What is a Pesticide Inert?
Pesticide products contain both “active” and “inert” ingredients. The terms “active ingredient” and “inert ingredient” have been defined by Federal law, the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), since 1947. An active ingredient is one that prevents, destroys, repels or mitigates a pest, or is a plant regulator, defoliant, desiccant or nitrogen stabilizer. By law, the active ingredient must be identified by name on the label together with its percentage by weight. An inert ingredient is simply any ingredient in the product that is not intended to affect a target pest. For example, isopropyl alcohol may be an active ingredient and antimicrobial pesticide in some products; however, in other products, it is used as a solvent and may be considered an inert ingredient. The law does not require inert ingredients to be identified by name and percentage on the label, but the total percentage of such ingredients must be declared. To learn more about pesticide inert ingredi
Related Questions
- Do inert ingredient submissions require registration service fees under the Pesticide Registration Improvement Renewal Act (PRIA 2)?
- Didn the courts recently rule that pesticide manufacturers have to disclose their inert ingredients?
- Are inert ingredients used in pesticide formulations tested for safety?
