The European Chemicals Agency is consulting on the proposed renewal conditions for pyrethrum-based active substances in product type 18 (insecticides, acaricides). This explainer sets out the case for making renewal conditional on mandatory residential-use restrictions, and the evidence behind it.
In 2026, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) opened a consultation on the proposed renewal conditions for pyrethrum-derived active substances under the EU Biocidal Products Regulation (BPR), specifically for product type 18 (insecticides and acaricides for use by the general public).
This explainer sets out what is at stake in that consultation, because the stakeholders affected by the outcome, European households, parents of young children, people with respiratory conditions, and the beekeeping community, deserve to know what is being argued and on what evidence.
The case for restrictions, in summary
The public-health case is against renewal of pyrethrum derivatives in PT18 without mandatory restrictions on indoor residential use, specifically:
- Prohibition of aerosol formulations for indoor use in enclosed spaces. Existing BPR conditions permit indoor aerosol spraying without residential concentration limits or ventilation requirements.
- Cumulative residential exposure modelling for children. A residential scenario should account for young children in rooms where aerosol and coil products are used together, as they frequently are in southern European households in summer.
- Labelling reform. A "for domestic use" classification can lead consumers to underestimate inhalation risk relative to the ventilation and dosing assumptions behind the assessment.
The evidence basis
The peer-reviewed literature on children's exposure to household pesticides and respiratory outcomes has grown in recent years. A 2024 systematic review and meta-analysis in Frontiers in Public Health (Keleb et al.), pooling 38 studies and more than 118,000 children under 18, found that pesticide exposure was associated with higher odds of asthma (odds ratio 1.24), wheezing (odds ratio 1.34), and lower respiratory tract infection (odds ratio 1.79). Pyrethrins are among the insecticides used in household products, and household pesticide use is one of the exposure sources examined in this literature.
The BPR assessment framework sets acceptable operator exposure levels for those who handle these substances occupationally. There is no equivalent indoor residential air-concentration standard for household consumer products, which can be used legally in enclosed rooms with no ventilation requirement. The relevant EFSA peer-review conclusion on the pyrethrin active substance was completed in 2024 and is the appropriate reference point for the substance's toxicological profile.
What is not being argued
The case is not that pyrethrins should be banned from all uses. It is not an argument against outdoor use, agricultural use, or professional pest-control use under controlled conditions. It is specifically an argument for restrictions on the formulations that European households routinely spray in bedrooms, children's rooms, and kitchens, the uses that produce the highest residential inhalation exposures.
What happens next
ECHA compiles stakeholder submissions and presents a consolidated assessment to the BPR Standing Committee. If a renewal proceeds without restrictions, existing products remain on market under existing conditions. If restrictions are adopted, Member States are given time to implement them.
ECHA publishes its active-substance consultations and their outcomes on its website.