In , the
EPA
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it be ...
established four Toxicity Categories for acute hazards of
pesticide products, with "Category I" being the highest toxicity category (
toxicity class). Most human hazard, precautionary statements, and human
personal protective equipment
Personal protective equipment (PPE) is protective clothing, helmets, goggles, or other garments or equipment designed to protect the wearer's body from injury or infection. The hazards addressed by protective equipment include physical, ...
statements are based upon the Toxicity Category of the pesticide product as sold or distributed. In addition, toxicity categories may be used for regulatory purposes other than
labeling
Labelling or using a label is describing someone or something in a word or short phrase. For example, the label "criminal" may be used to describe someone who has broken a law. Labelling theory is a theory in sociology which ascribes labelling ...
, such as classification for restricted use and requirements for
child-resistant packaging.
In certain cases, statements based upon the Toxicity Category of the product as
dilute
Dilution may refer to:
* Reducing the concentration of a chemical
* Serial dilution, a common way of going about this reduction of concentration
* Homeopathic dilution
* Dilution (equation), an equation to calculate the rate a gas dilutes
* Trad ...
d for use are also permitted. A Toxicity Category is assigned for each of five types of acute exposure, as specified in the table below.
Overview
The four toxicity categories, from one to four are:
*Toxicity category I is highly toxic and severely irritating,
*Toxicity category II is moderately toxic and moderately irritating,
*Toxicity category III is slightly toxic and slightly irritating,
*Toxicity category IV is practically non-toxic and not an irritant.
Acute toxicity categories for pesticide products
In the following table, the leftmost column lists the route of administration.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Toxicity Category Rating
Toxicology
United States administrative law
United States Environmental Protection Agency
Environmental law in the United States
Rating systems