ENVS 3020 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Personal Protective Equipment, Pesticide Formulation, Active Ingredient

• School: University of Guelph
• Department: Environmental Sciences
• Course: ENVS 3020
• Professor: Ryan Prosser

Document Summary

When deciding which pesticide is best suited for a given situation, there may be many options to choose from and it important to select one that is appropriate for the desired end use and application method. Often, there are several active ingredients that are effective for the control of a given pest and selecting the ideal one for a specific circumstance, such as a cockroach in a residential food pantry, is just one consideration. A given active ingredient is typically mixed with formulants (ingredients in the commercial pesticide other than the active ingredient) to produce different formulations that are designed for specific end uses and/or application methods. Some formulations may require the addition of preservatives to protect an active ingredient such as from bacterial degradation, and these themselves may be an active ingredient. Chemical modifications to active ingredients, for instance altering a functional group, can also alter the properties of a pesticide.