Rat Poison Calls to Poison Centers Fell 22 Percent in a Decade
Key result: US poison centers recorded 8,452 single-substance rodenticide exposures in 2024, down from 10,823 in 2014. Exposures to long-acting anticoagulants, the most toxic class of rat poison, fell 66 percent, while bromethalin exposures nearly tripled. Children aged 5 and under were 64 percent of cases.
What poison centers record
The National Poison Data System, run by America’s Poison Centers, collects every case reported to the country’s 55 poison centers and publishes an annual report with a table of exposures by substance type, age, reason and outcome. We extracted the rodenticide rows from every annual report from 2014 to 2024.
The period spans a major change in what Americans can buy. EPA states that second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides “no longer are registered for use in products geared toward consumers” and are registered only for commercial and structural pest control, and that consumer rodenticides must now be ready-to-use bait stations; pellets are no longer permitted. Under an agreement with EPA, the manufacturer of 12 d-CON products that did not meet those standards stopped producing them on 31 December 2014 and ended distribution to retailers on 31 March 2015.
Eleven years of rodenticide exposures
| Year | All rodenticides | Children 5 and under | Long-acting anticoagulants | Bromethalin | Cholecalciferol | Unknown type | Deaths |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 10,823 | 8,809 | 8,372 | 609 | 3 | 1,186 | 6 |
| 2015 | 9,776 | 7,825 | 7,125 | 786 | 2 | 1,208 | 5 |
| 2016 | 8,625 | 6,604 | 5,453 | 1,087 | 7 | 1,330 | 1 |
| 2017 | 8,494 | 6,307 | 4,810 | 1,132 | 3 | 1,602 | 2 |
| 2018 | 8,481 | 6,155 | 4,226 | 1,203 | 77 | 1,920 | 1 |
| 2019 | 8,335 | 5,914 | 3,481 | 1,212 | 364 | 2,163 | 3 |
| 2020 | 7,939 | 5,594 | 3,235 | 1,163 | 426 | 2,028 | 2 |
| 2021 | 8,031 | 5,349 | 3,066 | 1,249 | 471 | 2,135 | 0 |
| 2022 | 8,404 | 5,491 | 3,002 | 1,624 | 538 | 2,161 | 3 |
| 2023 | 8,257 | 5,426 | 2,771 | 1,585 | 515 | 2,225 | 2 |
| 2024 | 8,452 | 5,416 | 2,833 | 1,748 | 512 | 2,128 | 3 |
Source: America’s Poison Centers, National Poison Data System annual reports 2014 to 2024, table of single-substance nonpharmaceutical exposures by generic category. Single-substance exposures. Author compilation.
What it means. Long-acting anticoagulant exposures fell from 8,372 to 2,833, with most of the fall between 2014 and 2019, the years after the consumer restrictions took effect. Over the same period bromethalin, a non-anticoagulant nerve poison sold in consumer bait stations, rose from 609 to 1,748, and cholecalciferol from 3 to 512. Total rodenticide exposures fell less, 21.9 percent, because the substitutes took some of the place of the anticoagulants. Exposures of unknown type also rose, from 1,186 to 2,128, which limits how precisely the shift can be measured.
What limits it. Poison center data count calls, not all poisonings: an exposure that no one reports is missing, and calling habits change. Annual reports are compiled separately each year, so small definitional changes are possible.
Children
What it means. Rodenticide exposures in children aged 5 and under fell from 8,809 in 2014 to 5,416 in 2024, a fall of 38.5 percent. Children’s share of all rodenticide exposures fell from 81.4 to 64.1 percent. Most of these cases are unintentional and most are not serious: in 2024, 2,286 of 8,452 rodenticide exposures, 27.0 percent, were treated in a health care facility, and 10 had a major outcome.
What limits it. Outcomes are as coded by poison center staff, often after follow-up calls; many cases are coded as not followed or unrelated.
Deaths
The reports record 28 rodenticide deaths among single-substance exposures over the eleven years, between 0 and 6 a year: 6 in 2014, 3 in 2024. Numbers this small cannot show a trend.
