Pesticide Registration & Labeling

What is a Pesticide? 

In the United States, pesticides are regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), primarily under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). The Act defines pesticides as any substance or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling, or mitigating any pest. Pesticide products include insecticides, fungicides, and herbicides, as well as antimicrobial products (sanitizers and disinfectants).  Other federal laws that relate to pesticide use and safety include the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), which sets tolerances or limits for pesticide residues on food, and the Endangered Species Act (ESA), which aims to protect vulnerable species from harm, including from pesticide products. 

Pesticide products consist of at least one active ingredient (AI) as well as inert ingredients. Active ingredients are the chemicals in a pesticide product that act to control pests. Inert ingredients are chemicals or compounds that are added to help with a product’s effectiveness, including acting as solvents for the AI, improving ease of application, or extending a product’s shelf life. Both active and inert ingredients must be approved by EPA, but while the name and concentration of the AI in a product must be disclosed on product labels, inert ingredients are considered proprietary information that businesses are not required to identify. There may be several different products registered with the same AI and each product must have its own label. 

Pesticide Registration & Classification

Under FIFRA, pesticides must be registered with EPA. Registration is based on evaluation of scientific data and assessment of risks and benefits of a product's use. Product registrants must demonstrate that a pesticide will not cause unreasonable adverse effects, and the product must be accompanied by an EPA-approved label.

Pesticides are categorized broadly as either general use or restricted use. 

General use products are classified under FIFRA as those that will not generally cause unreasonable adverse effects on the environment when applied in accordance with their directions for use. The majority of registered pesticide products are general use. 

Restricted use products (RUPs) are those that EPA has determined have the potential to cause unreasonable adverse effects to the environment or to people without added restrictions. These may only be purchased or used by certified applicators or someone under their supervision; they are not available to the general public. 

Minimum risk (exempt) pesticides are a special class of pesticides that are not subject to federal registration requirements because their ingredients, both active and inert, are determined to be of a character not requiring regulation under FIFRA. This exemption falls under FIFRA section 152.25(f). Of the New England states, CT, ME, NH, RI, and VT all require state registrations for these products while MA allows exemption for all products that meet the minimum risk criteria and are on the federal 25(f) list. These ingredients include corn gluten meal; sodium chloride; corn, linseed, sesame, soybean, and cottonseed oil; garlic and garlic oil; and essential oils including rosemary, mint, thyme, geranium, lemongrass, cinnamon, and rosemary. Some pest control products listed in this guide meet the criteria for exemption and do not have EPA pesticide registration or a pesticide label.

State Registration

Pesticides require both federal and state registration, and states generally have primary enforcement authority for both FIFRA and relevant state regulations, generally through the state department of agriculture. Pesticides in this publication have been reviewed for federal registration status and are current at the time of publication. Each product listed has also been confirmed to be registered in at least one New England state, though products are not necessarily registered in each state; state registrations are renewed annually and may be subject to change. Below are links to access current product registration status in each New England state:

Certification of Pesticide Applicators 

Federal law requires that any person who applies or supervises the use of restricted use pesticides for the production of an agricultural commodity on land the person or their employer owns or rents be certified as a private applicator. Certification is achieved through attending a training course and/or passing a written or oral test. Testing is meant to ensure that the applicator can recognize common pests and their damage, has practical knowledge of the proper storage, handling, and disposal of pesticides, and is able to read and understand pesticide labels. 

In most states, commercial (for hire) applicators must follow rules that are more restrictive than those of private applicators. 

States can implement additional restrictions and may require private licenses to apply general use pesticides. Among the New England states, Maine and New Hampshire require licensing or permits to apply general use pesticides. 

Refer to the appropriate agency in your state for more information on obtaining a private applicator certification (see Pesticide Program Contacts at the end of this section).

The Pesticide Label 

FIFRA defines the pesticide ‘label’ as “the written, printed, or graphic matter on, or attached to, the pesticide or device or any of its containers or wrappers” and ‘labeling’ as “all labels and all other written, printed, or graphic matter accompanying the pesticide or device at any time, or to which reference is made on the label or in literature accompanying the pesticide”.

The pesticide label is a legal document. Labels for all registered pesticide products carry the statement: “It is a violation of Federal law to use this product in a manner inconsistent with its labeling.” Besides the master label that that is attached to the pesticide container, other matter that is part of the product labeling includes supplemental labeling, safety data sheets, and web-distributed labeling. 

There are many parts of a label. The most important ones include:

EPA registration number. This is the most important piece of information for tracking pesticide products and identifying the appropriate labeling. This identifier must appear on the label of the product, preceded by the phrase “EPA Registration No.,” or “EPA Reg. No.”.

Restricted use statement must be at the top of the front page if the pesticide is a RUP.

Product name under which the product is sold.

