Plant Growth Regulator Approved in Australia | Pesticide approved in USA (California) | Highly Toxic and Dangerous to bees. Currently used in USA | Australia as a pesticide | A Hazardous Substance that may be found in the Australian Workplace | Medication Approved in Australian (on the PBS) | Medication Approved in USA
• SUBSTANCE LINEAGE: Organic Compounds | Lipids and Lipid-Like Molecules | Fatty Acyls | Fatty Acid Esters | Pyrethroids
• SYNONYMS: (3-Phenoxyphenyl)methyl (+-)-cis,trans-3-(2,2-dichloroethenyl)-2,2-dimethylcyclopropanecarboxylate | 3-(2,2-Dichloroethenyl)-2,2-dimethylcyclopropane carboxylic acid | (3-phenoxyphenyl) methyl ester | Acticin | Elimite | Lyclear | Nix
• DESCRIPTION: Permethrin is only found in individuals that have used or taken this drug. It is a pyrethroid insecticide commonly used in the treatment of lice infestations and scabies. It is a yellow to light orange-brown, low melt-ing solid or viscous liquid.Permethrin acts on the nerve cell membrane to disrupt the sodium channel current by which the polarization of the membrane is regulated. Delayed repolarization and paralysis of the pests are the consequences of this disturbance.
• COMMENTS: Residues of this pesticide are tested for on Australian Foods | Pesticide approved in Australia Dangerous to bees. DO NOT spray any plants in flower where bees are foraging.
  
  From Safe Work Australia and the Hazardous Substances Information System (HSIS) in Australia:
  
  | | A Hazardous Substance that may be found in the Australian Workplace. Check with your employer or health and safety officer. Stay informed and become aware of the dangers that surround you. This chemical is included on the list of recognised hazardous chemicals from the Safe Work Australia - Hazardous Substances Information System (HSIS) that is based on the Globally Harmonised System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS)
  
  Work Health and Safety (WHS) Regulations are the basis for hazardous chemicals regulations in Commonwealth, State and Territory jurisdictions in Australia. Under the model WHS Regulations, manufacturers and importers of substances, mixtures and articles supplied for use in workplaces are required to determine whether they are hazardous to health and safety before supply. The model WHS Regulations mandate that the hazards of a chemical as determined by the Globally Harmonised System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) must be included in safety data sheets and on labels. There are transitional arrangements in place for moving to the GHS-based system.
  
  The GHS Hazardous Chemical Information List contains chemicals classified by an authoritative source (such as the European Commission or NICNAS) in accordance with the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (the GHS). This list contains the vast majority of chemicals currently in HSIS. This list and its detail are regularly updated by Work Safe Australia. The model Work Health and Safety (WHS) Regulations require chemicals to be classified in accordance with the Globally Harmonised System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS). However transitional arrangements allow use of classification information in HSIS derived from the Approved Criteria until the 31 December 2016.
• 
• FORMULA: C21H20Cl2O3
• DATA SOURCES: DATA SOURCES: ARTICLE 4 | T3DB | PubChem | IARC | Consolidated Pesticide Information Dataset (CPI) from the USA EPA | Compendium of Pesticide Common Names | APVMA | DPR | Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation; Honeybee pesticide poisoning: a risk management tool for Australian farmers and beekeepers 2012 | Beekeeping -Department of Entomology - PROTECTING HONEY BEES FROM PESTICIDES, Christian H. Krupke et al.; www.extension.purdue.edu | Safe Work Australia - Hazardous Substances Information System (HSIS) | Drugbank | Australian Approved Medications PBS | USA FDA APPROVED DRUG PRODUCTS
• LAST UPDATE: 28/04/2018

