Fipronil - Discovery and Use

Discovery and Use

Fipronil was discovered and developed by Rhône-Poulenc between 1985 and 1987, and placed on the market in 1993 under the US Patent No. US 5,232,940 B2. Between 1987 and 1996, fipronil was evaluated on more than 250 insect pests on 60 crops worldwide, and crop protection accounted for about 39% of total fipronil production in 1997. Since 2003, BASF holds the patent rights for producing and selling fipronil-based products in many countries.

Current use of fipronil is as follows:

• Under the trade name Regent, it is used against major lepidopteran and orthopteran pests on a wide range of field and horticultural crops and against coleopteran larvae in soils. In 1999, 400,000 hectares were treated with Regent. It became the leading imported product in the area of rice insecticides, the second biggest crop protection market after cotton in China.

• Under the trade names Goliath and Nexa, it is employed for cockroach and ant control, including in the US. It is also used against pests of field corn, golf courses in commercial lawn care under the trade name Chipco Choice.

• It has been used under the trade name Adonis for locust control in Madagascar and in Kazakhstan.

• Marketed under the names Termidor, Ultrathor, and Taurus in Africa and Australia, fipronil effectively controls termite pests, and was shown to be effective in field trials in these countries.

• In the UK, provisional approval for five years has been granted for fipronil use as a public hygiene insecticide.

• Fipronil is the main active ingredient of Frontline and PetArmor (used along with S-methoprene in the 'Plus' versions of these products); these treatments are used in fighting tick and flea infestations in dogs and cats.

• In New Zealand fipronil is has been used in a trial to control wasps, which are a threat to indigenous biodiversity.