Pesticides

On this page

Basics

• Summary
• Start Here
• Prevention and Risk Factors
• Treatments and Therapies

Learn More

• Related Issues
• Specifics

See, Play and Learn

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Research

• Clinical Trials
• Journal Articles

Resources

• Find an Expert

For You

• Children
• Patient Handouts

Summary

Pests live where they are not wanted or cause harm to crops, people, or animals. Pesticides can help get rid of them. Pesticides are not just insect killers. They also include chemicals to control weeds, rodents, mildew, germs, and more. Many household products contain pesticides.

Pesticides can protect your health by killing germs, animals, or plants that could hurt you. However, they can also be harmful to people or pets. You might want to try non-chemical methods first. If you do need a pesticide, use it correctly. Be especially careful around children and pets. Proper disposal of pesticides is also important - it can help protect the environment.

Biologically-based pesticides are becoming more popular. They often are safer than traditional pesticides.

Environmental Protection Agency

Start Here

• Citizen's Guide to Pest Control and Pesticide Safety (Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Pesticide Programs) - PDF
• Household Products Database: Pesticides (National Library of Medicine)
• Pesticides (American College of Medical Toxicology)
• Pesticides (National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences)
• Pesticides (Environmental Health Student Portal) (National Library of Medicine)
• What Is a Pesticide? (Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Pesticide Programs)

Prevention and Risk Factors

• Read the Label First! Protect Your Household (Environmental Protection Agency) - PDF

Treatments and Therapies

• In Case of Pesticide Emergency (Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Pesticide Programs)

Related Issues

• Organic Pesticide Ingredients (National Pesticide Information Center)
• Safe Disposal of Pesticides (Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances) - In English and Spanish
• Signal Words (National Pesticide Information Center) - PDF
• Tox Town (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish

Specifics

• Antimicrobial Pesticides (Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Pesticide Programs)
• Biopesticides (Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Pesticide Programs)
• Pesticides and Human Health (National Pesticide Information Center) Also in Spanish

Clinical Trials

• ClinicalTrials.gov: Insecticides (National Institutes of Health)
• ClinicalTrials.gov: Pesticides (National Institutes of Health)

Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

• Article: The evaluation of acute physiology and chronic health evaluation II...
• Article: Polluting Developing Brains - EPA Failure on Chlorpyrifos.
• Article: Outbreak of Sudden Death with Acute Encephalitis Syndrome Among Children...
• Pesticides -- see more articles

Find an Expert

• National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Also in Spanish

Children

• ToxMystery (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish

Patient Handouts

• Insecticide poisoning (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Pesticides (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish