Best Management Practices for Maryland Golf Courses

• Read the pesticide label before mixing or applying a pesticide. • Use appropriate PPE as per the pesticide label. • Follow standard safe practices for the use of pesticides. • In case of exposure, refer to the pesticide label for more information.

Personal Protective Equipment

Exposure to pesticides can be mitigated by practicing good work habits and adopting modern pesticide mix/load equipment (e.g., closed loading) that reduce potential exposure. PPE, such as specific types of clothing, goggles, respirators, etc., protects workers from exposure through one or more pathways: skin, eyes, oral ingestion, or respiratory tract. Pesticide labels list legal requirements for minimum PPE. SDS also provide information on appropriate PPE to wear while handling the product as formulated. To avoid contamination, PPE should not be stored in a pesticide storage area. For more information, see Chapter 6 "Personal Protective Equipment" of the Maryland Pesticide Applicator Core Manual . • Provide adequate PPE for all employees who work with pesticides (including equipment technicians who service pesticide application equipment). • Ensure that PPE is sized appropriately for each person using it. • Make certain that PPE is appropriate for the chemicals used as listed on the pesticide label. • Ensure that PPE meets rigorous testing standards and is not just the least expensive. • Store PPE where it is easily accessible but not in the pesticide storage area. • Forbid employees who apply pesticides from wearing facility uniforms home. • Provide laundering facilities or uniform service for employee uniforms. • The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires employers to fit test workers who must wear tight-fitting respirators. • Meet requirements for OSHA 1910.134 Respiratory Protection Program . Best Management Practices Environmental characteristics of a pesticide can often be determined by the environmental hazards statement found on pesticide product labels. The environmental hazards statement (referred to as “Environmental Hazards” on the label and found under the general heading “Precautionary Statements”) provides the precautionary language advising the user of product specific concerns. Potential environmental impacts include contamination of surface water or groundwater and toxicity to non-target organisms. The key to preventing pesticide impacts on the environment is an understanding of the physical and chemical characteristics that determine a pesticide's interaction with the environment: solubility, adsorption, persistence, and volatilization. These characteristics influence the potential for pesticide runoff, leaching, or drift. Once applied, pesticides can move off-site in several ways: in water, in air, attached to soil particles, and on or in objects, plants, or animals. Environmental Fate and Transport

78