Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
CHAPTER 4
PESTICIDE FORMULATION
AND DILUTION
I. PESTICIDE FORMULATIONS
The components of pesticide products which have pesticidial activity are
called active ingredients. A particular product may contain more than one ac-
tive ingredient. Active ingredients are rarely used applied in their pure form. In-
stead, they are normally mixed with inert (inactive) ingredients so that you can
handle them more conveniently and safely and apply them more easily and
efficiently. This mixture of active and inert ingredients is called a pesticide
formulation. The final pesticide formulation is ready for use, either as pack-
aged or after dilution with solvents (e.g., water or petroleum) or other carriers
(e.g., silica or silicates).
Pesticides, then, are formulated into many usable forms for satisfactory
storage, for effective application, for safety to the applicator and the environ-
ment, for ease of application with readily available equipment, and for econ-
omy. These goals are not always early accomplished, due to the chemical
and physical characteristics of the technical grade pesticide. For example,
some materials in their "raw" or technical condition are liquids, others solids;
some are stable to air and sunlight, whereas others are not; some are volatile,
others are not; some are water soluble, some oil soluble, and others may be
insoluble in either water or oil. These characteristics pose problems to the
formulator since the final formulated product must meet the standards of ac-
ceptability by the user.
There are many kinds of pesticide formulations available in the market-
place. There are two main reasons for this. First, the chemistry of the active
ingredient itself dictates what formulations are possible. For example, some
active ingredients are water-soluble and others are not; the latter, then, are of-
ten formulated in organic solvents (e.g., petroleum, hexane, or xylene) instead
of water. Second, different formulations offer different advantages; thus, one
formulation may be better than another for a given application. For example,
some active ingredients that are commonly formulated as granules may also be
available as liquids so that they can be applied through irrigation systems.
 
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