Pesticide Safety through Education
Sitting: Chris, Julie, Kerry, and Garo. Standing: Nick, Mike, Kelly, Bill, Kathy, and Sharon. (Taken 12/2010)
Welcome to the Penn State Pesticide Education Program blog. This is our first attempt at something like this so bear with us. We hope to have a new blog post at least once a week with topics such as: upcoming meetings/events, category specific topics, core topics, highlight someone we work with, promote a great resource, and maybe even have a few guest bloggers.
This week’s guest blog was written by Tom Smith, West Nile Virus Program Administrator, in the Penn State York County Extension Office. With the early detection of West Nile Virus in a horse already, this may be an active year for mosquitoes. We decided to feature a monthly blog article about a West Nile Virus topic through the Fall.
In Pennsylvania, many swimming pool stay covered until the end of May. This makes sense since residents primarily enjoy swimming pools from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend. Unfortunately, if a swimming pool cover collects water and leaf debris, it starts producing mosquitoes in early April. The sun helps warm up this water so these mosquitoes emerge as adults just in time to be a pest during Memorial Day weekend outdoor activities.
Prepare to be mosquito free now.
If you have a pool cover collecting water, it is recommended that the cover be removed as soon as possible in the spring. If not, make sure to remove any standing water on the cover weekly to prevent mosquitoes from breeding. When removing a swimming pool cover, be sure to dry it out completely and fold it up for storage inside. Left outside, a pool cover may still collect water and be a source of breeding mosquitoes. Some mosquito species such as the Asian Tiger lay their eggs before water is present and then they hatch when it rains.
A water filled pool cover with many leaves is perfect for mosquitoes!
Look around your yard for other mosquito breeding sources--anywhere where water can lay undisturbed.
While you are outside, take time to inspect the rest of your yard for other potential mosquito breeding sources. Keep in mind mosquito larvae prefer shallow water with decomposing organic material. A tire, bucket, or flower pot can produce hundreds of mosquitoes during one season. Dispose of tires properly and store other items inside when not in use. A little prevention now will help reduce the risk of bites and even diseases transmitted by mosquitoes to humans, pets, and other animals.
Eliminate standing water around your home to reduce mosquito breeding spots.
For More Information
Looking for more information on West Nile Virus and how to reduce mosquitoes around your home? Check out our West Nile Virus web page and brochure.
What can you do if you still have mosquito concerns? Contact your local county coordinator on the Pennsylvania West Nile Virus Control Program website.
Until next time,
Be Safe
This blog was written by Kerry Richards, Director of the Pesticide Education Program, and Jeff Borger, Instructor in Turfgrass Weed Management at Penn State.
Spring has sprung,… and so have weeds in the landscape. The foundation of a good Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program is identifying the pest, and weeds are no exception. Fortunately, a new tool has just been launched by Penn State’s Center for Turfgrass Science to make weed identification a much simpler process. Jeff Borger, with the assistance of Rob Dickerson, Matt Naedel, and Melissa Arnett, have done an outstanding and meticulous job of developing a Plant ID website that is designed with an interactive approach to facilitate weed identification in the landscape.
It is important to remember that the more you know about the plant in question, the faster results can be achieved this tool. This site provides users with identification and control options for numerous weeds relevant to the turfgrass industry of the Mid-Atlantic region. Weeds on the website are broken into two categories: Broadleaf Plants, and Grasses and Sedges. Currently, 42 broadleaf plants and 19 grass and sedge weed species are listed to facilitate identification.
Access the site at http://cropsoil.psu.edu/turf/weed-id and click on the tab that corresponds to the general type of weed to be identified: either Broadleaf Plants or grasses and sedges. Below is a graphic of the Broadleaf Weeds section of the website. As you can see, each weed has an image, common name, binomial name, and most even have a video description.
Listing of Broadleaf weeds.
Now, if you clicking on the common name, you will be provided with a detailed list of common characteristics such as life cycle, growth habit, propagation, leaf type, leaf margin, presence of leaf hairs, leaf structure, leaf arrangement, root type, and flower color that will further assist you in correctly identifying the weed. Each weed page also provides additional identification assistance with a more images and a short video clip that narrates the visual identification of the weed species. Similar species are also listed. At the bottom of the page, herbicide control recommendations are provided. See the example below for Henbit.
