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Article: Pesticides
- Article from:
- Encyclopedia of Public Health
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CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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PESTICIDES
Pesticides are a broad class of chemicals and biological agents that are specifically designed and applied to kill a pest. Specific types of pesticides target specific types of pests: insecticides kill insects, fungicides kill fungi and bacteria, herbicides kill weeds and other unwanted plant vegetation, molluscacides kill mollusks, acaricides kill spiders, and so on. Pesticide use dates back to ancient times.
Pesticides are regulated in the United States at both the federal and state level. The primary legislation, one of the oldest environmental laws, is the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA, 1972), which is administered by the Environmental ...