Lifespan's A - Z Health Information Library

This is poisoning caused by swallowing or breathing in insecticide, a type of bug killer.

See also: paradichlorobenzene

Most household bug sprays contain chemicals called pyrethrins. (These chemicals are generally non-harmful, but can cause life-threatening breathing problems if breathed in.)  

Industrial insecticides, often found in household garages and greenhouse, contain many dangerous materials, including:

• Organophosphates (including actellic, delnav, guthion, lorsban/dursban)
• Carbamates (baygon, furadan, lannate, sevin/carbaryl, temik)
• Paradichlorobenzenes (mothballs)

Various insecticides (bug killers)

Symptoms for pyrethrin poisoning:

• Lungs and airways
  • Breathing difficulty
• Skin
  • Irritation
  • Redness or swelling
• Nervous system
  • Coma
• Heart and blood
  • Convulsions

Symptoms for organophosphate or carbamate poisoning:

• Heart and blood
  • Convulsions
• Bladder and kidneys
  • Increased urination
• Lungs and airways
  • Breathing difficulty
• Eyes, ears, nose, and throat
  • Small pupils
  • Increased tearing
  • Increased salivation (drooling)  
• Skin
  • Blue lips and fingernails
• Gastrointestinal
  • Loss of appetite
  • Abdominal cramps
  • Diarrhea
  • Nausea
  • Vomiting
• Nervous system
  • Headache
  • Anxiety
  • Dizziness
  • Coma
  • Weakness

Note: Serious poisoning can occur from just touching the organophosphate without gloves or without washing hands soon after exposure. Significant amounts of the chemical soak through the skin unless protective measures are taken. Life-threatening paralysis and death can occur very quickly.

Symptoms for paradichlorobenzene poisoning:

• Muscles
  • Muscle spasms
• Gastrointestinal
  • Abdominal pain
  • Nausea 
  • Vomiting
  • Diarrhea
• Heart and blood
  • Convulsions

DO NOT make a person throw up unless told to do so by Poison Control or a health care professional. Seek immediate medical help.

If the chemical is on the skin or in the eyes, flush with lots of water for at least 15 minutes.

If the person breathed in the poison, immediately move him or her to fresh air.

Determine the following information:

• Patient's age, weight, and condition
• Name of the product (ingredients and strengths, if known)
• Time it was swallowed
• Amount swallowed

The National Poison Control Center (1-800-222-1222) can be called from anywhere in the United States. This national hotline number will let you talk to experts in poisoning. They will give you further instructions.

This is a free and confidential service. All local poison control centers in the U.S. use this national number. You should call if you have any questions about poisoning or poison prevention. It does NOT need to be an emergency. You can call for any reason, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Take the container with you to the hospital, if possible.

See National Poison Control center.

The health care provider will measure and monitor the patient's vital signs, including temperature, pulse, breathing rate, and blood pressure. The patient may receive:

• Fluids by IV
• Medicines to treat symptoms
• Activated charcoal
• A nasogastric (NG) tube thru the nose into the stomach to empty the stomach (gastric lavage) Endoscopy -- camera down the throat to see burns in the esophagus and the stomach
• Medicine (antidote) to reverse the effect of the poison
• Oxygen
• Breathing tube
• Bronchoscopy -- camera down the throat to see burns in the airways and lungs
• Irrigation (washing of the skin) -- perhaps every few hours for several days
• Skin debridment (surgical removal of burned skin)

How well a patient does depends on the amount of poison swallowed and how quickly treatment was received. The faster a patient gets medical help, the better the chance for recovery.

Swallowing such poisons can have severe effects on many parts of the body.

It is a good sign that recovery will occur if patients continue to improve over the first 4 to 6 hours (after medical treatment).

Although the symptoms are the same for carbamate and organophosphate, recovery is more difficult for organophosphate.