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Gateway on Pesticide Hazards and Safe Pest Management
How To Find Ingredients in Pesticide Products
Beyond Pesticides offers resources below to evaluate the health and ecological effects of specific chemical exposure from ACTIVE INGREDIENTS in pesticide products, as well as regulatory information and supporting scientific documents. Because various pesticide products can contain more than one active ingredient, it is important to READ the LABEL to determine chemical components.
With 192 different active ingredients and counting, it is essential to establish the connection between the use of these chemicals and their respective hazards.
View the step-by-step guide on how to search for the active ingredient(s) in pesticide products below:
- Go to U.S. EPA's Pesticide Product and Label System and enter the product name. The generic product name may vary.
- After searching, click on the chemical ingredients tab or the link for the most recent label to find Active Ingredients.
Chemical List Label List
If one selects the chemical ingredients tab, skip to Step 4 . If not, proceed to step number 3 - To find the active ingredient(s) on the label, search for the page in the document containing the date of registration. Usually, the active ingredients section occurs within the first few pages of the label document.
- Return to the Beyond Pesticides Gateway and search for the active ingredient name in the yellow box to the right or from the list below.
Thiamethoxam
General Information
- Product Names:
- Chemical Class: Neonictinoid
- Uses: Corn, bean, coffee, stone fruit, cucurbits, cotton, and turf
- Alternatives: Organic agriculture
- Beyond Pesticides rating: Toxic
Health and Environmental Effects
- Cancer: Not documented
- Endocrine Disruption: Not documented
- Reproductive Effects: Yes (47)
- Neurotoxicity: Not documented
- Kidney/Liver Damage: Yes (47)
- Sensitizer/ Irritant: Not documented
- Birth/Developmental: Not documented
- Detected in Groundwater: Not documented
- Potential Leacher: Yes (43)
- Toxic to Birds: Not documented
- Toxic to Fish/Aquatic Organisms: Not documented
- Toxic to Bees: Yes (MSDS)
Residential Uses as Found in the ManageSafe™ Database
Additional Information
- Regulatory Status:
- Beyond Pesticides' Neonicotinoid Comments (October 2024)
- Beyond Pesticides' comments on Preliminary Neonicotioid Assessments (04/2018)
- Beyond Pesticides' comments on Preliminary Bee Risk Assessment (7/2017)
- Thiamethoxam Registration Review
- EPA Actions on Pollinators
- Benefits of Neonicotinoid Seed Treatments to Soybean Production (EPA, 2014)
- Supporting information:
- EFSA risk assessments of three neonicotinoids – clothianidin, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam
- EU Commission: Neonicotinoids
- EFSA consultation for thiamethoxam (2016)
- Poisoned Waterways (Beyond Pesticides, 2017)
- Net Loss—Economic Efficacy And Costs Of Neonicotinoid Insecticides Used As Seed Coatings: Updates From The United States And Europe (Center for Food Safety, 2016)
- Heavy Costs: Weighing the Value of Neonicotinoid Insecticides in Agriculture (Center for Food Safety, 2014)
- The Xerces Society - Neonicotinoids and Bees
- PAN Pesticides Database: Thiamethoxam (Pesticide Action Network)
- Studies:
- A common neonicotinoid pesticide, thiamethoxam, impairs honey bee flight ability. Tosi, S, Burgio, G & Nieh, JC. 2017. Scientific Reportsvolume 7, Article number: 1201
- Effects of neonicotinoid pesticide exposure on human health: a systematic review. Cimino AM, Boyles AL, Thayer KA, Perry MJ. 2017. Environ Health Perspect. 125:155–162
- First national-scale reconnaissance of neonicotinoid insecticides in streams across the U.S.A. Hladik, M.L. and Kolpin, D.W., 2016. Environ. Chem., v. 13, pp. 12-20.
- Long-term effects of neonicotinoid insecticides on ants. Schläppi, D., Kettler, N., Straub, L., Glauser, G. and Neumann, P., 2020. Communications biology, 3(1), pp.1-9.
- Assessing Field‐Scale Risks of Foliar Insecticide Applications to Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus) Larvae. Krishnan, N., Zhang, Y., Bidne, K.G., Hellmich, R.L., Coats, J.R. and Bradbury, S.P., 2020. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 39(4), pp.923-941.
- Neonicotinoids: Still present in farmland birds despite their ban. Fuentes, E., Gaffard, A., Rodrigues, A., Millet, M., Bretagnolle, V., Moreau, J. and Monceau, K., 2023. Chemosphere, 321, p.138091.
- Prevalence of neonicotinoid insecticides in paired private-well tap water and human urine samples in a region of intense agriculture overlying vulnerable aquifers in eastern Iowa. Thompson, D.A., Kolpin, D.W., Hladik, M.L., Lehmler, H.J., Meppelink, S.M., Poch, M.C., Vargo, J.D., Soupene, V.A., Irfan, N.M., Robinson, M. and Kannan, K., 2023. Chemosphere, 319, p.137904.
- Comparing the effects of three neonicotinoids on embryogenesis of the South African clawed frog Xenopus laevis. Flach, H. et al. (2024) Comparing the effects of three neonicotinoids on embryogenesis of the South African clawed frog xenopus laevis, Current Research in Toxicology. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666027X24000227?via%3Dihub.
- Mixture effects of thiamethoxam and seven pesticides with different modes of action on honey bees (Aplis mellifera). Li, W. et al. (2023) Mixture effects of thiamethoxam and seven pesticides with different modes of action on honey bees (Aplis mellifera), Scientific Reports. Available at: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-29837-w#ref-CR30.
- Residues of agrochemicals in beebread as an indicator of landscape management. Bogo, G. et al. (2024) Residues of agrochemicals in beebread as an indicator of landscape management, Science of The Total Environment. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048969724042232?via%3Dihub.
- Neonicotinoid exposure increases Varroa destructor (Mesostigmata: Varroidae) mite parasitism severity in honey bee colonies and is not mitigated by increased colony genetic diversity. Bartlett, L.J. et al. (2024) Neonicotinoid exposure increases Varroa destructor (Mesostigmata: Varroidae) mite parasitism severity in honey bee colonies and is not mitigated by increased colony genetic diversity, Journal of Insect Science. Available at: https://academic.oup.com/jinsectscience/article/24/3/20/7683866.
- Unveiling bee pollen's contamination with pesticides and mycotoxins: Current analytical procedures, results and regulation. Carrera, M. et al. (2024) Unveiling bee pollen’s contamination with pesticides and mycotoxins: Current analytical procedures, results and regulation, Trends in Analytical Chemistry. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0165993624004187.
- Neonicotinoid pesticides: evidence of developmental neurotoxicity from regulatory rodent studies. Sass, J.B., Donley, N. and Freese, W. (2024) Neonicotinoid pesticides: evidence of developmental neurotoxicity from regulatory rodent studies, Frontiers in Toxicology. Available at: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/toxicology/articles/10.3389/ftox.2024.1438890/full.