Pesticide Formulations and Adjuvants

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Pesticide Formulations and Adjuvants

• Montana State University
• Pesticide Safety Education Program

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What is a formulation?

• How a pesticide is packaged.
• Contains
• Active Ingredient
• Inert Ingredient

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Active Ingredients

• Has the pesticidal effect
• Its on the label
• Properties of the a.i. influences the type of
• formulation

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Inert Ingredients

• Inactive
• ingredients mixed with a.i. To make
• formulation easier to handle or store.
• Toxic or non-toxic

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Can you get the same reaction from the same
active ingredients regardless of inert
ingredients?

• NO, Inert Ingredients are often patented and are
  only known to the company.
• Many times this is the difference between a
  product working effectively and not at all.
• BANDED, SEED, FOLIAR applications all different
  yet the same!

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Types of Formulations

• Wet
• More easily absorbed
• Dry
• More easily inhaled

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Liquid Formulations (Wet)

• EC emulsifiable concentrate
• S soluble
• M or ME Micro-Encapsulated
• ULV ultra low volume

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Soluble

• Advantage
• ? Will not separate or settle out when mixed with
  water.
• ? Not as harmful to non-target plants
• and animals
• Disadvantage
• Not many disadvantages.
• Readily absorbs into skin

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Emulsified Concentrates

• ADVANTAGES
• ? Little agitation required. Wont settle out
  when equipment is turned off.
• ? Relatively non-abrasive.
• ? Easy to handle, store and transport
• DISADVANTAGES
• Because of the solvents and emulsifiers, ECs
  are a hazard
• to non-target plants and animals.
• Easily absorbed through skin of plants and
  humans.
• Solvents may cause rubber or plastic hoses
  gaskets to
• deteriorate.

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Dry Formulations

• WP Wettable powder
• F or DF Dry Flowable
• WDG Water Dispersible Granule
• D -Dust
• P or G Pellets or Granules

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Wettable Powders

• ADVANTAGES
• ? Easy to store transport. Smaller packaging.
  Wont
• freeze.
• ? Less inert ingredients in formulation.
• ? Lower toxicity to plants than liquid
  formulations.
• The inert ingredients, clay or talc, are
  generally harmless to
• plants
• DISADVANTAGES
• Inhalation hazard when pouring and mixing. Its
  dry!
• Needs vigorous constant agitation in the spray
  tank.
• Abrasive to many pumps and nozzles.

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Flowable

• ADVANTAGES
• ? Easy to handle and apply
• ? Seldom clogs nozzles. Finer ground carrier.
• DISADVANTAGES
• May leave visible residue.
• Requires agitation

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Granules or Pellets

• ADVANTAGES
• ? Ready to Use (RTU) no mixing
• ? Low drift hazard as particles settle quickly.
• ? In most cases, dont need to mix with water
  first.
• DISADVANTAGES
• May need to be incorporated into the soil.
• Dust from application equipment might present
  hazard to applicator.
• Easy to over apply

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Effects of Different Formulations

• Formulations Hazards Phytox Equipment Agitate Comp
  actable
• M or ME Dermal Safe ok Yes Fair
• G or P Inhale Safe NA NA NA
• D Inhale Safe NA NA NA
• S Dermal Safe Non-abrasive No Fair
• F or FL Dermal Maybe abrasive Yes Fair
• EC Dermal Maybe Seals, gaskets No Fair
• WP Inhale Safe abrasive Yes High

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Testing Compatibility Using 1 qt jar

• Wear your PPE!
• Add to jar in same proportions as you use in the
  field ( 1
• teaspoon 1 quart of pesticide added to 50
  gallons of water).
• Add half of diluent to jar then add pesticide
  according to
• plan.
• Add Wettable other powders Water-dispersible
  granules
• Agitate and add remaining diluent
• Add the Liquid products, such as solutions,
  surfactants and
• flowables.
• Add Emulsifiable concentrates last.
• Shake jar vigorously and feel sides of jar for
  heat. Check for
• lumps, scum and clumps

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continued

• Let the jar sit for 5 minutes.
• Check for any flakes, sludge, gels or other
• precipitants.
• Also see if there is any separation or layering,
  or
• small oil particles in solution.
• If separate layers are formed after sitting up to
  30
• minutes but can be resuspended by shaking,
• application may be possible but make sure you
• have agitation in the sprayer.
• If there is layering, an emulsifiable concentrate
• will normally go to the top. Wettable powders
  will
• either settle to the bottom or float on top.