  Health Associations

Mostly focused on Health Implications of Long Term Exposure to this substance

• SYMPTOMS: Following oral exposure, severe fine tremor, marked reflex hyperexcitability, sympathetic activation can occur. Nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain commonly occur and develop following ingestion. Sudden bronchospasm, swelling of oral and laryngeal mucous membranes, and anaphylactoid reactions have been reported after inhalation. Hypersensitivity reactions characterized by pneumonitis, cough, dyspnea, wheezing, chest pain, and bronchospasm may occur too . Dermatitis is the main effect of a dermal exposure to permethrin. (T36)
• POSSIBLE HEALTH CONSEQUENCES: As for every type I pyrethroids , permethrin effects typically include rapid onset of aggressive behavior and increased sensitivity to external stimuli, followed by fine tremor, prostration with coarse whole body tremor, elevated body temperature, coma, and death. Paresthesia, severe corneal damage, hypotension and tachycardia, associated with anaphylaxis can also occur following permethrin poisoning. (L857) | The proposed metabolic pathway for cis- and trans-permethrin are as follows. The five principle sites of metabolic attack in both permethrin isomers is ester cleavage, oxidation at the trans- and cis-methyl of the geminal dimethyl group of the acid moiety, and oxidation at 2'- and 4'- position of the phenoxy group. Conjugation of the resultant carboxylic acids, alcohols, and phenols with glucuronic acid, glycine, and sulfuric acid occurs to varying extent. cis-Permethrin is more stable then trans-permethrin, and the cis isomer yields four faecally excreted ester metabolites that results from hydroxylation at the 2'- or 4'-position of the phenoxy group or at the trans- or cis methyl group on the cyclopropane ring. The estercleaved metabolites are extensively excreted into the urine whereas the metabolites retaining an ester bond are found only in the feces. The major metabolite from the acid moiety of both isomers was Cl2CA in free (1-8%) and glucuronide (14-42%) forms. Other significant metabolites are trans-OH-Cl2CA (1-5%) and cis-OH-Cl2CA in the free (3-5%), lactone (0-4%) and glucuronide (1-2%) forms. On the other hand, the alcohol moiety released after cleavage of the ester bond of both isomers is converted mainly to the sulfate of 3-(4'-hydroxyphenoxy)benzoic acid (4'-OH-PBacid) (29-43% of the dose) and PBacid in the free (1-10%) and glucuronide (7-15%) forms. Other significant metabolites of the alcohol moiety are PBalc, PBacid-glycine and the sulfate of 3-(2'-hydroxyphenoxy) benzoic acid (2'-OH-PBacid). A study by Nakamura et al. proposed that permethrin was hydrolyzed by CES (carboxylesterase), then PBAlc formed was oxidized to PBAld, and further, PBAld was oxidized to PBAcid by the P450 system in rat liver microsomes. (A559, A256) Route of Elimination: Permethrin is rapidly metabolized by ester hydrolysis to inactive metabolites which are excreted primarily in the urine.
• ACTION OF TOXIN: Pyrethroids exert their effect by prolonging the open phase of the sodium channel gates when a nerve cell is excited. They appear to bind to the membrane lipid phase in the immediate vicinity of the sodium channel, thus modifying the channel kinetics. This blocks the closing of the sodium gates in the nerves, and thus prolongs the return of the membrane potential to its resting state. The repetitive (sensory, motor) neuronal discharge and a prolonged negative afterpotential produces effects quite similar to those produced by DDT, leading to hyperactivity of the nervous system which can result in paralysis and/or death. Other mechanisms of action of pyrethroids include antagonism of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-mediated inhibition, modulation of nicotinic cholinergic transmission, enhancement of noradrenaline release, and actions on calcium ions. (T18, L857) | This pyrethroid inhibits Na+/K+ ATPase and Ca2+ and Mg2+ ATPase, which are essential for the transport of calcium across membranes. This results in the accumulation of intracellular free calcium ions, which promotes release of neurotransmitters from storage vesicles, the subsequent depolarization of adjacent neurons, and the propagation of stimuli throughout the central nervous system. (T10)
• TOXIN SITES OF ACTION IN CELL: "Extracellular", "Membrane"
• Additional Exposure Routes: For the treatment of infestation with Sarcoptes scabiei (scabies). Pyrethroids are used as insecticides. (L857)
SEE MEDICATION SIDE EFFECTS

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