The EPA Office of Pesticides is reviewing the use of some anticoagulant rodenticides based on the fact that wildlife predators and scavengers feeding on rodents poisoned with these compounds are in turn susceptible to toxicity.

All pesticides are subject to a five-year review in relation to advances in science and toxicology and patterns of use. There is concern that the EPA will place restrictions on anticoagulant rodenticides including active ingredients, use only by a certified applicator and more extensive, time-consuming and unproductive record keeping.

Rodenticides are necessary to suppress mouse and rat populations in the egg-production segment of the U.S. poultry industry. Access to anticoagulant formulations should be allowed with reasonable restrictions to maintain food safety and to limit damage to buildings and installations.

The most important consideration with regard to the motivation for proposed EPA action is that rodents poisoned by application of anticoagulant baits within poultry buildings remain within the house after death. Dead rats and mice remaining in attics, live-bird areas and pits of houses cannot be consumed by predators or scavengers and residual toxin is degraded.  This reality should be taken into account in submissions and comments to the EPA.