Anoxia is a deficiency of oxygen that can cause the death of biological organisms. It has been used as a treatment method in the killing of insect pests for some years with great success; however, there have been a number of failures owing to uncertainties in how particular insect species and stages in their life cycle react to low oxygen conditions. This paper looks at the most recent research into anoxic treatments against insect pests and makes recommendations for best practice in the methods used.