Review terms for 2008

With the start of a new year, it is a good time to renew our knowledge of pesticide terms. Here’s a listing of vocabulary words worth remembering.

Active ingredient. The chemical in a pesticide that is responsible for killing or inhibiting the pest.

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Adjuvant. A relatively nontoxic ingredient mixed with pesticides to improve their contact with pests or their general effectiveness. Examples include: wetting agents, spreaders, emulsifiers, dispersing agents, foam suppressants, penetrants and buffers (pH stabilizers).

Biological control. The use of predator or parasitic insects or other living agents to control insect pests or infectious diseases.

Cultural control. Practices, not involving the use of chemicals, to control pests and diseases. Examples include: watering practices and sanitation.

Dispersible granule. A dry formulation of small particle size designed to be mixed with water prior to use.

Drench. A thorough soaking of the growing media using a chemical pesticide.

Dry flowable. A type of granular pesticide formulation. It is mixed with water and dissolved into a sprayable suspension. It is also known as water-dispersible granules.

Dusts. A pesticide formulation mixed with a finely ground, dry talc powder, clay or powdered nut shells that is applied directly to foliage. Dusts are to be used dry, never with water. They are often used to coat seed to prevent seed and seedling diseases.

Emulsifiable concentrate. A chemical formulation containing active ingredients in an organic solvent. It forms an emulsion when mixed with water. An emulsion is not a solution, but rather a mixture of one liquid dispersed in another.

Eradicant. A chemical that eliminates a pest or pathogen.

Formulation. The physical nature of a pesticide. A toxic chemical combined with other ingredients to create a product that can be used safely to control a pest. It may contain one or more active ingredients, the carrier and other additives. Examples include: dusts and wettable powders.

Fumigants. A gaseous form of a pesticide.

Fungicide. A chemical that inhibits or inactivates fungi.

Granule. A form of pesticide. It is prepared by impregnating an active ingredient on a particle of fired clay, walnut shells, corn cobs or other porous material.

Holistic health management. An approach to plant health based on the knowledge that many aspects of a plant’s environment are always influencing the plant simultaneously. They all need to be considered when maintaining plant health.

Inert material. Filler material added to chemical pesticides that carries and dilutes active ingredients in a mix. It has no direct controlling or killing action, but rather influences the behavior of the toxicant. Inert ingredients included in pesticide formulations include: spreader-stickers, dispersing agents, wetting agents, solubilizers, stabilizers and dilutants.

Insecticide or miticide. A chemical that inhibits or inactivates insects or mites.

LD 50. The lethal dosage needed to kill 50 percent of the test animals in a study on the toxic nature of pesticides. It is usually expressed in milligrams of pesticide per kilograms of body weight of the test animal.

Microencapsulated. A liquid formulation of pesticide that has the active ingredient encapsulated in an inert polymer. They can increase the effectiveness of toxicants because chemical release onto plant surfaces is controlled and unwanted volatilization of products away from their targets is reduced.

Pesticide. A chemical used to destroy or inhibit pests, including insects, mites, weeds and fungi. Examples include: insecticide, fungicides, herbicides and miticides.

Phytotoxicity. Damage resulting from a pesticide having an adverse affect on the plant.

Soluble powder. Powdered materials that dissolve completely and directly in water. This form of pesticide should not require further agitation when spraying. It doesn’t cause nearly the abrasion and nozzle clogging problems of many other formulations.

Spreader. A liquid added to a spray preparation to improve its ability to cover the plant surface. It is used to reduce the surface tension and generally increases the area that a given volume of liquid will cover on a leaf.

Systemic. Pertaining to the whole body, as a type of pesticide that is translocated throughout the entire plant. A systemic insecticide is present in any tissue of the plant.

Toxicant. A poison or the poisonous (active) part of a formulation.

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Wettable powder. A pesticide formulation to be mixed with water.

Wetting agent. A chemical added to water to make it easier to wet treated objects.

- Charles C. Powell