Gateway on Pesticide Hazards and Safe Pest Management

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:

1. Go to U.S. EPA's Pesticide Product and Label System and enter the product name. The generic product name may vary.
   
2. 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
   
   
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.
   
   
4. 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. 
   
   

Acetamiprid

General Information

• Product Names:

  Assail (Nippon)
  Intruder (Nippon)
  Tristar (Nippon)

• Chemical Class: Neonicotinoid Insecticide
• Uses: Agriculture, Lawns/broadleaf plants
• Alternatives: Organic agriculture, Organic lawn care
• Beyond Pesticides rating: Toxic

Health and Environmental Effects

• Cancer: Insufficient Studies
• Endocrine Disruption: Possible (187)
• Reproductive Effects: Possible (185, 187)
• Neurotoxicity: Yes (34, 183, 184)
• Kidney/Liver Damage: Yes (188, 189, 190)
• Sensitizer/ Irritant: No (191)
• Birth/Developmental: Possible (185, 191)
• Detected in Groundwater: Possible (192)
• Potential Leacher: Possible (191, 193)
• Toxic to Birds: Likely (191)
• Toxic to Fish/Aquatic Organisms: Yes (186)
• Toxic to Bees: Yes (39)

Residential Uses as Found in the ManageSafe™ Database

• Ants
• Cockroaches
• Bed Bugs
• Termites

Additional Information

• Regulatory Status:
  • EPA Factsheet (3/2002)
• Supporting information:
  • PAN Pesticides Database: (Pesticide Action Network)
• Studies:
  • Low concentration acetamiprid-induced oxidative stress hinders the growth and development of silkworm posterior silk glands. Lu, Z., Ye, W., Feng, P., Dai, M., Bian, D., Ren, Y., Zhu, Q., Mao, T., Su, W., Li, F. and Sun, H., 2021. Pesticide Biochemistry and Physiology, 174, p.104824.
  • 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
  • Genotoxic effects of a particular mixture of acetamiprid and α‐cypermethrin on chromosome aberration, sister chromatid exchange, and micronucleus formation in human peripheral blood lymphocytes. Kocaman, A.Y. and Topaktaş, M., 2010. Environmental Toxicology: An International Journal, 25(2), pp.157-168.
  • Two cases of acute poisoning with acetamiprid in humans. Imamura, T., Yanagawa, Y., Nishikawa, K., Matsumoto, N. and Sakamoto, T., 2010. Clinical toxicology, 48(8), pp.851-853.
  • Effects of acetamiprid on immune system in female Wistar rats. Mondal, S., Ghosh, R.C., Mate, M.S. and Karmakar, D.B., 2009. In Proceedings of the Zoological Society (Vol. 62, No. 2, pp. 109-117). Springer-Verlag.
  • In vitro evaluation of the genotoxicity of acetamiprid in human peripheral blood lymphocytes. Kocaman, A.Y. and Topaktaş, M., 2007. Environmental and Molecular Mutagenesis, 48(6), pp.483-490.
  • Neonicotinoid insecticides promote breast cancer progression via G protein-coupled estrogen receptor: In vivo, in vitro and in silico studies. Li, X., He, S., Xiao, H., He, T.T., Zhang, J.D., Luo, Z.R., Ma, J.Z., Yin, Y.L., Luo, L. and Cao, L.Y., 2022. Environment International, 170, p.107568.
  • Infantile Internal and External Exposure to Neonicotinoid Insecticides: A Comparison of Levels across Various Sources. Zhang, H., Wang, Y., Zhu, H., Lu, S., Wang, Y., Xue, J., Zhang, T., Kannan, K. and Sun, H., 2023. Environmental Science & Technology, 57(13), pp.5358-5367.
  • Major Pesticides Are More Toxic to Human Cells Than Their Declared Active Principles. Mesnage, R. et al. (2014) Major pesticides are more toxic to human cells than their declared active principles, BioMed Research International. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3955666/.
  • The molecular determinants of pesticide sensitivity in bee pollinators. Bass, C. et al (2024) The molecular determinants of pesticide sensitivity in bee pollinators, Science of The Total Environment. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969724003097.
  • 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.
  • Nationwide Biomonitoring of Neonicotinoid Insecticides in Breast Milk and Health Risk Assessment to Nursing Infants in the Chinese Population. Chen, D. et al. (2020) Nationwide Biomonitoring of Neonicotinoid Insecticides in Breast Milk and Health Risk Assessment to Nursing Infants in the Chinese Population, Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. Available at: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jafc.0c05769.