ABSTRACT
A long series of anticoagulants have since been synthesized, most of them biologically much more potent than dicoumarol, and they all belong to one of the two groups: the hydroxycoumarines and the indandiones. In spite of the massive application of anticoagulant rodenticides in many countries for more than 35 years their safety record is remarkably good as far as man is concerned — so far no fatal, accidental poisoning has been documented. Workers in pharmaceutical industries or in pest control companies, handling anticoagulant concentrates, must take all precautions to avoid inhaling dust or being contaminated on the skin by oil-soluble compounds. Chlorophacinone is a French, oil-soluble anticoagulant, synthesized in the mid-sixties and used for the control of commensal as well as field rodents, especially Ondathra zibethica and Microtus arvalis in Europe for many years. Brodifacoum is one of the newest and most potent of the so-called "second-generation" anticoagulants, synthesized in 1977 in the UK.
