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Brand
names and active ingredients
Lawn and garden companies market their own brand names of
herbicides. These trade names are so numerous and change so
often that they cannot all be listed. Shop for herbicides
by looking for the common name or active ingredient (a.i.)
that appears on the label in small print under the title "Ingredients."
Unlike brand names, common names for active ingredients do
not change from company to company. The active ingredient
is the material in the herbicide formulation that actually
destroys the target pest or performs the desired function.
Different products will vary in the percentage of active ingredient
they contain. Some products are formulated as ready-to-use
to allow for the convenience of no mixing; others are formulated
as granules, and many others as higher-concentration liquid
sprays that require mixing.
Inert
ingredients
Inert ingredients are all materials in the pesticide formulation
other than the active ingredient. These ingredients do not
work to control the pest, but help dissolve the active ingredient
or improve or enhance pesticidal activity. Some inert ingredients
may be toxic or hazardous to humans.
Signal
words
The signal words "CAUTION," "WARNING,"
and "DANGER" (in order of increasing toxicity) indicate
the relative acute toxicity, or short-term effects, of the
active ingredients to humans. They do not refer to long-term
effects to humans nor do they indicate the effect on aquatic
invertebrates.
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