Commercial Pesticide Applicator Core Exam- Ohio
– Questions with Answers
What is the first thing you should do when you detect the presence of a pest that you think
you may need to control? - -Identify the pest to be sure you know exactly what the problem
is.
-How can pest identification help you develop a good pest control strategy? - -
Identification of the pest allows you to determine basic information about it, including its
life cycle and the time that it is most susceptible to being controlled.
-Explain the differences between continuous pests, sporadic pests, and potential pests. - -
Continuous pests are nearly always present and require regular control; sporadic pests are
migratory, cyclical, or other occasional pests that require control once in a while, but not on
a regular basis; potential pests are organisms that are not pests under normal conditions,
but can become pests and require control in certain circumstances.
-Explain what is meant by prevention, suppression, and eradication of pests - -Prevention
is keeping a pest from becoming a problem; suppression is reducing pest numbers or
damage to an acceptable level; eradication is destroying an entire pest population
-What is a threshold? Why should you consider thresholds when you develop a pest
control strategy? - -Thresholds are the levels of pest populations at which you must take
pest control action to prevent unacceptable damage or injury. Use of threshold information
can improve your pest control strategy by helping you make a decision about when to
begin control tactics.
-Describe pest monitoring and explain how it can be important to pest control strategy. - -
Monitoring is checking or scouting for pests in an area to determine what pests are present,
how many of each kind of pest are in the area, and how much damage they are causing.
Monitoring is important to many pest control strategies, because it helps, determine if the
threshold has been reached and whether control measures have been effective.
-Define "integrated pest management" (IPM) and list several possible control tactics that
may be used in an IPM strategy. - -Integrated pest management is the combining of
appropriate pest control tactics into a single plan to reduce pests and their damage to an
acceptable level. Pest control tactics may include: host resistance, biological control,
cultural control, mechanical control, sanitation, and chemical (pesticide) control.
-You applied a pesticide, but it did not control the pest. Name three reasons why your
control effort might have failed. - -The failure of the pesticide to control the pest might
have been caused by pest resistance, choosing the wrong pesticide, misidentifying the pest,
applying the wrong amount, or applying the pesticide incorrectly.
, -What can you do to keep the pests you are trying to control from becoming resistance to
the pesticides you use? - -Pest resistance can be reduced by using integrated pest
management and rotating the types of pesticides used.
-Explain the differences between the terms "label" and "labeling." - -The label is the
information printed on or attached to the pesticide container. Labeling includes the label
itself, plus all other information you receive from the manufacturer about the product
when you buy it.
-What do the words "Restricted Use Pesticide" tell you about the pesticide product? -
-"Restricted Use Pesticide" means that the product has been shown to be likely to harm
people or the environment if it is not used correctly. It may be purchased and used only by
certified applicators and those under their direct supervision.
-Where would you look to find out whether a pesticide is classified as Restricted Use? - -If
a pesticide is classified as Restricted Use, the words "Restricted Use Pesticide" will appear
in a box on the front panel of the pesticide label.
-Explain the difference between chemical name, common name, and brand name. Which of
these terms should you use to most accurately identify a pesticide product? - -The
chemical name is a complex name that identifies the chemical components and structure of
the pesticide. A common name is a shorter name that EPA recognizes as a substitute for the
chemical name of a product. A brand name is the name -- usually a trademark-- used by a
chemical company to identify a pesticide product. The common name (or the chemical
name, if no common name is given) is the most accurate and useful way to identify a
pesticide product.
-Name and explain the meaning of the signal words and symbols you may see on a
pesticide product. - -"Caution" indicates that the pesticide product is slightly toxic or
relatively nontoxic. "Warning" indicates that the pesticide product is moderately toxic.
"Danger" indicates that the pesticide product is highly toxic. "Poison" and the skull and
crossbones indicates that the pesticide product is highly toxic as a poison, rather than as a
skin or eye irritant.
-Can you use the signal word on a pesticide label to judge the likelihood of suffering acute,
delayed or allergic effects if you are overexposed to the product? Explain. - -Signal words
and symbols indicate the likelihood that you will experience acute harmful effects if you are
over-exposed. Signal words do not tell you anything about the risks of delayed harmful
effects or allergic effects.
-What type of hazard statements should you look for in the pesticide labeling? - -You
should look for precautions about hazards to humans (and domestic animals),
environmental hazards, and physical/chemical hazards.
