Applying Pesticides Correctly: A Guide for Private and Commercial Applicators

Table of Contents, Acknowledgements, and Preface

United States Extension Service, United States Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Agriculture
Revised 1991

Acknowledgements

This manual, "Applying Pesticides Correctly," was produced by The Ohio State University and Information Impact, in cooperation with the Extension Service. U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Office of Pesticide Programs, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Principal participants in the project were:

Sally A. McDonald, Information Impact - primary author and compiler.

Mary Ann Wamsley, Information Impact - editor and reading level advisor.

John K. Victor, Mary Hoffelt, Jodi Barnhill, and Jackie Marthey, Section of Information and Applied Communications in the Ohio Cooperative Extension Service at The Ohio State University, artists and graphic designers.

Richard C. Funt, The Ohio State University, project coordinator.

Members of The Ohio State University Advisory Committee included: Richard C. Funt, Department of Horticulture, Chair. Mark Headings, Agricultural Technical Institute. Anne Kick-Raak, Pesticide Applicator Training. Richard Lindquist, Department of Entomology. Erdal Ozkan, Department of Agricultural Engineering. Charles Powell. Jr., Department of Plant Pathology. Celeste Welty, Department of Entomology

The following people are especially acknowledged for their thorough reviews and constructive suggestions: Karen Angulo, Environmental Protection Agency. Robert Bellinger, Clemson University. Burton C. Evans, University of Georgia. Ronald Gardner, Cornell University.

Several printed sources were particularly crucial to the development of this manual: "Agricultural Respiratory Hazards Education Series,

Unit 9, Personal Protective Equipment". 1986. C. Mutel, C. Hradek, and W. Popendorf, American Lung Association of Iowa. Des Moines, Iowa.

"Personal & Environmental Safety". 1990. Lab Safety Supply, laneville. Wisconsin.

"Pesticide Applicator Training Manual. Core Manual". 1990. D. Rutz, R. Gardner, and W. Smith. Chemicals-Pesticides Program, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.

"Pesticide Education Manual. A Guide to Safe Use and Handling". C. Brown and W. Hock. The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania.

"Recognition and Management of Pesticide Poisonings". 1989. D.P. Morgan. Fourth Edition. Iowa Pesticide Hazard Assessment Project, The University of Iowa College of Medicine, Iowa City, Iowa .

Thanks go also to the many other reviewers who took the considerable time necessary to read the draft manuscript and to offer comments and suggestions. Each had a significant hand in ensuring that this final version represents the best and most up-to-date information available about the safe use of pesticides. These reviewers included Cooperative Extension Service pesticide coordinators, EPA headquarters and regional personnel. NIOSH personnel, and other experts from the pesticide industry.

Preface

This manual represents the second revision of "Applying Pesticides Correctly - A Guide for Private and Commercial Applicators." The series began with separate guides for private and commercial applicators published jointly by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Environ.mental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1974. Those manuals were a part of the initial implementation of the applicator training requirements of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act of 1972. They established a threshold level of information necessary for applicators seeking initial certification.

The first revision, in 1983, recognized the need for private and commercial applicators to have a common basis of knowledge about pesticide use. It combined the two 1974 publications into an expanded and updated "core" manual for use by both groups of applicators. Produced by North Carolina State University and Information Impact, in cooperation with USDA and EPA, it included new information and represented a step towards more depth of knowledge for certified applicators.

This second revision reflects the continuing evolution of the applicator certification program. Pesticide use has become increasingly complex. Safe. responsible pesticide use has become increasingly important to human health and environmental quality. This new manual includes much new information about the effects of pesticides and how to ensure that they can continue to be used for the benefit of society with a minimum of risk to either people or the environment.

Another major change is in the focus of the manual. The previous versions, while giving much basic information, were slanted toward agricultural pesticide use. Recognizing that more and more applicants for certification come from fields other than agriculture, this version has taken a broad approach. The "core" of information it contains is, in general, applicable to the entire range of categories in which certification is granted.

Finally, this revision constitutes a major change in the format of the core manual. The information is contained in separate units, or modules, that each contain learning objectives and review questions and answers. The structure allows for replacement of individual units. as needed, without the need to revise and renumber the entire book. Since the modules are not numbered, training agencies can organize them to suit their individual needs and can add or delete units as appropriate.

This project, which has the support of both the Extension Service, USDA, and the Office of Pesticide Programs, EPA, represents the continuation of a long-standing effort to ensure that pesticide applicator training is relevant and useful to applicators who seek certification and that it fulfills the purpose of improving the safety and efficacy of pesticide use.

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