- Author: Stephanie Parreira
- Author: Tammy Majcherek
Spring is here and often means more landscape pests such as weeds, ants, mosquitoes, etc. Before you reach for the pesticides, please read the following information:
National Poison Prevention Week—March 19-25, 2017
—Stephanie Parreira
Both agricultural and household pesticides can poison people if they are not properly handled. In agriculture, poisoning most often results from pesticide mixing and loading, and the most harm occurs due to spills, splashes and equipment failure. In the home, many pesticide poisoning incidents involve children swallowing pesticides, including garden products, disinfectant cleaners, or other chemicals used to control pests.
One of the most important things you can do to prevent pesticide poisoning is to follow the instructions on the pesticide label. Labels address critical information about how to use a pesticide safely, including the kind of personal protective equipment (PPE) you should wear to prevent overexposure, how much of the product to apply, the minimum time you must wait to enter the area after applying the pesticide (the restricted entry interval), and the minimum time that must pass between application and harvest (preharvest interval).
If you apply pesticides in or around your home, be sure to store them properly and keep them out of the reach of children. Keep in mind that even mothballs may look like candy to very young children. It is illegal and unsafe to store pesticides in food or drink containers, which can easily fool people into consuming them and being poisoned. According to the California Department of Pesticide Regulation, these mistakes caused 62 incidents of child poisoning from pesticide ingestion in California in 2014, and 47 of those cases involved children under six years of age.
Center for Disease Control and Prevention Leading Causes of Death Reports
National Poison Prevention Week website
National Pesticide Information Center
UC IPM online course: Proper Pesticide Use to Avoid Illegal Residues
If you apply pesticides anywhere outside of the home and garden, or if you work in areas where pesticides are applied, you must also comply with the annual training and certification requirements listed in CCR 6724 and 6764 (links below). Pesticide handler and fieldworker training helps prevent pesticide hazards and poisoning. This blog post cannot be used as a substitute for required training.
http://www.cdpr.ca.gov/docs/legbills/calcode/030302.htm#a6738
http://www.cdpr.ca.gov/docs/legbills/calcode/030302.htm#a6724
http://www.cdpr.ca.gov/docs/legbills/calcode/030303.htm#a6764