Pyrethrins are oily liquid esters, carefully refined from flowers of the Chrysanthemum family commonly known as the ‘African Daisy’. Until recently, grown in only exotic, out-of-the-way places such as East Africa, India and New Guinea, it is now cultivated in Australia. Virtually harmless to mammals (warm blooded animals) and birds, this well understood, well documented, pesticide acts on insects’ central and peripheral nervous systems by causing immediate paralysis

What then is the advantage of Pyrethrum over man-made insecticides? Oddly, its advantage is the same as its disadvantage, until it is combined with DE.

When Pyrethrum is exposed to conditions of the natural environment such as the UV light in sunshine, it rapidly oxidizes and breaks down into harmless, naturally occurring compounds. It kills insects quickly, but then it disappears. That is useful in many ways, particularly when dealing with stored food or crops to be harvested the next day.

Once exposed to the natural environment, the Pyrethrum degrades to leave nothing harmful to accumulate in the environment, the natural food chain, or in our food supplies. This combination of lethality and nonpersistence makes it a near perfect insecticide.