Bug Bombs Caused More Illness Than All Professional Pest Control
Key result: California recorded 340 illness cases from consumer foggers, or bug bombs, used at home from 2016 to 2023, against 135 from all professional structural pest control. In June 2026 the state began a formal reevaluation of indoor consumer foggers, citing 391 illness reports from 2018 to 2024.
A regulator’s decision, and the record behind it
On the California Department of Pesticide Regulation’s own account, total release foggers are products “designed to release their entire contents as a continuous fine mist or fog into an enclosed area (such as a residential structure) to kill insects”, sold to consumers and “also known as foggers or bug bombs”. In June 2026 the department’s director issued a decision to begin reevaluating the indoor consumer foggers registered in the state, 42 products as of 28 May 2026.
The decision rests on the state’s Pesticide Illness Surveillance Program. It reports 391 instances of adverse health effects from 2018 through 2024, an average of 56 a year, 8 hospitalisations, and a finding that about 62 percent of incidents could have been avoided if users had followed the label.
We used the program’s public query tool to retrieve every illness case at a household application site from 2016 to 2023, identified the cases whose investigation narrative involves a fogger or bug bomb, and set them beside the cases from professional structural pest control that we analysed in our report on pest control illness data.
Foggers against the professionals
| Source of exposure, California, 2016 to 2023 | Reported illness cases |
|---|---|
| Consumer foggers used at home | 340 |
| All professional structural pest control | 135 |
| of which whole-building fumigation | 116 |
| All household-site pesticide cases, including disinfectants | 890 |
Source: California Department of Pesticide Regulation, Pesticide Illness Surveillance Program, CalPIQ queries for application sites “household or domestic dwelling” and “residential kitchen”, and “structural pest control”, case years 2016 to 2023, retrieved 3 October 2026. Fogger cases are household-site cases whose narrative mentions a fogger or bug bomb. Cases classified definite, probable or possible. Author tabulation.
What it means. Over eight years, one consumer product type, used by householders in their own homes, was linked to two and a half times as many reported illness cases as everything California’s licensed structural pest control businesses did, including fumigation. Foggers account for 38 percent of all household-site pesticide illness cases in the record. Most fogger cases, 268 of 340, were classified as probably related to the exposure, a higher level of confidence than most professional cases reached.
What limits it. There is no count of how many foggers Californians set off, so no rate can be calculated; professional pest control made about 16 million applications a year in this period. Our text match counts only household-site cases; the department’s own 391 cases for 2018 to 2024 include other sites and 2024. Reported cases are minimum counts.
Who gets hurt
The person who set it off, 132 cases. The most common pattern is the user exposed while activating the fogger or leaving the room: a woman whose face caught the smoke from a dry fogger as it began to discharge, another who mistook a fogger for an ordinary aerosol spray and inhaled it.
Occupants and people re-entering, 113 cases. Residents who stayed in the home, went back in before it had been aired, or returned to a unit a landlord had fogged. One 2016 narrative describes a landlord dusting and fogging an apartment, airing it out, and a mother and two children falling ill on their return four days later.
Neighbours and adjoining units, 30 cases. Fog moving into neighbouring rooms or apartments. 54 fogger narratives mention an apartment, unit, condominium or neighbour.
Ages. Of 156 cases whose narrative states the person’s age, 25 were under 18 and 34 were 65 or older.
What limits it. We grouped cases from the program’s activity and exposure fields and checked the groupings against the narratives. 62 cases could not be placed.
What the foggers contain
The active ingredients most often named in the fogger cases are cypermethrin, in 132 cases, piperonyl butoxide, pyrethrins, esfenvalerate, pyriproxyfen and tetramethrin; 139 cases do not name the product’s active ingredients. These match the active ingredients listed in the department’s reevaluation decision: cyfluthrin, cypermethrin, esfenvalerate, etofenprox, etoxazole, n-octyl bicycloheptene dicarboximide, permethrin, piperonyl butoxide, pyrethrins, pyriproxyfen, s-methoprene and tetramethrin.
Professional pest control uses many of the same active ingredients. The difference is the delivery: a fogger releases its whole contents into a room at once, which is why the department’s investigation found most injuries came from not following the label’s evacuation and ventilation directions. Our explainer on cockroach bait against spray covers why professionals use targeted baits rather than fogging for most indoor pests.
What reevaluation can and cannot do
The decision does not change whether foggers can be sold. The department states that beginning reevaluation “does not affect the registration status, current availability, or currently allowed uses of TRF products in California”. It allows the department to require data from registrants and ends in one of three outcomes: no further restriction, additional restrictions such as classifying the products as restricted materials, or cancellation of registrations.
Our case counts fell after 2019: 48 to 61 a year from 2016 to 2019, 24 to 37 a year from 2020 to 2023. The data do not say why. Fewer sales, fewer reports or changed products are all possible.
