Boric Acid Poison Calls Rose 69 Percent in a Decade
Key result: US poison centers recorded 10,121 single-substance exposures to borates and boric acid pesticides in 2024, up from 5,997 in 2014, and 9,093 involved children aged 5 or under. Pyrethroids remain the most reported insecticide, at 18,057, though down 16 percent. All pesticide exposures fell 7 percent.
The household insecticide record
Poison centers are where most household pesticide accidents surface: a toddler who finds an ant bait, an adult who breathes a spray. The National Poison Data System publishes an annual table of exposures by substance type. We extracted the insecticide, repellent and fumigant rows from every annual report from 2014 to 2024, alongside the rodenticide rows covered in our rodenticide poisoning statistics.
Eleven years by type
| Year | Pyrethroids | Borates and boric acid | Pyrethrins | Organophosphates | Carbamates | Sulfuryl fluoride | All pesticides |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 21,490 | 5,997 | 5,304 | 2,180 | 1,362 | 205 | 77,480 |
| 2015 | 21,928 | 6,726 | 5,628 | 2,186 | 1,308 | 228 | 78,568 |
| 2016 | 21,470 | 7,164 | 5,743 | 1,994 | 1,262 | 266 | 77,573 |
| 2017 | 21,732 | 6,705 | 5,493 | 2,126 | 1,378 | 278 | 77,999 |
| 2018 | 20,382 | 8,536 | 5,312 | 1,844 | 1,074 | 300 | 77,623 |
| 2019 | 19,719 | 9,388 | 5,607 | 1,644 | 986 | 256 | 77,707 |
| 2020 | 18,136 | 8,775 | 4,727 | 1,496 | 1,068 | 182 | 70,831 |
| 2021 | 17,158 | 8,287 | 4,097 | 1,474 | 1,034 | 198 | 66,780 |
| 2022 | 16,590 | 9,163 | 3,533 | 1,529 | 1,038 | 159 | 66,536 |
| 2023 | 17,333 | 9,105 | 3,455 | 1,685 | 860 | 206 | 68,554 |
| 2024 | 18,057 | 10,121 | 3,100 | 1,949 | 848 | 194 | 71,977 |
Source: America’s Poison Centers, National Poison Data System annual reports 2014 to 2024, table of single-substance nonpharmaceutical exposures by generic category. Organophosphate and carbamate figures are for those insecticides alone, not in combination. Author compilation.
What it means. Two lines move against the total. Borate and boric acid exposures rose 68.8 percent, the largest increase of any major pesticide category, while pyrethroid exposures fell 16.0 percent and pyrethrin exposures 41.6 percent. Older insecticide classes continued to shrink: carbamates fell 37.7 percent. Sulfuryl fluoride, the tent fumigant, produced about 160 to 300 exposures a year nationally.
What limits it. Poison center data count reported exposures, not all exposures. The categories are chemical classes, not products, so the reports do not say what kind of product was involved.
The boric acid rise is a toddler story
What it means. 89.8 percent of borate and boric acid exposures in 2024 involved children aged 5 or under, and 99.0 percent were unintentional. The National Pesticide Information Center lists baits among the forms boric acid products take and describes boric acid as “low in toxicity if eaten”. The poison center outcomes fit that: only 649 of the 10,121 exposures, 6.4 percent, were treated in a health care facility, and one had a major outcome. The rise is a rise in small children reaching products, not in serious harm.
Pyrethroids are different: 20.6 percent of exposures involved young children, 17.8 percent were treated in a health care facility, and 27 had a major outcome in 2024.
What limits it. We cannot say which boric acid products children found; the category covers every borate pesticide.
Serious outcomes and deaths
Across all pesticide categories, poison centers recorded 108 major outcomes and 15 deaths among single-substance pesticide exposures in 2024, against 98 and 19 in 2014. Among insecticides, deaths were rare: 0 to 5 a year for pyrethroids and 0 to 6 for organophosphates over the eleven years.
What this means for pest control
Most of these exposures come from products people buy and use themselves, not professional treatments; poison center records do not distinguish the two. They do show where household risk concentrates: young children and baits, and adults and sprays. Our report on bug bomb illness data covers the consumer fogger side in California.
Checks
1. Extraction
Method. Rows extracted from each year’s demographic table of single-substance nonpharmaceutical exposures. Where a page break split a row label, the row was identified by its position in the table’s alphabetical order.
2. Consistency
Result. The all-pesticide category totals range from 66,536 to 78,568 single-substance exposures a year and match the published category total rows.
Download the data
The tables in this report are published as CSV files under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. You may republish, remix and build on them, including commercially, with attribution to The Pest Control Brief and a link to this page.
- US poison center exposures to insecticides, repellents, fumigants and all pesticides by type, age, reason and outcome, 2014 to 2024 (CSV, 120 rows)
How to cite this report
The Pest Control Brief, “Boric Acid Exposures Reported to US Poison Centers Rose 69 Percent in a Decade, Nine in Ten in Young Children”, 2 October 2026. https://thepestcontrolbrief.com/insecticide-poisoning-statistics/
References
- America’s Poison Centers. National Poison Data System Annual Reports, 2014 to 2024. poisoncenters.org/annual-reports. Accessed 5 October 2026.
- National Pesticide Information Center, Oregon State University. Boric Acid General Fact Sheet. npic.orst.edu boric acid. Accessed 5 October 2026.
How the series was built
Source. Each National Poison Data System annual report’s demographic table of single-substance nonpharmaceutical exposures, pesticide rows, 2014 to 2024.
Measures. Single-substance exposures, age group, reason, treatment in a health care facility and outcome, as published.
Limitations. Reported exposures only; categories are chemical classes; multiple-substance exposures are excluded.
Last reviewed: 5 October 2026.
For health and consumer reporters
Most quotable statistics
- Poison center exposures to borates and boric acid pesticides rose from 5,997 in 2014 to 10,121 in 2024.
- 89.8 percent of 2024 boric acid exposures involved children aged 5 or under.
- Pyrethroids were the most reported insecticide class in 2024, with 18,057 exposures, down from 21,490 in 2014.
- All single-substance pesticide exposures fell from 77,480 to 71,977.
Press summary
Poison center calls about boric acid pesticides have risen 69 percent in a decade, almost all involving small children, according to an analysis of National Poison Data System reports by The Pest Control Brief. Borate exposures rose from 5,997 in 2014 to 10,121 in 2024, and 90 percent involved children aged 5 or under, though few needed hospital treatment. Pyrethroid insecticides remain the most reported class at 18,057 exposures, down 16 percent.
Headlines editors could use
- Boric acid poisoning calls up 69% in ten years, mostly toddlers
- The household insecticides poison centers hear about most
- Pyrethroid exposures fall, boric acid exposures climb
Questions
Is boric acid dangerous to children?
The National Pesticide Information Center describes boric acid as low in toxicity if eaten. Poison centers recorded 9,093 exposures in children 5 and under in 2024; 6.4 percent of all borate exposures were treated in a health care facility.
Which insecticides cause the most poisonings?
By reported exposures, pyrethroids, with 18,057 single-substance exposures in 2024, followed by borates and boric acid with 10,121.
Are insecticide poisonings increasing?
Overall pesticide exposures fell 7 percent from 2014 to 2024. Borates rose; pyrethroids, pyrethrins and carbamates fell.
How many people are poisoned by termite fumigation gas?
US poison centers recorded 194 single-substance sulfuryl fluoride exposures in 2024 and between 159 and 300 a year from 2014 to 2024.
Where can I get the data?
Every category for every year is in the CSV above.
