Have a cockroach problem? Before you order pesticides online, consider this: the EPA has issued a “Stop Sale” order to online marketplace Bonanza.com requiring the company to immediately halt sales of a dozen imported pesticide products not legal -- or safe -- for sale in the United States.

Among the unregistered, illegal pesticides targeted by the order is “Miraculous Insecticide Chalk,” a common and particularly dangerous product because of its documented history of causing illness in children who mistake the chalk for regular sidewalk or black board chalk.

False and misleading claims

None of the pesticides in the EPA order is registered with EPA, and most contain false or misleading claims on their labelling. All pesticides for sale in the United States must be registered with the EPA and have an EPA registration number on their labels.

Ed Kowalski, the Director of the Enforcement and Compliance Division of EPA’s Region 10 office in Seattle, said, “The proliferation of unregistered pesticides in the marketplace, particularly in the e-commerce environment, poses a significant and immediate health risk to consumers, children, pets, and others exposed to the products in use or in transit.”

Cockroach killers

Here is the list of products targeted by the EPA’s “Stop Sale” order:

• Cockroach Killing Bait Box Anti Pest Control Roach Magic
• 30pcs Miraculous Insecticide Chalk Cockroach Roaches Bug Pest Killer Magic Pen
• 50pcs Cockroach Killing Bait Cockroach Killer Roach Pest Control Insecticide
• 100 pcs Cockroach Killing Bait Pest Control Powder Powerful Kill Particle Specif [sic]
• Green Leaf Powder Killer Bait Cockroach Repeller [sic] Pest ControlEffective [sic] (50 Pack)
• GreenLeaf Cockroach Killing Bait Powder 100% Effective 50/100/200pcs
• 10pcs Powerful Cockroach Killing Bait Roach Catcher Kitchen Household Pest Contr [sic]
• 6Pcs Cockroaches Killer Cockroach Repellent Smoke Mosquitoes Fly Ants Home Pests
• Maxforce FC Select Roach Killer Gel Bait 20g/230g + Feeding 30ea Free Ship Track
• Mole Poison Veleno Talpa. Killer Taupe - Pest Control. 2 pcs x 120 g - 240 g.
• NoNest™ Cockroach Eliminator Gel
• Cockroach Pest Control Gel 35G Cockroach and Domestic Insects Killer Agromaxi

Illegal distribution of “Miraculous Insecticide Chalk” and “Green Leaf Cockroach Killing Bait Powder” were the subject of EPA “Stop Sale” orders issued to Amazon in 2015 and 2016 and a subsequent $1.2 million penalty order against the company.

The “Stop Sale” order is effective immediately upon receipt of the order by Bonanza.