Piperonyl butoxide and its use for practical and scientific purposes

Piperonyl butoxide (PBO) used worldwide as a synergist for pyrethroids because it inhibits monooxygenases, the enzyme systems of arthropods that detoxify insecticides. The introduction of PBO into the formulation is most popular for insecticides in aerosol packaging, however, PBO often included in other formulations. The effectiveness of using synergists depends on their content in the product – the more synergist in the mixture, the more pronounced the insecticidal effect. Synergists often proposed as a tool for controlling resistant insects, but arthropods have been shown to very quickly acquire resistance to synergized pyrethroids. The antagonism of PBO with proinsecticides (chlorfenapyr, fipronil, chlorpyrifos, pirimiphos-methyl) has been shown. PBO used for scientific purposes to study the mechanisms of resistance of arthropods as an inhibitor of cytochrome P450 monooxygenases. To ensure the continued effectiveness of synanthropic insect control measures, it is critical to develop and implement appropriate insecticide resistance management strategies that include a long-term risk assessment of synergists. Keywords: synergists, piperonyl butoxide, insecticide resistance.