Safe use of pesticides fact sheet addresses what pesticides are, dangers of pesticides, reason to use pesticides, testing of pesticides, allergies in people, and general safety precautions

Derscheid, Lyle A.

English

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South Dakota State University Open PRAIRIE: Open Public Research Access Institutional Repository and Information Exchange SDSU Extension Fact Sheets SDSU Extension 1965 Safe Use of Pesticides Lyle A. Derscheid Follow this and additional works at: https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/extension_fact Recommended Citation Derscheid, Lyle A., "Safe Use of Pesticides" (1965). SDSU Extension Fact Sheets. 1292. https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/extension_fact/1292 This Fact Sheet is brought to you for free and open access by the SDSU Extension at Open PRAIRIE: Open Public Research Access Institutional Repository and Information Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in SDSU Extension Fact Sheets by an authorized administrator of Open PRAIRIE: Open Public Research Access Institutional Repository and Information Exchange. For more information, please contact michael.biondo@sdstate.edu. Historic, archived doculllent Do not assume content reflects current scientific knowledge, policies, or practices. SDSU ® Extension For current policies and practices, contact SDSU Extension Website: extension.sdstate.edu Phone: Email: 605-688-4 792 sdsu.extension@sdstate.edu SDSU Extension is an equal opportunity provider and employer in accordance with the nondiscrimination policies of South Dakota State University, the South Dakota Board of Regents and the United States Department of Agriculture. FS 259 Safe Use of Pesticides By Lyle A. Derscheid, Extension agronomist Published and distributed in furtherance of the Acts of Congress of May 8 and June 30, 1914, by the Cooperative Extension Serv-ice of South Dakota State University, Brookings, John T. Stone, Director, U. S. Department of Agriculture cooperating. SM-1-65-File: 15-2025 '-----FS 259 Pesticides WHAT ARE PESTICIDES? The most important pesticides used in South Dakota are either an insecticide, herbicide, fungicide, or rodenticide. Insecticides are used to control insects that may cause damage or destruction to livestock, plants, or stored grain; transmit diseases to livestock, plants, or humans; or become nuisances in the home, business, or recreational areas. Herbicides are used to control unwanted vegeta-tion (weeds) in crops, grazing land, forests, recrea-tional areas, wildlife habitats, along rights-of-way and in irrigation ditches, canals or recreational water. Fungicides are chemicals used to control plant diseases caused by fungi. This includes the control of seed- and soil-borne diseases by treating seed and/or soil and control of leaf and stem diseases by use of foliar applications. Rodenticides are used to control rats, mice, or other rodent pests that damage or destroy crops in storage or transit, growing crops or equipment, in-jure livestock, transmit diseases to livestock or hu-mans, or create a nuisance in the home or business. ARE PESTICIDES DANGEROUS? Fungicides are used to kill or control fungi which cause plant diseases. Many fungicides applied to seed or soil are composed of highly toxic elements such as mercury. Other fungicides are less danger-ous. Most of them are not toxic to plants, but some may be poisonous to animals and humans. Rodenticides kill l{ ving animals. Although they are used to control rodents, they are also poisonous to humans, livestock, and pets. Insecticides are designed to kill lower members of the animal kingdom. They are less dangerous to higher animals than rodenticides, but some are toxic to livestock, humans, or pets. Herbicides are used to kill certain types of plants. Although most herbicides are relatively non-toxic to animals or insects, they should be handled with care. Systemic herbicides affect the metabolism of plants, which means that they may cause some harm-less plants to be poisonous to livestock or may cause otherwise unpalatable poisonous plants to be palat-able. Improper use of pesticides can be hazardous to nearby people, animals, birds, or plants, but all recommended pesticides can be used without adverse affects if directions are followed. WHY USE PESTICIDES? To maintain our present standard of living, pes-ticides are essential. They facilitate the production and protection of food, feed, and fiber in greater quantity and quality; improve public health; and keep many kinds of nuisance insects, rodents, and unwanted plants in check. Modern agricultural efficiency is maintained through the use of insecticides, herbicides, fungi-cides, and other chemicals. They reduce loss of food crops and result in higher quality food. Pesticides permit efficient production of forage and grains needed for livestock production and control live-stock pests so that better quality meat is available. In addition, pesticides allow profitable yields of non-food crops, such as cotton, tobacco, ornamental plants, and timber. They have made possible the economic production of crops which would other-wise be available only to a limited number of wealthy producers. Besides enabling spectacular increases in agricul-tural production, pesticides have freed man from many communicable diseases. By controlling the in-sect vectors, several diseases have been almost eradi-cated in the United States. Pesticides have made the control of many nui-sance insects, rodents, and plants financially feasi-ble. Without these pesticides, mosquitoes, poison ivy, ragweed, and other pests might limit man's en-joyment of some of the most desirable recreational areas. Increased efficiency of agricultural production makes it possible to raise the required food and fiber on fewer acres leaving additional land for recreational areas and wildlife habitats. The fact that pesticides upset the balance of na-ture is often used as an argument against their us-age. Actually man began to upset the balance of nature when he started to plant crops. Progress is largely measured by the degree to which man has been able to weight the balance of nature in his favor. The use of mechanization, pesticides, and in-creased technology have been used to weigh the balance so that 8% of the United States population can produce more than enough food for the nation and over 90% of the population is available for making progress in other fields. WHO USES PESTICIDES? Aside from agriculture, pesticides are used in forests, parks, and other recreational areas. They are used by wildlife officials, public health organi-zations, highways, railroads, utilities, and the home owner. Over 50% of the insecticides used in the United States protect health and comfort in military estab-lishments, commercial establishments ( stock