Label , pesticide, information

People infected usually experience only mild flulike symptoms, but West Nile virus can result in life-threatening encephalitis or meningitis. DEET is the most popular pesticide used as a repellent for humans, with several hundred products containing DEET available in the United States. Because it is a pesticide, products containing DEET are required to be labeled with information concerning the method of application, directions for medical attention, list special precautions for children, and the percent DEET in the product. DEET is still available at 100% strength in the United States, but Canada bans formulation that are more than 30% and various groups have recommended that this standard be used in the United States. 

Pesticide containers must be labelled with information on the nature of the contents, instructions for the user, storage instructions, environmental precautions, and actions to take in the event of suspected poisoning. 

The inclusion of so many cotton pesticides under the Rotterdam Convention underlines the danger these chemicals pose to the world population. However, whilst the treaty aims to facilitate information exchange regarding the release of hazardous chemicals to provide each party with a decision-making process on their import and export and to ensure that chemicals are correctly labeled with information relating to potential health and environmental impacts the treaty does not exist to promote an end to the sale and use of those chemicals it considers dangerous. ... 

The salt is packaged ia 45-kg multiwaH bags or fiber dmms of 45, 170, or 181 kg. It is available ia both powdered and granular forms with densities of 1.04 and 1.44 g/cm (65 and 90 lb/fT), respectively. Only the powdered grade is authorized by and registered with the EPA for use ia pesticide formulations, with the further proviso that it must be tinted blue or green, or otherwise discolored. The word poison appears on all labels together with first-aid information. 

Given the complexity of the problem of selecting a safe, effective waste disposal strategy from the relatively sophisticated array of disposal systems that are available, and given the RCRA farmer s exemption, there needs to be a way of providing disposal Information directly to the pesticide user. One such method would be to put It on the label. 

The National Research Council Committee states that attempts to assess food safety based solely on the process are scientifically unjustified. Rather than adding a general label about the process with which a plant variety was developed, it would make more sense to label food so that consumers are informed about what is actually in or on the food. But this, too, is not necessarily helpful. For some people it may be informative to read a label that says, may contain traces of carbamate pesticides, which at high concentrations are known to cause death of animals or may contain trace amounts of purified Bacillus thuringiensis protein, which kill Leptidoptera (a class of insects). But is it helpful to most consumers who are not familiar with the science ... 

The Federal Insecticide Law was enacted in 1910. This was replaced by a stronger law, known as the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, in 1947. This law has been amended several times since then. It deals with interstate commerce of pesticides, particularly regarding the accuracy of the information on the label. 

No person in any state may distribute or sell to any person any pesticide that is not registered with the EPA. Each applicant seeking the registration must file a petition describing the product and the research that has been done on it to prove its efficacy as a pesticide and to provide information on its safety. A copy of the label, i.e., the instruction to the user, must also be included in the petition (Figure 3.1 and 3.2). 

The three laws are enforced from regional laboratories where samples of formulated pesticides and raw and processed foods that have been collected are analyzed. Pesticide formulations are analyzed to see if they are properly labeled, i.e., they contain the pesticide in the amount claimed on the label. These analyses will also indicate whether other pesticides, i.e., adulterants, are present. Through complaints, accidents, and investigations of suspected violations, the government also receives information of any violation of FIFRA (Terriere, 1982). 

The list of criteria is very long and requires in many cases more knowledge than available on the labels or in published documents. A critical area in this respect is the degradation of chemicals down to a level below 10 ppb, which is usually not studied or published for normal registration of pesticides. In order to obtain this information we sometimes need close contacts with agrochemical companies and an exchange of possibly confidential information on active substances and their metabolites. 

Before handlers do any handling task, inform them of all pesticide labeling instructions for safe use. 

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