Agricultural spray adjuvants are part of

integrated pest management Integrated pest management (IPM), also known as integrated pest control (IPC) is a broad-based approach that integrates both chemical and non-chemical practices for economic control of pests. IPM aims to suppress pest populations below the econ ...

, and during

pesticide application Pesticide application refers to the practical way in which pesticides (including herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, or nematode control agents) are delivered to their ''biological targets'' (''e.g.'' pest organism, crop or other plant). Publ ...

are used to enhance the effectiveness of

pesticides Pesticides are substances that are meant to control pests. This includes herbicide, insecticide, nematicide, molluscicide, piscicide, avicide, rodenticide, bactericide, insect repellent, animal repellent, microbicide, fungicide, and lampric ...

herbicides Herbicides (, ), also commonly known as weedkillers, are substances used to control undesired plants, also known as weeds.EPA. February 201Pesticides Industry. Sales and Usage 2006 and 2007: Market Estimates. Summary in press releasMain page fo ...

insecticides Insecticides are substances used to kill insects. They include ovicides and larvicides used against insect eggs and larvae, respectively. Insecticides are used in agriculture, medicine, industry and by consumers. Insecticides are claimed to b ...

fungicides Fungicides are biocidal chemical compounds or biological organisms used to kill parasitic fungi or their spores. A fungistatic inhibits their growth. Fungi can cause serious damage in agriculture, resulting in critical losses of yield, quality, ...

and other agents that control or eliminate unwanted pests. As with medical adjuvants, agricultural spray adjuvants are not themselves active in controlling or killing pests. Instead, these additives modify some property of the spray solution, which improves the ability of the pesticide to penetrate, target or protect the target organism. Among the typical types of ingredients used are

surfactant Surfactants are chemical compounds that decrease the surface tension between two liquids, between a gas and a liquid, or interfacial tension between a liquid and a solid. Surfactants may act as detergents, wetting agents, emulsifiers, foaming ...

emulsifier An emulsion is a mixture of two or more liquids that are normally immiscible (unmixable or unblendable) owing to liquid-liquid phase separation. Emulsions are part of a more general class of two-phase systems of matter called colloids. Altho ...

s, oils and salts. Each of these ingredients, and others, modifies the spray solution itself to improve such properties as spreading, penetration, droplet size or other characteristics. These additives may be included in a formulation with a pesticide or may be added separately to a tank. When they are included in the pesticide formulations themselves, they are called ''in-can'' adjuvants. Agricultural spray adjuvants may also be added separately when the spray solution is being prepared. In this case, the adjuvant is called a ''tank mix'' adjuvant. When delivered in-can, adjuvants may be quite effective. However, because of the limited space or limited compatibility in a pesticide formulation, not all necessary adjuvants may be included in-can. Thus, the addition of tank mix adjuvants may be necessary to optimize performance of the pesticide. Agricultural spray adjuvants do not reduce the amount of pesticide needed below the recommended use rate on a pesticide label. In fact, it is illegal to use a pesticide in the US outside of the instructions on the label, although

FIFRA The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) is a United States federal law that set up the basic U.S. system of pesticide regulation to protect applicators, consumers, and the environment. It is administered and regulated by th ...

, the US law governing pesticide use, does allow for the use of pesticides at rates below the label, as long as the label does not specifically deny such use. Agricultural spray adjuvants are used to enhance the performance of the legal amount of a pesticide that may be used. These adjuvants give more consistent performance and may make up for under-performance under certain conditions.

Adjuvant Related Regulations

In the United States, agricultural tank adjuvants are essentially unregulated except in a few isolated cases. The states of Washington and California require that adjuvants be registered before they can be sold. Other states may or may not regulate adjuvants at some level. There is no federal regulation of tank mix adjuvants. However, the industry itself has several efforts underway in order to self regulate the products. The

ASTM International ASTM International, formerly known as American Society for Testing and Materials, is an international standards organization that develops and publishes voluntary consensus technical standards for a wide range of materials, products, systems, an ...

(ASTM) E35.22 committee is the committee that defines agricultural tank mix claims for the industry. The standard E1519 defines the various claims that an adjuvant may make and reference the methods by which the claim may be proven. The methods are tests, which when applied to a given sample, prove that the material meets the claimed standard. Supporting the activities of ASTM is the Council of Producers & Distributors of Agrotechnology (CPDA), an organization of inert (or other) ingredient and adjuvant manufacturers. CPDA certifies adjuvants by creating certain minimum standards that must be met in order to receive the CPDA stamp of certification. In Canada, adjuvants are regulated by the

Pest Management Regulatory Agency The Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) is the Canadian government agency responsible for the regulation of pest control products in Canada under the federal authority of the '' Pest Control Products Act'' and Regulations. The agency is a bra ...

(PMRA) section of

Health Canada Health Canada (HC; french: Santé Canada, SC)Health Canada is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of Health (). is the Structure of the Canadian federal government#Departments, with subsidiary unit ...

. Each adjuvant must be tested and be proven to be safe and effective with every active ingredient with which it will be used. This much more stringent requirement prevents both the widespread use and questionable content present in the United States. In the UK, the Chemical Regulations Directorate (CRD), part of the

Health and Safety Executive The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is a UK government agency responsible for the encouragement, regulation and enforcement of workplace health, safety and welfare, and for research into occupational risks in Great Britain. It is a non-depar ...

, oversees the use of adjuvants. CRD defines an adjuvant as a substance other than water which is not in itself a pesticide but which enhances or is intended to enhance the effectiveness of the pesticide with which it is used. Adjuvants for use with agricultural pesticides have been categorised as extenders, wetting agents, sticking agents and fogging agents. The Council of Producers & Distributors of Agrotechnology offers participating companies the ability to self-certify their spray adjuvant products in the USA.

References

External links

The Chemical Regulations DirectorateMandops - Manufacturers of Agricultural/Horticultural adjuvantsChemical Producers and Distributors AssociationHealth and Safety Executive
{{pesticides Pest control techniques