In the United States, the rat and mouse poison on a hardware-store shelf is different from what a pest control company may use in the same house, and the difference is set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under federal pesticide law. This article summarises three EPA pages on rodenticides: “Restrictions on Rodenticide Products” (last updated 8 September 2026), “Safely Use Rodent Bait Products” (last updated 6 October 2025) and “Rodent Control Pesticide Safety Review”. It applies to the United States only; UK and Irish rules differ, as covered in the site’s articles on professional and consumer rodenticide access in the UK and Ireland’s professional registration. This is general information. A licensed pest professional or the product label should always be the reference for a particular treatment.
Three groups of active ingredients
EPA’s safety review sorts eleven rodenticide active ingredients into three groups. First-generation anticoagulants are warfarin, chlorophacinone and diphacinone. Second-generation anticoagulants are brodifacoum, bromadiolone, difenacoum and difethialone. Non-anticoagulants are bromethalin, cholecalciferol, strychnine and zinc phosphide. EPA says second-generation anticoagulants are especially hazardous for wildlife and pets because they are highly toxic and persist in body tissues, and because a rodent can feed several times before dying, so carcasses can carry residues that a predator or scavenger might eat.
What EPA says consumers can buy
According to EPA, rodent poisons sold to consumers are ready-to-use bait stations, with bait in block or paste form secured inside the station, and loose or pelleted bait is no longer permitted in consumer products. Where a station is refillable, up to one pound of bait may be packaged with it, and non-refillable stations must be disposed of properly once the bait has been eaten or contaminated. EPA says consumer products may not contain the four second-generation anticoagulants, which are registered only for the commercial and structural pest control markets. Pest control professionals may still use baits with those ingredients in homes.
The two EPA pages differ slightly on which active ingredients consumer bait stations may contain. The “Restrictions” page lists bromethalin, chlorophacinone and diphacinone as those currently registered, while the “Safely Use” page lists bromethalin, chlorophacinone, cholecalciferol, diphacinone, warfarin and zinc phosphide as permitted. Because the pages carry different update dates and list different ingredients, the product label is the authority on what a given box contains.
EPA says consumer stations are labelled for use either indoors, or indoors and outdoors within 50 feet of buildings, depending on whether the station has been shown to resist tampering by young children and dogs and to resist weather. It says to read the label to be sure the product suits the place where it will be used.
What professionals and farms can use
EPA says professional and agricultural products are registered for use in or near buildings, within 100 feet of structures, and in or near agricultural buildings. They may not be sold in consumer outlets such as drug, grocery or hardware stores. Second-generation anticoagulant products must be sold in containers of at least 16 pounds if labelled for professional applicators and at least eight pounds if labelled for use in or near agricultural structures. Professional and agricultural products with first-generation anticoagulants, bromethalin, cholecalciferol or zinc phosphide must be sold in containers of at least four pounds. Their labels require tamper-resistant bait stations wherever children under six, pets or non-target wildlife can reach the bait, and for all outdoor above-ground applications. Baiting of outdoor burrows is permitted only with pelleted bait placed at least six inches down active rat burrows.
The 2008 decision and proposed changes
EPA’s review page says a 2008 risk mitigation decision set the one-pound package limit for the consumer market, barred second-generation anticoagulants from consumer products and required tamper- and weather-resistant stations for outdoor above-ground placements where children, pets and wildlife may be present. In November 2022, EPA issued proposed interim decisions for eleven rodenticides under registration review. These are proposals, not final rules. They include classing all second-generation anticoagulant, strychnine and zinc phosphide products as restricted use pesticides, restricting the sale and use of larger packs of several other products to trained and certified users, prohibiting refillable bait stations in consumer-sized products, and requiring carcass search and disposal after some uses. EPA said the documents would go out for a 75-day public comment period, and the next step was an interim decision.
Safe-use points EPA gives to households
- Read and follow the label directions and store pesticides away from children and pets, for example in a locked utility cabinet or shed.
- Place baits and traps only where children and pets cannot reach them, and never store pesticides next to food, including pet food.
- Promptly remove and dispose of dead rodents, to prevent accidental poisoning of wildlife and pets that might eat a carcass.
Common questions
Can a US homeowner buy the same poison a pest company uses?
Not for the second-generation anticoagulants. EPA says they are registered for commercial and structural pest control only, and that professional-market products are not to be sold in consumer stores.
Are the 2022 proposals in force?
EPA describes them as proposed interim decisions that were open for public comment. They are proposals unless and until EPA finalises them.
The bottom line
EPA limits US consumers to bait stations with block or paste bait in packs of one pound or less and excludes the four second-generation anticoagulants from those products, reserving them for professionals. Labels decide where a product may be used, and EPA’s 2022 proposals for tighter controls were still proposals on its review page. Anyone weighing a DIY product against a professional visit should read the label first and treat the regulatory tiers as a reason to compare the options.
Sources
- US EPA, “Restrictions on Rodenticide Products” (epa.gov)
- US EPA, “Safely Use Rodent Bait Products” (epa.gov)
- US EPA, “Rodent Control Pesticide Safety Review” (epa.gov)