Safety of Natural Insecticides: Toxic Effects on Experimental Animals

Table 2

Toxicity of some essential oil compounds to experimental animals.

Compound	Animal	Route	L mg/kg. b.wt.	WHO category
Category II (Moderately hazardous), 50-2000 mg/kg
Thujone	Mice	Subcutaneous	87.5	II
Pulegone	Mice	Intraperitoneal	150	II
3-Isothujone	Mice	Subcutaneous	442.2	II
Apiol	Dogs	Intravenous	500	II
2-Acetonaphthone	Mice	Oral	599	II
2-Methoxyphenol	Rats	Oral	725	II
Thymol	Rats	Oral	980	II
Linalool	Rats	Oral	>1000	II
Cinnamaldehyde	Guinea pigs	Oral	1160	II
Methyl eugenol	Rats	Oral	1179	II
Dillapiol	Rats	Oral	1000-1500	II
Anisaldehyde	Rats	Oral	1510	II
(+) Carvone	Rats	Oral	1640	II
γ-terpinene	Rats	Oral	1680	II
Thymol	Mice	Oral	1800	II
Methyl chavicol	Rats	Oral	1820	II
Category III (Slightly hazardous), over 2000 mg/kg
trans-Anethole	Rats	Oral	2090	III
Cinnamaldehyde	Rats	Oral	2220	III
Maltol	Rats	Oral	2330	III
1,8-Cineole	Rats	Oral	2480	III
Eugenol	Rats	Oral	2680	III
Menthol	Rats	Oral	3180	III
Terpinen-4-ol	Rats	Oral	4300	III
d-Limonene	Rats	Oral	4600	III
Citral	Rats	Oral	4960	III
Category U (unlikely to present acute hazard), 5000 mg/kg
Myrcene	Rats	Oral	5000	U