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Last week we talked about the importance of reading the pesticide label every time prior to using a product around your home or farm. Pesticides are essential tools for many aspects of home and farm ownership, but they need to be treated with respect. Sometimes, because of our haste and familiarity when using a chemical product, we let down our guard. This is when trouble can strike. This week we will wrap up our tour of the pesticide label and the vital information it contains.

Personal protective equipment includes many items that should be worn when working with chemicals to decrease your risk of exposure. The pesticide label will spell out very clearly in the PPE section what are the minimum required PPE to be worn during mixing, loading and applying a product. Follow these requirements exactly to remain safe.

Loading and mixing steps may often require additional PPE to be worn by the pesticide applicator because these are two steps in the process of using a chemical where you are likely to be exposed to the chemical in its most concentrated form.

At a minimum, applicators should be wearing long-sleeved shirts and long pants when working with chemicals. Also, and this may seem like it should go without saying, but you should be wearing shoes and socks. Don’t laugh, but the balls of your feet are possible routes for chemical absorption into your body as are several other sensitive body areas that should be fully covered. For many products, rubber boots are the most appropriate type of footwear.

PPE also includes gloves to protect your hands. Make sure that you use chemically resistant gloves that are compatible with the product you are using. Rubber, PVC and Viton gloves are the typical gloves of choice. Do not use cotton gloves when working with chemicals. Cotton will absorb liquids and your sweat on a warm day may interact with chemicals in powdered form, allowing them to come in prolonged contact with your skin in a liquid form.

PPE can also include protective eye wear, masks and other types of filters for your lungs, and non-absorbent head gear. That “gimmie” cap from the sales rep. may look stylish, but it can hold splashes and spills right next to the skin on your head, where they are readily absorbed by the body.

The label also has a first aid section that will be very beneficial to health care providers should you require medical treatment during or shortly after making a chemical application.

Always store chemicals in a locked area, away from children, in their original containers. This rule applies to farmers and homeowners alike.

The next few tips are not on the pesticide label, but are good practices to incorporate.

First, always notify someone else, such as a neighbor or spouse, before you go out to spray, telling them where you will be spraying and what you will be using. This information will be critical in case you need medical assistance and are unable to tell the health care provider what chemical you have been using.

Second, keep two copies of a pesticide inventory on hand, one in the chemical storage area and another copy at another location. In the event of a fire at the place where you are storing the chemicals, it would be very beneficial to the fire department and other responders if they know what types of chemicals they could be exposed to during the course of fighting the fire.

Finally, do not transport chemicals inside the vehicle with you. The bed of a pickup is a good place to store them during transport. Homeowners who pick up their chemicals along with the family groceries should ensure that they are bagged separately from the food items and are stored for transport securely, so that they are not allowed to spill. In the era of the SUV, it might be a good idea to take a plastic bucket to the store with you and secure the liquid pesticide container inside it (in the back of the vehicle) for the ride home from the store.

Brian Triplett is the Smith County Extension agent for agriculture and natural resources. He can be reached at 903-590-2980 or via e-mail at b-triplett@tamu.edu or on the Web at http://tceblogs.tamu.edu/mt/smith or http://smith-tx.tamu.edu.