Dichlorvos

Dichlorvos (2,2-dichlorovinyl dimethyl phosphate), or DDVP is a highly volatile organophosphate, widely used as a fumigant to control household, public health, and stored product insects. It is effective against mushroom flies, aphids, spider mites, caterpillars, thrips, and whiteflies in greenhouse, outdoor fruit, and vegetable crops, and also for the milling and grain handling industries. Dichlorvos is used to treat a variety of parasitic worm infections in dogs, livestock, and humans, and can be fed to livestock to control bot fly larvae in the manure. It acts against insects as both a contact and a stomach poison. It is available as an aerosol and soluble concentrate. It is also used as a household pesticide, typically encountered in the form of pet collars and "no-pest strips" of pesticide-impregnated plastic. The United States Environmental Protection Agency first considered a ban on DDVP in 1981. Since then it has been close to being banned on several occasions, but continues to be available; concerns are primarily over acute and chronic toxicity, as there is no conclusive evidence of carcinogenicity to date.

References

• Extension Toxicology Network fact sheet
• Media Release from Australian Pesticides & Veterinary Medicines Authority
• Raeburn, Paul (Aug 2006). "Slow-Acting: After 25 years the EPA still won't ban a risky pesticide". Scientific American 295 (2): 26.