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Interaction problems with combining Formulations

• Additive effects
• Synergistic responses
• Antagonism
• Enhancement

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Additive Effect

• SAVES TIME WITH NO CHANGE IN EFFECT!
• Ease of mixing
• Reduces of field passes
• Example root absorbed herbicide with a
• foliar absorbed or Tordon with Escort

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Synergistic Response

• Confused with Additive effects
• Greater response when mixed.
• True interaction between chemicals
• Reduced rates often the result

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Antagonism

• Less control when 2 or more chemicals are mixed
• May also increase phytotoxicity
• Example mixing of some grass and
• broadleaf herbicides (Diclofop and 2,4-D)

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Enhancement

• When a pesticide is mixed with an additive
• to provide greater response.
• Example adjuvants

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Adjuvants

• Additives that are added to a spray solution in
  order to enhance or modify the performance of the
  spray mixture.
• 1 - Surfactants/wetting agents
• 2 - Oils
• 3 - Fertilizers
• 4 - Utility

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1 - Surfactants

• A broad category of adjuvants that facilitate and
  enhance the absorbing, emulsifying, dispersing,
  spreading, sticking, wetting and penetrating
  properties of pesticides.
• Some pesticides like Roundup Pro already have
  surfactants added. (14.5 )

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Why Surfactants

• Because of the high surface tension of water,
  spray mixture droplets maintain their roundness
  and can sit on the leaf hairs or leaf surface
  without much of the mixture actually contacting
  the leaf.
• Surfactants reduce angle and promote more
  absorption

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Classes of Surfactants/Wetting Agents

• 1a - Nonionic Surfactants (no charge)
• Reduces surface tension
• Improves spreading, sticking and herbicide uptake
• All purpose
• 1b - Silicone compounds (Silicone based)
• More reduction in surface tension.
• Spread more than conventional surfactants
• Maximum rainfastness due to increased absorption.
• Can usually use at lower rates

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2 - Oils

• Crop Oil Concentrates (COC)
• Blend of paraffin based petroleum oil and
  surfactants
• Used primarily with grass herbicides
• Esterified Seed Oils (ESO) often referred as MSO
• Produced by reacting fatty acids from seed
  oils(corn, soybean, canola) with an alcohol to
  form an ester
• All purpose type of surfactant

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3 - Fertilizers -(Nitrogen-surfactant Blends)

• Improves herbicide uptake with hard to-kill weeds
• Neutralizes or gives hard water mineral ions
  something to bind to instead of the herbicide.
• Used primarily with broadleaf herbicides.

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4 - Utility

• Acidifiers -neutralize alkaline solutions lower
  pH.
• Buffering agents -stabilize the pH of spray
  solutions.
• Anti-foaming agents
• Compatibility agents
• Drift control agents
• Emulsification aids
• Suspension aids -added to a suspension in order
  to keep pesticide particles dispersed or to
  resuspend particles.

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Tips continued

• Costs
• Generally, non-ionic surfactants and crop oil
  concentrates are the least expensive
• Nitrogen surfactants, esterified crop oils,
  organosilicones (most expensive)
• What conditions follow an application?
• Max rainfastness esterified seed oils,
  organo-silicones, nitrogen surfactants
• Not all surfactants have the same amount of
  rainfastness

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What formulation is this?

• FLOWABLE
• DERMAL ABSORPTION

Examples Bravo 720 F fungicide Furadan 4 F
insecticide
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Question 2What formulation is this?

• Powdered Hand Soap
• Wettable Powder
• Easily Inhaled

Examples Sevin 50 W insecticide Kerb 50 W
herbicide Sniper 50 W insecticide
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READ THE LABEL

• This will give you an idea of what type of
  adjuvant if any should be used.