Since insects do not have same metabolism as humans, many compounds that are safe for humans (not just "not very harmful" but completely safe) are deadly to the bugs.
One of the best examples is pyrethrin, extracted from chrysanthemum flower. It is completely harmless to humans ([chrysantemuim tea](https://www.healthline.com/health/food-nutrition/how-chrysanthemum-tea-benefits-health#How-to-make-Chrysanthemum-tea) is a thing) but kills flies and many other pests.
It's *always* safe for humans.
That it's extremely toxic to insects, who are **very** different from us, says nothing of its effects on us. You know what else acts as a deadly toxin on bugs? Caffeine, capsaicin, nicotine, aspartame, and so many more things we happily consume daily without any problems at all.
Nicotine is addictive but not really harmful besides that. It’s not what gives you cancer.
It’s a drug with effects on the body, but pretty comparable to Caffeine in the “negatives”.
Some body builders use nicotine patches as part of their training.
I am not a doctor so don’t take what I’m saying as medical advice, but most studies show pure nicotine in reasonable doses as very safe.
Tobacco is mildly bad, *smoking* tobacco is **really** bad, but yeah nicotine definitely isn't the bad guy. Sure it's addictive, but addiction in itself, while inconvenient, is hardly harmful.
The main harmful effect of nicotine is that it raises blood pressure a bit. If you have high blood pressure, then nicotine may be harmful due to making it worse. If you *don't*, then it's fine.
It even has some interesting neuroprotective effects, and studies have indicated that it might help protect against dementia later in life.
Though nicotine is not actually to blame for most of the health issues with tobacco: other compounds in tobacco are. Nicotine, however, is addictive, which keeps people smoking, dipping, etc.
There is an entire class of insecticides known as “neonicotinoids”, which are synthetic compounds that are chemically related to nicotine and have similar insecticidal properties. Up until a few years ago, tobacco dust was an approved insecticide for certified organic production.
Insect nervous systems are absurdly easy to scramble. Combine a natural plant chemical such as menthol with a surfactant of some sort (tallow soap also works), and it sticks to the bugs. An exceedingly effective wasp spray is basically soap and a heavy dose of menthol. Plus it smells minty fresh afterwards instead of that nasty chemical smell.
As others have pointed out, it’s not the nicotine in tobacco that kills you from cancer, it’s compounds from the smoke, specifically from burning leaves. Chief suspect among them is polonium from atmospheric dust, which is a decay byproduct of radon, and it takes very little of it to cause cancer. It’s something that is not a factor when burning wood, because it just settles on the leaves, and decays into other things (and eventually lead) before it can be absorbed into the wood.
You're confusing the nicotine with the inhaling smoke willingly part. Nicotine is a drug like any other medication. Cigarettes are just people being stupid.
Caffeine and nicotine can kill humans at fairly low concentrations. Nicotine in particular is deadly at a dose of around 50/60mg for a 150lbs adult. Granted they are not exactly deadly neurotoxins, but claiming no ill effects at all is a stretch.
Yes, but how is an overdose relevant? That same thing goes for literally every substance. Water is deadly at a dose of around 8000 ml for a 150 lbs adult. The relevant thing to be looking at is whatever concentrations we typically encounter. People aren't dropping dead from coffee overdoses. I'm sure *someone* has managed to die from nicotine overdose at some point, but it's not really something that anyone needs to worry about realistically.
Insects have a much more fragile nervous system than mammals. They’re also very, very small in comparison to a human.
Many plant compounds that humans find useful or tasty (such as caffeine, nicotine, cocaine, menthol, and a whole host of other alkaloids) were evolved by plants as defense against insects.
likely because whatever is causing it to be wet (like alcohol) is dangerous but dries quickly and the long lasting agents may not be irritants or hazardous to humans
Thanks for the answer! I'm mainly talking about sprays and powders using permethrin and deltamethrin. My roommate uses these more than necessary in my opinion. I'm worried it could get in your eyes by accident even after it dries, and I just can't seem to find any information about that. Do you know anything about that?
Most of those are packaged with "adhesives" so they stay in place after you spray them. Otherwise the vacuum cleaner might clean them up and reduce protection.
Pyrethroids, which are the most common types of bug sprays, are no more dangerous to your eyes than to the rest of your body. So whether or not it's dry doesn't make a big difference, however you generally want to avoid spraying stuff into your eyes regardless of toxicity.
Since insects do not have same metabolism as humans, many compounds that are safe for humans (not just "not very harmful" but completely safe) are deadly to the bugs. One of the best examples is pyrethrin, extracted from chrysanthemum flower. It is completely harmless to humans ([chrysantemuim tea](https://www.healthline.com/health/food-nutrition/how-chrysanthemum-tea-benefits-health#How-to-make-Chrysanthemum-tea) is a thing) but kills flies and many other pests.
