04-Lancastar Fanning Saturday, May 14, 1988
Swine Management
BY
DR. RICHARD BARCZEWSKI
Extension Agent
University of Delaware
Read The Label
Just recently. I had the oppor
tunity to participate in a pesticide
applicators training workshop that
was held in a community west of
Dover. While I have assisted vari
ous farmers in the past regarding
pesticides and their safe use, until
then I had not taken the exam to
become certified myself. This
meeting was a way to brush up on
pesticide safety and to get certified
in one sfiot.
All of us involved with agricul
ture come in frequent contact with
pesticides. We use them to protect
our crops from insects, weeds and
disease pests and to protect our
livestock from diseases and
parasitesj
The most important questions to
ask yourself are: “Am I taking the
proper precautions when using
pesticides?” And “Do I know the
materials I’m using and how toxic
they may be to me and my
livestock?”
Essentially a pesticide works as
a toxin, repellent, attractant or ster
ilant of pests. The Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) current
ly has about 57,000 registrations
for pesticide-containing products
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and registrations for more than
1,750 active ingredients in those
products.
Pesticides come in a whole host
of formulations. There are aero
sols, baits, liquids, granules, emul
sifiable concentrates, dusts,
impregnated materials, sow
release materials, oral materials
and nib-on creams and lotions.
Each of these materials has specif
ic activities and comes in the form
best designed to accomplish the
task fra which it was developed.
Pesticides work in several ways.
There are short-lived contact kill
ers that can be applied directly to
pests, and residual materials that
are applied so that they eventually
come m contact with the target
pest.
Pesticides are developed to kill
or otherwise control pests, but
because they have the potential
hazard of killing or injuring us,
too, we must be very careful in
using them. The acute or quick
toxicity of a pesticide is measured
as the LDSO. This is the amount of
Column
pesticide needed per unit of body
weight to cause the death of 50 per
cent of the test animals exposed to
it
It is important to realize that
almost any compound is toxic if
consumed in a great quantity.
Sugar or table salt, for example, if
consumed as a rate of 4 grams
(there are 454 grams in a pound)
per kilogram (2.2 pounds) of body
weight, will cause death in SO per
cent of the test animals fed it. This
is the same LDSO as malathion, a
common insecticide used around
livestock. The LDSO of caffeine is
225 milligrams (one milligram =
1/1000 of a gram) per kilogram of
body weight, while nicotine is 1
milligram per kilogram of body
weight. Lindane, another insecti
cide used around hogs, has an
LDSO of 88 to 125 milligrams per
kilogram of body weight.
Don’t get me wrong. 1 am not
advocating the consumption of
pesticides, but just letting you
know that some of the common
everyday items we consume are
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toxic if taken in large-enough
doses. In fact, some of these items
are even more acutely toxic than
certain pesticides. On the other
hand, some restricted-use pesti
cides are extremely toxic, and mis
use of any pesticides can be fatal.
In addition to their acute toxici
ty, some pesticide compounds also
have long-lasting or chronic
effects. These are the effects that
you don’t see immediately, such as
the development of cancer, tumors
and even genetic defects in unborn
fetuses.
These potential problems are the
reasons why all pesticides are
closely scrutinized for their acute
and chronic toxicity characteris
tics. As a matter of fact, many pre
viously approved pesticides are
now being re-reviewed by the EPA
since they were originally
approved at a time when the
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requirements tor clearance weic
more relaxed than they currently
are.
What can you do to avoid the
harmful effects of pesticides?
First, read the label of any pesti
cide when you buy it and again
when you use it When you buy a
pesticide that you have used for
years, re-read the label. Many
labels are being updated and con
tain new information.
Finally and most importantly,
follow the practices described on
the label. It does you no good at all
to read and ignore that informa
tion. If the label tells you to wear a
respirator, coveralls and gloves, by
all means do so. The guidelines
printed on the label were deve
loped to protect you, the user of
those pesticides. Don’t take
chances. The risks are too great
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