yards, packing plants, warehouses, grocery stores, meat markets, restaurants, hotels, grain elevators, etc.), and in the home and garden. Less than 1 % is used to control mosquitoes in swamps, marshes, etc. Less than 50% of the insecticides are used in ag-riculture with 34% being applied to less than 4% of the cultivated land. Public health officials use insecticides and roden-ticides to control mosquitoes that transmit malaria, typhus, yellow fever, and encephalitis; to control spotted fever ticks; and to control rats that support fleas that transmit bubonic plague and murine typhus. The 75 million malaria cases a year have been reduced to 5 million. Wildlife organizations use herbicides to create and maintain clearings in heavily wooded areas and to control weeds in other areas so grasses, berry shrubs, and other plants will grow and provide shelter and food for deer, small animals, and birds. Likewise parasite carrying snails, leeches, and un-desirable fish are controlled to protect other animals and fish. Parks, forests and other recreation areas use herbicides to control poison ivy and poison oak, which cause skin irritation, and ragw~ed and other weeds, which cause hay fever. They use herbicides to control aquatic weeds and algae in irrigation canals, drainage ditches, and boating areas. They use insecticides to control mosquitoes, ticks, and chiggers and rodenticides to prevent animals from destroying new plantings. Millions of Americans who visit parks, take camping trips or enjoy out-door living no longer have to contend with insects, poisonous plants, or unwanted weeds. Highways, railroads, and utilities use herbicides to remove undesirable plants thus reducing mainten-ance costs and beautifying the landscape. Home owners use insecticides and fungicides to protect their gardens, fruit trees, and shrubs and they use herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides to pro-tect their lawns. PESTICIDES ARE THOROUGHLY TESTED It takes an average of 3 to 5 years of development work before an agricultural chemical is proved of value and cleared for use. The cost generally runs be~ tween $1 and 3 million. No products in use in the world today-not even pharmaceuticals-are more thoroughly tested before they are sold or used. The results of all this research are available for everyone to read-on the labels of the pesticide containers. Research on toxicity begins as soon as a compound is found to have any potential use. The earliest tests are on acute toxicity to animals and humans. If the compound passes the early tests for safety and effectiveness, safety research goes into a new stage. It discovers what kind of injury to animals might be expected from exposure to significant amounts of the compound over an extended period of time-usually 90 days. These feeding tests are con-ducted on laboratory animals which are sacrificed and studied closely to determine what effects, if any, the compound has on organ systems and the skin. When field testing begins, extensive studies are made of residues, if any, left on food crops. At the same time studies are made of biological effects on animals. The final step in evaluating a new pesticide in-volves large scale field testing. Long term toxicity tests are conducted at the same time. These are carried out on a variety of laboratory animals and continue over the life span of the animals and may continue for 2 or 3 years. During this period, many different scientists have tested the compound. These scientists represent the manufacturer, the USDA, and several state agricul-tural experiment stations. These are tough tests for the compounds-many are discarded at one stage or another and a few are promoted to advanced stages of study. The United States Department of Agriculture determines if the pesticide is satisfactory for the in-tended use. If it is to be used on food crops, all data collected over 3 to 5 years work are checked by the Federal Drug Administration scientists against work done by their own laboratories. Nothing is left to chance. All the testing and checking is done before the product is put on the market. Safety is an essential ingredient in every new pesticide released. Both industry and government strive to eliminate or reduce hazard to the point of safety. Complete elimination of all dangers and hazards would be ideal. However, there is a point at which the welfare of the people, by our own choice, requires that the product be used because the benefit derived far outweighs any possible danger. Without such an operating philosophy, man would still be living in trees or caves at the mercy of his environ-ment. SOME PESTICIDES CAUSE ALLERGIES The thorough testing of pesticides makes them safe for most people to handle if they follow the directions for use. However, there are a few people ---.J who will be allergic to one pesticide or another. Approved pesticides can be handled safely if cer-tain safety precauticns are observed. GENERAL SAFETY PRECAUTIONS Be sure the containers are labeled. State and feder-al laws require that containers carry a label that de-scribes the contents of the container, gives directions for use and precautions to observe when using it. People who put a pesticide in an unlabeled container violate these laws. South Dakota Law is as follows: "It is unlawful for retailers, wholesalers and manu-facturers to sell Agricultural Chemicals in bulk. They must be sold in original containers, carrying ingred-ient statement, directions for use, warnings, cautions, hazards, and if necessary antidote statement. Except as to labeling requirements the above does not apply to registered. pharmacists and registered assistant pharmacists." "Whenever bulking chemicals takes place, STOP SALE ORDERS will be placed and repeated viola-tions will be prosecuted in accordance with penalty provisions of the South Dakota Pesticide Law. Penal-ties: Chap. 22.0lA, Section 9, (a, b, and c)." Store in a safe place. Store in original labeled con-tainers out of reach of children, animals, or irrespons-ible people. Read the label before using. Follow instructions for application and heed all precautions and warn-ings. Use the right chemical for the right pest. Do not feed treated grain or forage to livestock before directions say it is safe to do so. Other don'ts. Don't save or re-use empty pesticide containers. Don't use a pesticide in the home if a gas mask is required in using it. Don't use your mouth to blow out clogged sprayer line or nozzle tips, or to siphon a pesticide from a container. Don't smoke while handling pesticides. Don't spray or dust out-doors when the wind is high. Don't apply pesticides near wells where they might contaminate the water. 

Safe Use of Pesticides

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Safe Use of Pesticides

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