Which of the following is a non-anticoagulant rodenticide?

Which of the following is a non-anticoagulant rodenticide?

• A. Zinc phosphate
• B. Bromethalin
• C. Cholecalciferol
• D. Warfarin

Answer: (A)

Non-anticoagulant rodenticides kill by mechanisms other than inhibiting vitamin K–dependent clotting factors. The chosen agent fits this category because it reacts in the stomach to release phosphine gas, which disrupts cellular respiration and rapidly causes death. This is different from anticoagulants, like warfarin, that prevent clotting factor activation and produce internal bleeding. The other listed options kill by different non-anticoagulant pathways—bromethalin is a neurotoxin that disrupts brain energy production, and cholecalciferol (vitamin D3) causes dangerous hypercalcemia and organ damage—so their actions are not related to anticoagulation either.

Non-anticoagulant rodenticides kill by mechanisms other than inhibiting vitamin K–dependent clotting factors. The chosen agent fits this category because it reacts in the stomach to release phosphine gas, which disrupts cellular respiration and rapidly causes death. This is different from anticoagulants, like warfarin, that prevent clotting factor activation and produce internal bleeding. The other listed options kill by different non-anticoagulant pathways—bromethalin is a neurotoxin that disrupts brain energy production, and cholecalciferol (vitamin D3) causes dangerous hypercalcemia and organ damage—so their actions are not related to anticoagulation either.