Pesticides home gardener

Endosulfan is a pesticide used in commercial agriculture and home gardening. Endosulfan has... 

Kurtz, D.A. and Bode, W.M., Application exposure to the home gardener, in Dermal Exposure Related to Pesticide Use Discussion of Risk Assessment, ACS Symposium Series 273, Honeycutt, R.C., Zweig, G., and Ragsdale, N.N., Eds., American Chemical Society, Washington, D.C., 1985, pp. 139-161. 

Several commercial brands of soap are especially formulated and labeled for use on garden vegetables. Some of these may be mixed with other pesticides to increase the effectiveness of both. Commercially labeled soaps are the only soaps recommended for use in the home garden. Be sure to use them only as recommended on the label. 

The Act was written to cover pesticide use on farms, forests, nurseries, and greenhouses. It does not include applications to pastures, golf courses, parks, livestock, right-of-way, or home gardens, nor does it cover treatments for mosquito abatement and rodent control. 

Deb and Pete first got into farming with a home garden years ago when she was pregnant. It progressed from there. When they decided to farm full-time, there was never a question of farming conventionally. Deb describes it as a natural instinct I never wanted to have to make excuses for what I do." They also didn t want pesticides and herbicides around their young children. A farm encompasses your whole life you re always... 

Almost all of this pesticide production is introduced into the environment by direct application to agricultural crops, livestock, soil, forests, water sources, homes, gardens, and to all types of environment for controlling parasites and vectors of disease to protect the public health. While—as commonly claimed—only about 5% of the arable area of the world has been so treated, these limited areas may be heavily treated. For example, in 1962 in California alone, 12,000,000 acres were sprayed or dusted. Over 1,800,000 pounds of 14 different pesticides were applied in 1963 to 700,000 of these acres, planted in cotton in the San Joaquin Valley, resulting in 2.6 pounds per acre in one year or 25 mg. per square foot per year. Over the past 20 years, therefore, many millions of pounds of DDT alone have been used there. Although few agricultural areas in the world are so intensively treated, substantial amounts of pesticide chemicals are always used wherever modem agriculture is practiced. 

Solomon, K.R., S.A. Harris and G.R. Stephenson (1993). Applicator and bystander exposure to home garden and landscape pesticides, in Pesticides in Urban Environments,... 

Hand sprayers are often used to apply small quantities of pesticides. They can be used both in structures and outside for spot treatments and hard-to-reach areas Most operate on compressed air, which is supplied by a manually operated pump. These sprayers are usually used in the structural pest control industry and are common in home gardens. 

Malathion is a pesticide used on agricultural crops, golf courses, and home gardens. It is used primarily to kill mosquitos and fruit flies in large outdoor areas. Additionally, Malathion is used to kill fleas on pets and to treat head lice. Usually, it is sprayed on crops or sprayed from an airplane over wide land areas, especially in the states of California and Florida. Malathion comes in two forms, a pure colorless liquid and a technical-grade brownish-yellow liquid, which contains Malathion and impurities in a solvent. Technical grade Malathion smells like garlic. 

An interesting experiment in low-input agriculture is going on in Cuba today.350 Since Russian aid ended in 1991, the inputs of fertilizer, pesticides and petroleum have dropped by more than 50%. Its pest-monitoring system is said to be among the most comprehensive in the world. There are many stations where mass rearing of beneficial insects is done. Home gardens have proliferated. It is still too early to tell how well this will work out. 

Davis J.R., Browson R.C. and Garcia R. (1992) Family pesticide use in the home, garden, orchard, and yard. Arch. Environ. Contam. Toxicol., 22, 260-266. 

Pesticide products are widely used not only in commercial applications but also in and around homes in the United States. Ia 1971 survey of suburban residents of Philadelphia, PA Dallas, TX and Lansing, MI ( )> 92.5% of the 525 respondents reported using pesticides. Vegetable gardens, an important home activity, are frequently treated with insecticides to prevent damage to garden crops. 

Farmers are not the only people exposed to agrochemicals. Forty percent of these chemicals are used outside the agricultural industry. Home gardeners use fertilizers and weed killers. Household pest-control agents contain some of the same pesticides used on farms. Chemical workers, professional exterminators, animal-feed mill workers, and some food handlers are other workers who may make contact with these compounds on a daily basis. 

The Exxsol solvents are useful in numerous home, garden, lawn, and agricultural pesticide formulations because of their very low phytotoxicity. The low surface tension of the Exxsols facilitates the spreading of the pesticide rapidly across a surface. Agrichemical professionals at Exxon Chemical are available to assist pesticide formulators in selecting the proper solvent. 

Whitmore RW, Kelly JE, Reading PL. 1992. National home and garden pesticide survey. Office of Pesticides and Toxic Substances, Biological and Economic Analysis Branch, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC. NTIS PB92-174747. 

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