-What type of precautionary statements may be included in the labeling section titled
"Hazards to Humans"? - -Acute effects precautions, delayed effects precautions, and
– Questions with Answers
What is the first thing you should do when you detect the presence of a pest that you think
you may need to control? - -Identify the pest to be sure you know exactly what the problem
is.
-How can pest identification help you develop a good pest control strategy? - -
Identification of the pest allows you to determine basic information about it, including its
life cycle and the time that it is most susceptible to being controlled.
-Explain the differences between continuous pests, sporadic pests, and potential pests. - -
Continuous pests are nearly always present and require regular control; sporadic pests are
migratory, cyclical, or other occasional pests that require control once in a while, but not on
a regular basis; potential pests are organisms that are not pests under normal conditions,
but can become pests and require control in certain circumstances.
-Explain what is meant by prevention, suppression, and eradication of pests - -Prevention
is keeping a pest from becoming a problem; suppression is reducing pest numbers or
damage to an acceptable level; eradication is destroying an entire pest population
-What is a threshold? Why should you consider thresholds when you develop a pest
control strategy? - -Thresholds are the levels of pest populations at which you must take
pest control action to prevent unacceptable damage or injury. Use of threshold information
can improve your pest control strategy by helping you make a decision about when to
begin control tactics.
-Describe pest monitoring and explain how it can be important to pest control strategy. - -
Monitoring is checking or scouting for pests in an area to determine what pests are present,
how many of each kind of pest are in the area, and how much damage they are causing.
Monitoring is important to many pest control strategies, because it helps, determine if the
threshold has been reached and whether control measures have been effective.
-Define "integrated pest management" (IPM) and list several possible control tactics that
may be used in an IPM strategy. - -Integrated pest management is the combining of
appropriate pest control tactics into a single plan to reduce pests and their damage to an
acceptable level. Pest control tactics may include: host resistance, biological control,
cultural control, mechanical control, sanitation, and chemical (pesticide) control.
-You applied a pesticide, but it did not control the pest. Name three reasons why your
control effort might have failed. - -The failure of the pesticide to control the pest might
have been caused by pest resistance, choosing the wrong pesticide, misidentifying the pest,
applying the wrong amount, or applying the pesticide incorrectly.
, -What can you do to keep the pests you are trying to control from becoming resistance to
the pesticides you use? - -Pest resistance can be reduced by using integrated pest
management and rotating the types of pesticides used.
-Explain the differences between the terms "label" and "labeling." - -The label is the
information printed on or attached to the pesticide container. Labeling includes the label
itself, plus all other information you receive from the manufacturer about the product
when you buy it.
-What do the words "Restricted Use Pesticide" tell you about the pesticide product? -
-"Restricted Use Pesticide" means that the product has been shown to be likely to harm
people or the environment if it is not used correctly. It may be purchased and used only by
certified applicators and those under their direct supervision.
-Where would you look to find out whether a pesticide is classified as Restricted Use? - -If
a pesticide is classified as Restricted Use, the words "Restricted Use Pesticide" will appear
in a box on the front panel of the pesticide label.
-Explain the difference between chemical name, common name, and brand name. Which of
these terms should you use to most accurately identify a pesticide product? - -The
chemical name is a complex name that identifies the chemical components and structure of
the pesticide. A common name is a shorter name that EPA recognizes as a substitute for the
chemical name of a product. A brand name is the name -- usually a trademark-- used by a
chemical company to identify a pesticide product. The common name (or the chemical
name, if no common name is given) is the most accurate and useful way to identify a
pesticide product.
-Name and explain the meaning of the signal words and symbols you may see on a
pesticide product. - -"Caution" indicates that the pesticide product is slightly toxic or
relatively nontoxic. "Warning" indicates that the pesticide product is moderately toxic.
"Danger" indicates that the pesticide product is highly toxic. "Poison" and the skull and
crossbones indicates that the pesticide product is highly toxic as a poison, rather than as a
skin or eye irritant.
-Can you use the signal word on a pesticide label to judge the likelihood of suffering acute,
delayed or allergic effects if you are overexposed to the product? Explain. - -Signal words
and symbols indicate the likelihood that you will experience acute harmful effects if you are
over-exposed. Signal words do not tell you anything about the risks of delayed harmful
effects or allergic effects.
-What type of hazard statements should you look for in the pesticide labeling? - -You
should look for precautions about hazards to humans (and domestic animals),
environmental hazards, and physical/chemical hazards.
-What type of precautionary statements may be included in the labeling section titled
"Hazards to Humans"? - -Acute effects precautions, delayed effects precautions, and