Checks on the numbers
1. Identifying fogger cases
Method. Searched the medical and narrative descriptions of all 890 household-site cases for “fogger” and “bug bomb”.
Result. 340 cases. One mentions a professional pest control operator; we kept it because a fogger was involved.
Limitations. A narrative that describes a fogger without using either word would be missed, so 340 is a minimum.
2. Against the department’s count
Result. Our household-site count for 2018 to 2023 is 241, against the department’s 391 for 2018 to 2024 across all sites. The department’s broader scope and extra year account for the difference.
3. Comparable professional figure
Method. The 135 professional cases are every case with application site Structural Pest Control in the same years and the same classifications.
Related research: US poison center insecticide exposures, 2014 to 2024.
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.
- All 340 fogger illness cases at household sites, 2016 to 2023, with circumstances and the program’s narratives (CSV, 340 rows)
How to cite this report
The Pest Control Brief, “Bug Bombs at Home Caused More Reported Illness Than All Professional Pest Control in California, 2016 to 2023”, 2 October 2026. https://thepestcontrolbrief.com/bug-bomb-fogger-illness-data/
References
- California Department of Pesticide Regulation. Decision to Begin Reevaluation of Specified Total Release Fogger (TRF) Products for Indoor Consumer Use. June 2026. cdpr.ca.gov decision (PDF). Accessed 3 October 2026.
- California Department of Pesticide Regulation. California Notice: Decision to Begin Reevaluation of Specified Total Release Fogger Products for Indoor Consumer Use. cdpr.ca.gov notice. Accessed 3 October 2026.
- California Department of Pesticide Regulation. Total Release Fogger Products by Registrant. cdpr.ca.gov product list (PDF). Accessed 3 October 2026.
- California Department of Pesticide Regulation, Pesticide Illness Surveillance Program. CalPIQ. apps.cdpr.ca.gov/calpiq. Detail queries retrieved 3 October 2026.
How the cases were assembled
Household cases. CalPIQ detail query, application sites “household or domestic dwelling” (indoors, outdoors and unspecified) and “residential kitchen”, case years 2016 to 2023: 890 cases. Fogger cases identified by text search of the narratives.
Professional cases. CalPIQ detail query, application site “structural pest control”, same years: 135 cases.
Classification. The program classifies each case as definitely, probably or possibly related to pesticide exposure; all three are included, as in the department’s own counts.
Limitations. Reported cases only. No denominator for consumer fogger use. A case is one person. California only.
Last reviewed: 3 October 2026.
For consumer and health reporters
Most quotable statistics
- California recorded 340 illness cases from bug bombs used at home from 2016 to 2023, against 135 from all professional structural pest control.
- Foggers accounted for 38 percent of household-site pesticide illness cases in the state’s records.
- 132 of the fogger cases were the person who set off the fogger; 113 were occupants or people re-entering the home.
- California began a formal reevaluation of 42 indoor consumer fogger products in June 2026, citing 391 illness reports from 2018 to 2024.
- The state’s investigation found about 62 percent of fogger incidents could have been avoided by following the label.
Caveats that travel with them
No denominator exists for consumer fogger use, so the comparison is of counts, not rates. Reported cases are minimum counts.
Press summary
Consumer bug bombs used at home were linked to two and a half times as many reported illness cases in California as all professional structural pest control combined, according to an analysis of state illness surveillance records by The Pest Control Brief. From 2016 to 2023 the state recorded 340 fogger cases at household sites and 135 from professional structural pest control, including tent fumigation. Most fogger cases were the person setting off the fogger or occupants who stayed or returned too soon. The California Department of Pesticide Regulation began a formal reevaluation of indoor consumer foggers in June 2026.
Headlines editors could use
- Bug bombs sent more Californians to the doctor than professional pest control
- California opens a review of bug bombs after hundreds of illness reports
- 340 fogger illnesses in eight years: what goes wrong with bug bombs
Questions about foggers
Are bug bombs dangerous?
California recorded 340 illness cases from foggers used at home from 2016 to 2023. The state’s investigation found most incidents could have been avoided by following the label, but about 38 percent occurred despite label compliance or where compliance could not be determined.
Is California banning foggers?
Not at present. In June 2026 the Department of Pesticide Regulation began a reevaluation, which does not change availability. It can end with no change, new restrictions, or cancellation.
Are foggers more dangerous than hiring a pest control company?
These data cannot give rates, because fogger use is not counted. In counts, foggers at home were linked to 340 reported illness cases over eight years, against 135 for all professional structural pest control.
How do people get hurt by foggers?
Most often while setting them off, or by staying in or returning to the home before it has been aired. Neighbours in adjoining units are sometimes affected.
What chemicals are in bug bombs?
Mostly pyrethroids and pyrethrins, often with piperonyl butoxide and an insect growth regulator. Cypermethrin was the active ingredient most often named in California fogger cases.
Where can I see the cases?
All 340 cases, with the state’s narratives, are in the CSV above.
