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“The
best part of working Amy
Bradford, assistant vice |
Teaching How to Use Pesticides Safely
More than 12,000 pesticides are registered for use in Pennsylvania. Used properly, these products are an effective tool to help manage weeds, insects, vertebrates, and disease-causing organisms. The high quality and abundance of food we enjoy are direct results of the safe and proper use of pesticides. If misused, however, pesticides are potentially harmful.
With about 35,000 certified pesticide applicators and thousands of consumer pesticide users in the state, the need for pesticide safety education is acute. The Pesticide Education Program in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences strives to educate all certified pesticide applicators and consumers across the Commonwealth about the safe, proper, and legal use of pesticides and pest management alternatives. The program promotes responsible decision making, with an eye toward protecting pesticide users, public health, plant and animal health, and the environment.
Applicator certification and training. Applicator certification
and training. Every
year, the Penn State Pesticide Education Program
provides educational materials and support to
certify more than 4,000 new pesticide applicators,
who must pass written exams developed cooperatively
with the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture.
These exams cover basic pest management,
pesticide safety, and detailed material pertaining
to the applicator's area of specialization. As part
of training and preparing potential applicators for
exams, the Penn State Pesticide Education Program
develops and reviews educational materials including
the Pesticide Education Manual, fact sheets, and
presentations that address various pesticide safety
issues.
Continuing to educate applicators.
In order to
remain current on pesticide issues and to maintain
their certification, approximately 24,000 applicators
attend recertification courses annually. Providing
general pesticide safety education is a major priority of the Penn State
Pesticide Education Program.
Recently, the program has focused on helping applicators
understand the provisions of the Food Quality Protection
Act (FQPA), which substantially changed the way pesticides
are regulated to further reduce potential pesticide exposures.
As a result of FQPA decisions, new legal and label
requirements affected many pesticides, even those that have
been on the market for a long time.
Training the trainers.
Because educating this
wide
and diverse audience of potential pesticide users would
be impossible without assistance, the Penn State Pesticide
Education Program offers train-the-trainer programs. These
programs educate master gardeners, extension educators,
and other instructors in general science and agricultural science.
For example, in the past few years, workshops were
conducted for approximately 500 trainers, who then can
reach thousands more people with valuable pesticide safety
information.
Diversifying outreach education. Diversifying
outreach education. The Penn State Pesticide
Education Program’s Web site (http://www.pested.psu.
edu/) is an important tool that provides updated information
in a timely and efficient way for applicators, educators,
and consumers. Applicators can use the Recertification
Meeting Finder to look up meetings in their region. This
information also can be accessed via a toll-free phone number
or a listing that can be faxed. Recently, the Penn State
Pesticide Education Program worked cooperatively with
the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture to provide applicators
with online access to the number of recertification
credits they have acquired, how many they need to renew
their certfication, and the date on which their credits are
due. The Penn State Pesticide Education Program also
offers pre-exam and recertfication training to swimming
pool applicators using distance education technology. On
average, 600 applicators are trained each year.
Profiling Pennsylvania pest management.
A major
component of the Penn State Pesticide Education Program,
the Pest Management Information Center, provides actual
field-use data on pest-management practices to growers
and those who make regulatory decisions. Collection of
pesticide-use data helps to ensure that FQPA decisions are
based on sound science and actual field practice rather than
worst-case assumptions.
Taking a bite out of West Nile.
When West Nile virus
became a significant pest-management issue, the Penn
State Pesticide Education Program took a proactive role in
educating the public about the dangers of the virus and
the importance of controlling the mosquitoes that spread it. In April
2000, with the leadership of the Penn State
Pesticide Education Program, the College of Agricultural
Sciences formed a West Nile Virus Coordinating Committee.
This committee developed publications and presentations,
worked with state agencies, and established contacts
outside the University. The Penn State Pesticide Education
Program continues to update these materials.
Pesticide safety for everyone. The Penn
State Pesticide
Education Program annually provides outreach education to
more than 50,000 pesticide consumers by staffing displays
at various public venues. In addition, more than 30,000
copies of the recently developed consumer pesticide safety
fact sheet series were distributed in 2004. The Penn State
Pesticide Education Program also has found creative ways
to reach young people. Innovative educational materials
aimed at children -- including a computer-based game featuring
the cartoon character D.B. Pest -- teach concepts such
as integrated pest management, alternatives to pesticide use,
and the safe use of pesticides when necessary. The program
has reached thousands of youths across Pennsylvania by
working with 4-H clubs, schools, and educators to deliver
thousands of educational lessons and publications.
Recognized for excellence. The
Penn State Pesticide
Education Program recently was one of only four from
across the country to be recognized as a model program by
the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The program was cited
for its outreach initiatives and for making "great strides in
addressing urban concerns about pesticide issues."
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For more information,
call Penn State's Pesticide Education Program at 814-863-0263 or
visit the Web at |