Ingredient statement. The name and percentage by weight of each active ingredient and the total percentage by weight of all other/inert ingredients.

Agricultural Use Requirements. Required to comply with EPA’s Worker Protection Standard (WPS). Describes the personal protective equipment (PPE) required to use the product and the restricted entry interval (REI)—the time after product application when workers are not allowed entry into treated areas. See ‘The Worker Protection Standard and Who Must Comply’ in the Reducing Risks from Pesticides section of this Guide. 

Directions for Use. Provide instructions for how to safely and effectively use the pesticide product, including where and when to use it, which pest(s) to use it on, how much to apply, which types of application equipment are appropriate, and the preharvest interval required between application of the pesticide and harvest of a crop.

Storage and disposal instructions. Instructions for storing the pesticide product and disposing of unused pesticide and its container. 

Signal Word. Pesticides are toxic by design. Labels must carry the appropriate signal word to describes the product’s relative toxicity to humans and animals. Pesticides are assigned to categories based on their acute toxicity to laboratory animals. Category I is the most toxic and category IV is the least toxic. The signal words for each category are: 

  • Category I = DANGER. Must also include the word POISON in red with a skull and crossbones symbol
  • Category II = WARNING
  • Category III = CAUTION
  • Category IV = No signal word required. May use signal word CAUTION. 

The toxicity of a pesticide is measured as the dosage of active ingredient (AI) that kills 50% of test animals (usually rats or rabbits) with a single application of the pure pesticide for a given weight of the animal (mg/kg of body weight). This dosage is usually expressed as the lethal dose 50, or LD50. The lower the LD50 value, the more toxic the material. Oral LD50 is the measure when the AI is administered internally to test animals and Dermal LD50 is the measure when the AI is applied to the skin of test animals. Generally, an oral application is more toxic than a dermal one. Dermal and oral LD50s for each of the fungicides, insecticides, and herbicides listed in this guide can be found on product Safety Data Sheets and in Tables 25, 28, and 32, respectively.

Other safety information, including precautionary statements, first aid statement, and environmental, physical or chemical hazards. 

Read and follow all directions and safety precautions on labels. Handle carefully and store in original labeled containers out of reach of children, pets, and livestock. Do not use concentrations greater than stated on the label. Do not apply more pesticide per acre or more frequently than the fewest number of days between applications recommended by the label. Remember that the pesticide label is a legal document. If you do not follow the label directions implicitly, you could lose your applicator's license or be fined.

To Avoid Illegal Residues. Adhere strictly to preharvest intervals. Accurately calibrate your equipment; never exceed label recommendations. Prevent drift to adjacent properties or crops, or contamination of bodies of water. The applicator is held responsible for problems caused by drift or contamination. High-volume, low-pressure, ground applications cause less drift than low-volume, high-pressure, air-blast, ground applications, aerial applications, or dust.

Where to find pesticide product labels 

EPA Pesticide Product Label System (PPLS) is a searchable database of pesticide product labels maintained by EPA. You can search PPLS by EPA registration number, product name, company name, or active ingredient.
https://ordspub.epa.gov/ords/pesticides/f?p=PPLS:1

EPA Active Pesticide Product Registration Informational Listing (APPRIL) is a searchable database of active and cancelled pesticide products with a link to PPLS. 
https://www.epa.gov/ingredients-used-pesticide-products/how-search-information-about-pesticide-ingredients-and-labels

TELUS Agricultural & Consumer Goods searchable label database. 
https://www.telus.com/agcg/en-us/agriculture/searchable-label-database

State Pesticide Program Contacts

Pest Management
Integrated Pest Management
Diagnostics for Plant Problems
Pesticide Registration & Labeling
Biorational and Organic Pesticides
Reducing Risks from Pesticides
Pesticide Handling & Storage
Pesticide Equipment Calibration
Disease Management
Fungicides and Bactericides Alphabetically Listed by Trade Name
Fungicides and Bactericides Listed by Active Ingredient (Table 25)
Biorational and Organic Disease Control Materials (Table 26)
Biological Controls for Diseases (Table 27)
Soil Fumigation Outdoors
Insect Management
Protecting Honeybees and Native Pollinators
Insecticides Alphabetically Listed by Trade Name
Insecticides and Miticides Listed by Active Ingredient (Table 28)
Biorational and Organic Insect and Mite Control Materials (Table 29)
Biological Controls for Insect and Mite Pests (Table 30)
Weed Management
Cultural Weed Management
Physical Weed Management
About Herbicides
Herbicides Alphabetically Listed by Trade Name (Table 31)
Herbicides Alphabetically Listed by Active Ingredient (Table 32)
Crops Labeled for Each Herbicide Trade Name (Table 33)
Select Weeds Controlled by Herbicide Active Ingredients According to Labels (Table 34)
Relative Effectiveness of Herbicides on Weed Species (Table 35)
Vertebrate Pest Management

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