PESTICIDE FORMULATIONS

Submitted by: Muhammad Naeem Shabbir

Program: BS Chemistry
Roll No: Bsf1800480
Semester: VII th (Morning)
Submitted to: Dr. Misbah Naaz
Subject: Agro based Industries and Pollution control

UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION, TOWNSHIP LAHORE

Pesticides Formulation

What are Pesticides?

pesticide, any toxic substance used to kill animals, fungi, or plants that cause economic damage to crop or
ornamental plants or are hazardous to the health of domestic animals or humans. All pesticides interfere with normal
metabolic processes in the pest organism and often are classified according to the type of organism they are intended
to control. 

For example,

 Insecticides: kill insects

 Herbicides: kill herbs (plants that are harmful for crops)
 Rodenticides: Kill rodents i.e. rats, reptiles etc.

They help farmers grow more food on less land by protecting crops from pests, diseases and weeds as well
as raising productivity per hectare. Without the use of pesticides, more than half of our crops would be lost to pests
and diseases.

Page 1 of 5
 Pesticide Formulation:
The combination of an active ingredient (ingredient that is biologically active) with inert material is
referred to as a formulation.
For example, the active ingredients in an herbicide are the ingredient that kill weeds. Often, the active
ingredients make up a small portion of the whole product.
Active ingredient: in a pesticide formulation controls the target pests. Active ingredient is seldom used as
such. It needs to be mixed with other inert materials, viz. solvents, adjuvants (drug or other substance, or a
combination of substances, that is used to increase the efficacy or potency of certain drugs), synergists (chemicals
that make insecticide ingredients more effective at killing pests), etc., during the formulation process.

 A product label includes the name of each active ingredient and its concentration in the product.
 A single active ingredient may be found in hundreds of pesticide products with different names.
 Products with similar brand names may have different active ingredients with varying concentrations.
 Some active ingredients work on a broad spectrum of pests. Others are more targeted, killing only certain
things.
 There are families of active ingredients that work in the same basic way. Using active ingredients from
different chemical families can slow the development of pesticide resistance.

Inert materials: may simply be added as bulk carriers to aid in handling the product or to increase the
stability, performance and safety of the product.

 Inserts may increase shelf-life, attract the pest, or spread the product more evenly on surfaces
(surfactants). Adjuvants are "other ingredients" commonly added to improve pesticide performance.
 Examples of other/inert ingredients include kerosene, propane and other petroleum products, wintergreen
oil, peanuts, beeswax, and salt.
 Although the other ingredients are not required on the label, the signal word on the label indicates the
toxicity of the formulated product (active and other ingredients combined).

Combination Formulation:

Sometimes two or more pesticides are combined and this type of formulation is known as combination
formulation.

They provide certain benefits on application. i.e.

 Providing better performance than either product would alone

 Increasing the length and spectrum of control of pests

 Saving money by reducing labor and wear on equipment.

When two or more pesticides provide a greater response than the added effects of each material applied
separately, the response is considered synergistic.

Different formulations may be used differently.

Some are to be used direct from the package, while others need to be diluted typically with water. Some are
recommended with the addition of certain adjuvants in spray tank to enhance the biological function. Depending on
intended use, a single active ingredient can be formulated in various forms and concentrations as solid, liquid or
gaseous forms and can be grouped into the following categories:

Page 2 of 5
 Classification of Formulation:
Based on physical state

Dry/Solid State Formulation Liquid Formulation Others

1. Dry or solid formulations

a) Ready to use

 dust (DP),
 baits (BB) and
 granules (GR)
a) Concentrates
which have to be mixed with water before application e.g
 Tablets (TB),
 Wettable powder (WP)
 Water dispersible granule (WG) or dry flowables (DF) and
 Soluble powder (SP)

2. Liquid formulations

(a) Emulsifiable concentrates (EC)

(b) Ready-to-use low concentrate solutions (RTU)

(c) Flowables/suspension concentrates (SC)

(d) Soluble concentrates (SL)

(e) Aerosols(AE)

3. Other formulations
These type of formulation cannot be categorized specifically in either solid or liquid, They can exit is any
one of these formulations.
e.g.
(a) Microencapsulated materials
(b) Water-soluble packets
(c) Insect attractants/repellents and pheromones
(d) Pesticide/fertilizer combinations
(e) Fumigants (any volatile, poisonous substance used to kill insects, nematodes, and other animals or
plants that damage stored foods or seeds).

Page 3 of 5
Formulations in a combined Table

Page 4 of 5
 Nano Formulation

Nano pesticides refer to the utilization of nanotechnology for plant protection, an emerging research field,
offers new methods to design active ingredients amid nanoscale dimensions, in addition to their
formulation and delivery.

E.g.: Polymer stabilized bifenthrin nanoparticles are developed as Nano spheres. Nano gels: These are also
known also hydrogel nanoparticles. These are formulated by cross linking of polymeric particles having
hydrophilic groups, thus absorb higher quantities of water. Chitosan Nano gel is an example for this.
The development of Nano-based pesticide formulation aims at precise release of necessary and sufficient
amounts of their active ingredients in responding to environmental triggers and biological demands through
controlled release mechanisms.

While the benefits and prospects of the Nano capsulated pesticides are huge, addressing some of the
following issues is also equally important while designing the Nano carriers. They are:
 Cost of the material and processing of the Nano encapsulated formulations should be low
compared to the existing formulation.
 Fate of the Nano carriers in the environment, plant and soil.
 Fate of Nano carrier additives like fillers, stabilizers, antioxidants, etc.
 Environmental impact of the degradation of the carriers and additives in response to heat,
hydrolysis, oxidation, solar radiation and biological agents.

THANK YOU!

Page 5 of 5