By Steve Tomasko, Outreach Specialist
Every year the Pesticide Applicator Training (PAT) program updates and revises 2-5 of the 17 pesticide safety training manuals we publish. We update manuals so they are current with changes in laws and information about keeping yourself and others safe around pesticides. Each of our 17 different manual categories gets this refresher every 5 years.
Beyond changes in rules and other information, I, as the main writer/updater am always trying to hone the language throughout the manuals. I strive to make the material as easy to understand as possible. That’s not always an easy task when dealing with technical information or state and federal legal language, but it is my goal. In addition to this usual pruning of the books, this year there is some additional content / chapters in the new manual versions. This new content will also be in manuals that get updated from here on out.
The newly updated manuals for 2024 are:
- Forestry, 9th Edition. Commercial Category 2.0
- Turf & Landscape, 9th Edition. Commercial Category 3.0
- Right-of-Way & Natural Areas, 9th Edition. Commercial Category 6.0
- Fruit Crops, 9th Edition. Commercial Category 1.2 / Private Category 112
- Greenhouse & Nursery, 6th Edition. Commercial Category 3.1 / Private Category 104
Since the beginning of the PAT program, the information that goes into the manuals has been based on certain “competency standards” developed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). These standards are what the EPA says applicators should know before becoming certified to use pesticides. Following are a three examples of competency standards:
- Understanding instructions, warnings, terms, symbols, and other information commonly appearing on pesticide labels and labeling.
- Common types and causes of pesticide mishaps.
- Characteristics of pesticides, including types of formulations.
Over the past several years the EPA has revised its list of competency standards, which meant the PAT program needed to update our manuals to make sure we were covering the revised standards. Following are some of the changes in the manuals due to the revisions.
All manuals will have a “new” chapter 1, which contains some general information about controlling (or not) pests with pesticides. We’ve always had specific chapters on pests that were appropriate to the category (insects, weeds, rodents, etc.). We still have those specific pest chapters, but the more “generic” chapter covers some of the basics of pest management that applies to controlling any pest.
All manuals will get a new last chapter as well called, “Professionalism and Stewardship.” Again, this is to cover the new EPA standards of what pesticide applicators need to know. This is a short chapter addresses what the EPA calls the concepts of “professionalism” and “stewardship.” Many of the ideas in this chapter are things that we have always been putting in the manuals (e.g., pesticide storage security), but we’re putting them into one chapter.
One other larger change, not necessarily prompted by new EPA standards will be found in the chapter on pesticides
For over 20 years we’ve grouped pesticides into three groups: organic, inorganic and microbial. We used the terms organic and inorganic in the strictly chemical sense. Organic compounds contain carbon. Inorganics don’t and are usually based on metals (sulfur, copper, boron, etc.).
However, the EPA uses a different way of grouping pesticides. And depending on where you look, there are multiple ways of sorting pesticides into different categories. The “organic vs inorganic” seems more problematic these days as people too often confuse the strictly chemical sense of organic with organic agriculture. So, in the pesticide chapter we discuss different ways of thinking about how to group pesticides and how this helps you determine some characteristics about the chemicals you are using.
Feedback is always welcome. If you come across something in the manuals you don’t understand, typos, poorly written sections or anything that is plain wrong we’d love to hear about it. Drop us an email or give a call.
