Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Here’s how you know

Dot gov

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

HTTPS

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock (LockA locked padlock) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

    • Environmental Topics
    • Air
    • Bed Bugs
    • Cancer
    • Chemicals, Toxics, and Pesticide
    • Emergency Response
    • Environmental Information by Location
    • Health
    • Land, Waste, and Cleanup
    • Lead
    • Mold
    • Radon
    • Research
    • Science Topics
    • Water Topics
    • A-Z Topic Index
    • Laws & Regulations
    • By Business Sector
    • By Topic
    • Compliance
    • Enforcement
    • Laws and Executive Orders
    • Regulations
    • Report a Violation
    • Environmental Violations
    • Fraud, Waste or Abuse
    • About EPA
    • Our Mission and What We Do
    • Headquarters Offices
    • Regional Offices
    • Labs and Research Centers
    • Planning, Budget, and Results
    • Organization Chart
    • EPA History

Breadcrumb

  1. Home
  2. Rodenticides

Restrictions on Rodenticide Products

Types of Rodenticides

Most of the rodenticides used today are anticoagulant compounds that interfere with blood clotting and cause death from excessive bleeding. Deaths typically occur between four days and two weeks after rodents begin to feed on the bait. 

First-generation anticoagulants include the anticoagulants that were developed as rodenticides before 1970. These compounds are much more toxic when feeding occurs on several successive days rather than on one day only. Chlorpophacinone, diphacinone and warfarin are first-generation anticoagulants that are registered to control rats and mice in the United States.

Second-generation anticoagulants were developed beginning in the 1970s to control rodents that are resistant to first-generation anticoagulants. Second-generation anticoagulants also are more likely than first-generation anticoagulants to be able to kill after a single night's feeding. These compounds kill over a similar course of time but tend to remain in animal tissues longer than do first-generation ones. These properties mean that second-generation products pose greater risks to nontarget species that might feed on bait only once or that might feed upon animals that have eaten the bait. Due to these risks, second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides no longer are registered for use in products geared toward consumers and are registered only for the commercial pest control and structural pest control markets. Second-generation anticoagulants registered in the United States include brodifacoum, bromadiolone, difenacoum, and difethialone.

Other rodenticides that currently are registered to control mice include bromethalin, cholecalciferol and zinc phosphide. These compounds are not anticoagulants. Each is toxic in other ways.

Rodenticide Products for Consumer Use

The rodenticide products currently available on the consumer market are ready-to-use bait stations that contain and/or are packaged with a rodenticide bait that is in block or paste form. Pelleted baits no longer are permitted to be used in rodenticide products targeted for consumer markets.

The bait components of the ready-to-use bait station products currently registered for the consumer market to control mice and/or rats contain one of the following rodenticides:

  • Bromethalin
  • Chlorophacinone
  • Diphacinone 

If bait stations are of a refillable design, up to one pound of bait to be used to fill or refill the bait station may be included with the bait station in the retail package. Ready-to-use bait stations that are not refillable must be properly disposed after the bait in them has been consumed or contaminated.

Ready-to-use bait station products are labeled for use:

  • indoors; or
  • indoors and outdoors within 50 feet of buildings. 

Where a specific product is authorized for use depends upon whether the bait station component of the product has been shown to be resistant to tampering by young children and by dogs as well as whether the unit has been found to be weather-resistant. Read the labels of these products before purchasing any of them to make sure that the product obtained is labeled for use in the place(s) that you intend to apply it.

Rodenticide Products for Structural Professional and Agricultural Use Products

These products include rodenticide baits registered for use by professional applicators to control rats and/or mice in or near (within 100 feet of) buildings and other structures or for use in and near agricultural buildings and man-made agricultural structures. They may contain any one of the active ingredients mentioned under Types of Rodenticides.

  • Products geared to these categories of users are not to be sold in “consumer” stores, including drug stores, grocery stores, hardware stores, club stores, and similar retail outlets.
  • Products containing second-generation anticoagulants must be sold in containers holding at least 16 pounds of bait if they are labeled for use by professional applicators and at least eight pounds of bait if labeled for use in or near agricultural structures.
  • Professional- and agricultural-use products containing first-generation anticoagulants, bromethalin, cholecalciferol, or zinc phosphide must be sold in containers that hold at least four pounds of bait.

The bait products marketed to these categories of users may be in block, paste or pelleted form. These products are not packaged in or with bait stations. However, the labels for these products require use of tamper-resistant bait stations:

  • If bait is to be placed in any indoor or outdoor location to which children under six years-of-age, pets or nontarget wildlife have access. 
  • For all applications made outdoors and above ground. 

Bait stations suitable for using these bait products in such areas are commercially available. Baiting of burrows outdoors is permitted only for pelleted baits that are placed at least six inches down active rat burrows.

For More Information

  • 2008 safety review and risk mitigation decision for rodenticides
  • Canceling Some d-CON Rat and Mouse Control Products

Rodenticides

  • Rodenticides Home
  • About Rats and Mice
  • Identify and Prevent Rodents
  • Options to Manage Rodents
  • Safely Use Rodent Poison
  • Choosing a Bait Station for Household Use
  • Tips for Hiring a Rodent Control Professional
Contact Us About Rodenticides
Contact Us to ask a question, provide feedback, or report a problem.
Last updated on November 4, 2024
  • Assistance
  • Spanish
  • Arabic
  • Chinese (simplified)
  • Chinese (traditional)
  • French
  • Haitian Creole
  • Korean
  • Portuguese
  • Russian
  • Tagalog
  • Vietnamese
United States Environmental Protection Agency

Discover.

  • Accessibility Statement
  • Budget & Performance
  • Contracting
  • EPA www Web Snapshot
  • Grants
  • No FEAR Act Data
  • Plain Writing
  • Privacy
  • Privacy and Security Notice

Connect.

  • Data
  • Inspector General
  • Jobs
  • Newsroom
  • Regulations.gov
  • Subscribe
  • USA.gov
  • White House

Ask.

  • Contact EPA
  • EPA Disclaimers
  • Hotlines
  • FOIA Requests
  • Frequent Questions
  • Site Feedback

Follow.