Coumatetralyl is an
anticoagulant
An anticoagulant, commonly known as a blood thinner, is a chemical substance that prevents or reduces the coagulation of blood, prolonging the clotting time. Some occur naturally in blood-eating animals, such as leeches and mosquitoes, which ...
of the
4-hydroxycoumarin
4-Hydroxycoumarin is a coumarin derivative with a hydroxy group at the 4-position.
Occurrence
4-Hydroxycoumarin is an important fungal metabolite from the precursor coumarin, and its production leads to further fermentative production of the n ...
vitamin K antagonist type used as a
rodenticide
Rodenticides are chemicals made and sold for the purpose of killing rodents. While commonly referred to as "rat poison", rodenticides are also used to kill mice, woodchucks, chipmunks, porcupines, nutria, beavers, and voles.
Some rodenticides ...
.
Common applications
Coumatetralyl is commonly used with
grain
A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached husk, hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and ...
s and other
cereal
A cereal is a grass cultivated for its edible grain. Cereals are the world's largest crops, and are therefore staple foods. They include rice, wheat, rye, oats, barley, millet, and maize ( Corn). Edible grains from other plant families, ...
s as a rodent poison in conjunction with a
tracking powder to monitor feeding activity in a particular area. Tracking powder also clings to fur, which allows more poison to be ingested from grooming. Concentrations of the chemical are usually 500 mg per 1 kg of bait.
Toxicity to humans
Symptoms of overexposure relate to failure of the
blood clotting
Coagulation, also known as clotting, is the process by which blood changes from a liquid to a gel, forming a thrombus, blood clot. It results in hemostasis, the cessation of blood loss from a damaged vessel, followed by repair. The process of co ...
mechanism and include bleeding gums and failure of blood clotting after skin wounds. After one exposure the
toxicity
Toxicity is the degree to which a chemical substance or a particular mixture of substances can damage an organism. Toxicity can refer to the effect on a whole organism, such as an animal, bacteria, bacterium, or plant, as well as the effect o ...
of coumatetralyl is relatively low; however, if overexposure continues for several days the product becomes more toxic. The product must therefore be constantly present in the bloodstream for more than one to two days in order to be highly toxic. A single exposure, even though relatively large, may not produce toxic symptoms as the compound is quite rapidly
metabolized.
Chronic animal studies show no evidence of
carcinogenic
A carcinogen () is any agent that promotes the development of cancer. Carcinogens can include synthetic chemicals, naturally occurring substances, physical agents such as ionizing and non-ionizing radiation, and Biological agent, biologic agent ...
or
teratogenic
Teratology is the study of abnormalities of physiological development in organisms during their life span. It is a sub-discipline in medical genetics which focuses on the classification of congenital abnormalities in dysmorphology caused by ...
effects.
Treatment
Vitamin K1 (phylloquinone) is antidotal.
See also
*
C19H16O3
References
{{coumarin
Anticoagulant rodenticides
Vitamin K antagonists
Tetralins
Coumarin drugs
4-Hydroxycoumarins