Washington Pesticide Laws Flashcards

Pest Definitions

• Severe pest: Consistently present above economic injury levels without control.
• Occasional/secondary pest: Causes damage above economic injury levels at specific times.
• Potential pest: Typically causes no significant economic damage under normal conditions.
• Migratory pest: Can cause serious economic damage periodically.

Integrated Pest Management (IPM)

• Steps for developing an IPM program include:
  • Identify the pest.
  • Define the management system.
  • Create the pest management strategy.
  • Establish reliable monitoring techniques.
  • Implement economic thresholds.

Economic Concepts

• Economic threshold: Pest population level where control measures must be implemented to prevent reaching economic injury levels.
• Economic injury level: Pest density that leads to losses equal to control costs.

Control Methods

• Mechanical control: Devices to prevent or reduce pest infestations (e.g., traps, screens).
• Physical control: Manipulating environmental factors (humidity, temperature) to disrupt pest life cycles.
• Cultural control: Modifying the environment to mitigate pest damage (e.g., crop rotation, irrigation management).
• Generic control: Using resistant plants and animals; combining traditional breeding with genetic manipulation.
• Biological control: Introducing or boosting natural predators or parasites of pests.
• Chemical control: Using chemicals to manage pest populations, either naturally or synthetically derived.

Specific Pesticide Types

• Avicides: Chemicals for bird management.
• Bactericides: Chemicals for bacteria management.
• Fungicides: Chemicals for fungi management.
• Herbicides: Chemicals for plant management.
• Insecticides: Chemicals for managing insects.
• Miticides: Chemicals to manage mites.
• Molluscicides: Chemicals for managing snails and slugs.
• Nematicides: Chemicals for nematode management.
• Piscicides: Chemicals for managing pest fish.
• Rodenticides: Chemicals to control rodent populations.

Additional Chemical Regulations

• Defoliants: Chemicals causing foliage drop from plants.
• Dessicants: Chemicals promoting moisture loss in plant tissues.
• Growth Regulators: Substances altering growth or development of plants or animals.

Adjuvants

• Regulated as pesticides in Washington; these are substances added to enhance the safety or effectiveness of pesticide formulations.

Pesticide Types

• Systemic pesticides: Absorbed and translocated throughout the plant; can control pests in livestock through ingestion.
• Contact pesticides: Must physically contact the pest; not absorbed or translocated within treated organisms.

Regulatory Reference

• FIFRA: Stands for Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, governing pesticide regulation.