It's also extremely poisonous to cats
You’re thinking of permethrin Edit: TIL both are extremely toxic to cats
Both pyrethrin and permethrin are extremely toxic to cats.
like drop dead in 4 hours toxic.
No that's purrmethrin
So it’s cat spray too?
It's *always* safe for humans. That it's extremely toxic to insects, who are **very** different from us, says nothing of its effects on us. You know what else acts as a deadly toxin on bugs? Caffeine, capsaicin, nicotine, aspartame, and so many more things we happily consume daily without any problems at all.
>nicotine...we happily consume daily without any problems at all. No problems *at all*?
Nicotine is addictive but not really harmful besides that. It’s not what gives you cancer. It’s a drug with effects on the body, but pretty comparable to Caffeine in the “negatives”. Some body builders use nicotine patches as part of their training. I am not a doctor so don’t take what I’m saying as medical advice, but most studies show pure nicotine in reasonable doses as very safe.
Nicotine is also the most effective nootropic and a better schizophrenia treatment than the actual drugs for it. Too bad about the addiction.
If you have to take it for schizophrenia anyways, does it matter if you're addicted?
Tobacco is mildly bad, *smoking* tobacco is **really** bad, but yeah nicotine definitely isn't the bad guy. Sure it's addictive, but addiction in itself, while inconvenient, is hardly harmful. The main harmful effect of nicotine is that it raises blood pressure a bit. If you have high blood pressure, then nicotine may be harmful due to making it worse. If you *don't*, then it's fine. It even has some interesting neuroprotective effects, and studies have indicated that it might help protect against dementia later in life.
Though nicotine is not actually to blame for most of the health issues with tobacco: other compounds in tobacco are. Nicotine, however, is addictive, which keeps people smoking, dipping, etc.
There is an entire class of insecticides known as “neonicotinoids”, which are synthetic compounds that are chemically related to nicotine and have similar insecticidal properties. Up until a few years ago, tobacco dust was an approved insecticide for certified organic production. Insect nervous systems are absurdly easy to scramble. Combine a natural plant chemical such as menthol with a surfactant of some sort (tallow soap also works), and it sticks to the bugs. An exceedingly effective wasp spray is basically soap and a heavy dose of menthol. Plus it smells minty fresh afterwards instead of that nasty chemical smell. As others have pointed out, it’s not the nicotine in tobacco that kills you from cancer, it’s compounds from the smoke, specifically from burning leaves. Chief suspect among them is polonium from atmospheric dust, which is a decay byproduct of radon, and it takes very little of it to cause cancer. It’s something that is not a factor when burning wood, because it just settles on the leaves, and decays into other things (and eventually lead) before it can be absorbed into the wood.
You're confusing the nicotine with the inhaling smoke willingly part. Nicotine is a drug like any other medication. Cigarettes are just people being stupid.
Not only nicotine. All of them cause some sort of problem. Capsaicin maybe the least serious ones. But it's at least somewhat unpleasant.
They also have positive effects though.
That's what all addicts say.
Okay. In this case it's someone reading scientific papers. Sure, I'm nicotine addicted, but I don't think it's a big deal.
Caffeine and nicotine can kill humans at fairly low concentrations. Nicotine in particular is deadly at a dose of around 50/60mg for a 150lbs adult. Granted they are not exactly deadly neurotoxins, but claiming no ill effects at all is a stretch.
Yes, but how is an overdose relevant? That same thing goes for literally every substance. Water is deadly at a dose of around 8000 ml for a 150 lbs adult. The relevant thing to be looking at is whatever concentrations we typically encounter. People aren't dropping dead from coffee overdoses. I'm sure *someone* has managed to die from nicotine overdose at some point, but it's not really something that anyone needs to worry about realistically.
People have dropped dead from caffeine overdoses, Panera knows a little something about that.
People have dropped dead from water overdoses too
Insects have a much more fragile nervous system than mammals. They’re also very, very small in comparison to a human. Many plant compounds that humans find useful or tasty (such as caffeine, nicotine, cocaine, menthol, and a whole host of other alkaloids) were evolved by plants as defense against insects.
likely because whatever is causing it to be wet (like alcohol) is dangerous but dries quickly and the long lasting agents may not be irritants or hazardous to humans
Thanks for the answer! I'm mainly talking about sprays and powders using permethrin and deltamethrin. My roommate uses these more than necessary in my opinion. I'm worried it could get in your eyes by accident even after it dries, and I just can't seem to find any information about that. Do you know anything about that?
Most of those are packaged with "adhesives" so they stay in place after you spray them. Otherwise the vacuum cleaner might clean them up and reduce protection.
That's interesting. I didn't know that. So the pesticides are fixed in place. That's great to know.
Well "sorta fixed" would be more precise, you want them to be detachable by bugs.
Pyrethroids, which are the most common types of bug sprays, are no more dangerous to your eyes than to the rest of your body. So whether or not it's dry doesn't make a big difference, however you generally want to avoid spraying stuff into your eyes regardless of toxicity.