What this means for pest control
The most toxic anticoagulants are now a professional product. Our analysis of California’s rodenticide restrictions found that even professional use of second-generation anticoagulants fell 85 percent in that state after 2021. The poison center record shows the consumer side of the same shift: fewer anticoagulant exposures, more exposures to the non-anticoagulant baits that replaced them.
Checks
1. Extraction
Method. Each year’s rodenticide rows were extracted from the report’s demographic table of single-substance nonpharmaceutical exposures and summed for the all-rodenticide total.
Result. Rows for long-acting anticoagulants, bromethalin and unknown-type rodenticides were found in every year from 2014 to 2024.
2. Timing against the policy
Result. Long-acting anticoagulant exposures fell 58.4 percent between 2014 and 2019 and a further 18.6 percent between 2019 and 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.
- US poison center rodenticide exposures by type, age, reason and outcome, 2014 to 2024 (CSV, 99 rows)
How to cite this report
The Pest Control Brief, “Rat Poison Calls to US Poison Centers Fell 22 Percent in a Decade, and Anticoagulant Cases Fell Two Thirds”, 2 October 2026. https://thepestcontrolbrief.com/rodenticide-poisoning-statistics/
References
- America’s Poison Centers. National Poison Data System Annual Reports, 2014 to 2024. poisoncenters.org/annual-reports. Accessed 5 October 2026.
- US Environmental Protection Agency. Restrictions on Rodenticide Products. epa.gov restrictions on rodenticide products. Accessed 5 October 2026.
- US Environmental Protection Agency. Canceling Some d-CON Mouse and Rat Control Products. epa.gov d-CON cancellation. Accessed 5 October 2026.
How the series was built
Source. The demographic table of single-substance nonpharmaceutical exposures in each National Poison Data System annual report, 2014 to 2024, rodenticide rows.
Measures. Single-substance exposures, age groups, reason, treatment in a health care facility, and medical outcome, as published.
Limitations. Reported exposures only. Exposures involving several substances are excluded from these rows. “Unknown type” grew over the period.
Last reviewed: 5 October 2026.
For health and consumer reporters
Most quotable statistics
- US poison centers recorded 8,452 single-substance rodenticide exposures in 2024, down from 10,823 in 2014.
- Exposures to long-acting anticoagulant rodenticides fell 66 percent, from 8,372 to 2,833.
- Bromethalin exposures nearly tripled, from 609 to 1,748.
- Children aged 5 and under accounted for 5,416 rodenticide exposures in 2024, 64 percent of the total.
Press summary
Calls to US poison centers about rat poison have fallen by a fifth in a decade, and calls about the most toxic anticoagulant poisons by two thirds, according to an analysis of National Poison Data System reports by The Pest Control Brief. Long-acting anticoagulant exposures fell from 8,372 in 2014 to 2,833 in 2024, after EPA removed those compounds from consumer products and required bait stations. Exposures to bromethalin, a nerve poison used in consumer baits, nearly tripled. Young children still make up most rodenticide cases.
Headlines editors could use
- Rat poison calls to poison centers down a fifth in ten years
- Anticoagulant rodenticide poisonings fell two thirds after consumer restrictions
- The rat poison that replaced the anticoagulants is rising in poison center calls
Questions
How many rodenticide poisonings are there in the US each year?
US poison centers recorded 8,452 single-substance rodenticide exposures in 2024. Not every exposure is reported to a poison center.
Are children still getting into rat poison?
Yes, though less often: 5,416 exposures in children aged 5 and under in 2024, down from 8,809 in 2014.
Why did anticoagulant rat poison exposures fall?
The timing matches EPA’s restrictions, which removed second-generation anticoagulants from consumer products and required bait stations; the d-CON products that did not comply left retail shelves in 2015. The data show timing, not cause.
What is bromethalin?
A non-anticoagulant rodenticide that EPA lists among those registered to control mice. Poison center exposures to it rose from 609 in 2014 to 1,748 in 2024.
How many people die from rodenticide poisoning?
Poison centers recorded 0 to 6 deaths a year from single-substance rodenticide exposures between 2014 and 2024, 28 in total.
Where can I get the data?
Every rodenticide row for every year is in the CSV above.
