BirdCast

For more information on how you can follow these practices in your own home and garden, please see: 10 Commandments for a Healthy Yard

Below we have also included some information about 8 pesticides commonly used around the home and garden. For more detailed information about the actions and potential impacts of these, please see: Audubon's Guide to Home Pesticides

Carbamate and Organophosphate Insecticides

Active Ingredient:	ACEPHATE (Organophosphate insecticide)
Product Names:	Orthene and other products.
Used Against:	Aphids, leafminers, caterpillars, sawflies, thrips and others.
Toxicity:	Highly toxic to ALL insects; Moderately toxic to humans and wildlife.
Alternatives:	Beneficial insects, hosing down plants, insecticidal soaps, superior/summer oil, synthetic pyrethrum or Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) for caterpillars.

Active Ingredient:	BENDIOCARB (Carbamate insecticide)
Product Names:	Ficam and other products.
Used Against:	Mosquitoes, flies, ants, wasps, fleas, cockroaches, silverfish, and ticks, as well as snails, slugs, and soil insects.
Toxicity:	Highly toxic to ALL insects; Fairly toxic to humans; Highly toxic to birds and fish.
Alternatives:	Pyrethrum, boric acid (indoors), baits and traps, and parasitic nematodes (for fleas).

Active Ingredient:	CHLORPYRIFOS (Organophosphate insecticide)
Product Names:	Dursban, Dragon, Ortho-Klor, and other products.
Used Against:	Widely used to kill a variety of insects including ants, chinch bugs, termites, turf weevils and white grubs.
Toxicity:	Slightly to moderately toxic to humans; Toxic to fish, shrimp, crabs, birds, and other wildlife.
Alternatives:	Bait stations with diflubenzuron or hexaflumeron, a Bt biopesticide, insecticidal soaps, superior oil, milky spore disease (for Japanese beetle grubs), nematodes and other solutions.

Active Ingredient:	DIAZINON (Organophosphate insecticide)
Product Names:	Bonide Diazinon Soil Granules, Knox-Out, and other products.
Used Against:	Aphids, bagworms, carpenter ants, lacebugs, scale, whiteflies, grubs,cockroaches, fleas, termites, and many other insects around the home, lawn, and garden.
Toxicity:	Diazinon can be harmful to humans if swallowed, inhaled, or if it contacts the skin; Highly toxic to birds, fish, and other wildlife Nearly half of all reported wildlife poisonings from home or garden pesticide use involve diazinon.
Alternatives:	Try the same alternatives as for chlorpyrifos, above.

Active Ingredient:	DIMETHOATE (Organophosphate insecticide)
Product Names:	Cygon and a variety of other products.
Used Against:	Caterpillars, mites, aphids, thrips, plant hoppers, and whiteflies.
Toxicity:	Dimethoate is toxic to humans if swallowed, inhaled, or absorbed through the skin; Highly toxic to birds, honeybees, and aquatic insects; Moderately toxic to fish.
Alternatives:	Superior/summer oils, Bt biopesticides, Rotenone and pyrethrum.

Rodenticides

Active Ingredient:	BRODIFACOUM (Anticoagulant rodenticide)
Product Names:	d-CON, Talon-G and other products.
Used Against:	Brodifacoum is an increasingly popular active ingredient in pellet baits and bait blocks for rats and mice.
Toxicity:	Pellets are toxic to wildlife; Most wildlife poisonings occur when predators (including hawks and owls) eat poisoned rodents.
Alternatives:	Traps and exclusion. Try cotton balls or peanut butter for bait.

Herbicides

Active Ingredient:	2,4-D (Chlorinated phenoxy herbicide)
Product Names:	Scotts Turf Builder Plus 2, Weed-B-Gon and other products.
Used Against:	Most commonly used pesticide in the home and garden market, 2,4-D is used to control many broadleaf weeds in gardens and lawns.
Toxicity:	Can cause serious skin and eye irritation in humans. Slightly to moderately toxic to birds; Some formulations are highly toxic to fish and aquatic plants.
Alternatives:	Soap-based spot sprays, hand weeding, mowing, dethatching, aerating, planting suitable grass mixtures, and maintaining a healthy lawn to crowd out weeds.

Active Ingredient:	GLYPHOSATE (Alphatic herbicide)
Product Names:	Roundup and other products.
Used Against:	Glyphosate is a nonselective herbicide, which means it kills virtually any plant including annuals, perennials, grasses, sedges, broadleaf weeds, and woody plants.
Toxicity:	Low toxicity to humans, although some formulations can cause eye and skin iritation, or be acutely toxic if inhaled; Generally low toxicity to fish, birds, honey bees and worms.
Alternatives:	Better mowing techniques, mulching and weeding your garden, spot treatment with soap-based sprays.