This is a sample of the information found on the individual weed pages.
Remember, this site is a work in progress, so keep checking back for additional weed postings in the coming months. The galleries of plants are believed to be accurate; any inaccuracies are accidental in nature and should be reported to Melissa Arnett at mma10@psu.edu. Constructive comments and suggestions for improving the site can also be forwarded to Melissa at that email address.
Until next time,
Be Safe!
Our guest blogger this week is Kelly Over, our Education Program Assistant. Kelly helps coordinate our outreach educational programming.
On Wednesday, April 4th, the Penn State Pesticide Education Program enthusiastically participated in The Pennsylvania State University’s 6th Annual Public Health Fair located at the Hetzel Union Building on the University Park campus. The Public Health Fair was held as part of National Public Health Week, which was April 2nd-8th. Organized by the American Public Health Association, National Public Health Week is “a time to recognize the contributions of public health and highlight issues that are important to improving the public’s health.”1
Learning about Signal Words by playing mini-golf at the Public Health Fair.
Poster on skin absorption rates.
Staff members eagerly engaged visitors with our look-alike display, signal word demonstration, and mini golf hole. Students were especially interested in the skin absorption rate of chemicals poster, and, of course, Mr. Yuk! Ironically, when asked about whether they had heard of Mr. Yuk before, only about half the students responded with a “yes.” The other half of the students were interested to hear Mr. Yuk’s purpose and were impressed with the Poison Control Center’s assistance with household poisonings.
Since the event was sponsored by Alpha Epsilon Delta, the National Health Preprofessional Honor Society at Penn State, the student contacts were especially valuable since many had aspirations to be future physicians or to work in healthcare. Many of the organization’s members who were working the event remarked on how much they appreciated learning about resources for Mr. Yuk and Poison Control. As one bio-behavioral health student left our exhibit, I overheard her comment to her friend “Wow, neat information. I wonder why they don’t mention this in any of our classes?” (Maybe something for Pesticide Education to consider in the future?)
Kathy explaining our look-alike display to interested participants.
During a shift break, I visited some of the fellow vendors. I wondered up to a nutrition group, who had a spinning wheel and the opportunity to win a recipe book. I was immediately enticed! After spinning the wheel and answering a question about whether all dark bread is whole wheat, I received my prize with a jolly response from the staffer of “Always remember to read the label!”
EPA's Read the Label First logo.
Where had I heard that phrase before? Yes, she obviously meant nutrition labels on food products, but it was the realization that many of the health fair vendors in the room basically had the same key messages: read the label, monitor the situation, wear protective equipment, and, overall, be safe and make smart choices. We all wanted share resources with the public to help each individual live a healthy and happy life. As this year’s National Public Health Week theme was “A Healthier America Begins Today: Join the Movement,” our Pesticide Education Program encourages you to “join the movement” towards improved health and enhanced well-being in your life, workplace, and community. For home safety, consider contacting our office for Mr. Yuk stickers or even checking your household chemical and pesticide storage locations. Simple steps count every day!
National Public Health Week was the perfect opportunity to reevaluate our health and safety habits and for our program to further spread our pesticide safety messages. We look forward to being asked back next year!
Until Next Time,
Be Safe!
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1 National Public Health Week, “A Healthier America Begins Today: Join the Movement.” http://www.nphw.org/about.
I was thinking of doing a West Nile Virus blog but thought it may be just a little early to be thinking of mosquitoes. But I decided to look around to find some “be prepared” tips for the warmer weather. I was shocked when I saw the map on Pennsylvania’s official West Nile Virus website with a county in red, which indicates a positive West Nile virus detection because this is MARCH! Then I found the March 29, 2012 press release:
First Veterinary Positive for West Nile Virus in 2012
The West Nile Virus program is reporting the euthanization of a horse due to an active case of West Nile in Northampton County. This case heralds the arrival of West Nile Virus in 2012 and is the earliest report of a horse illness since the disease reached Pennsylvania in 2000. This case also serves as a reminder to vaccinate horses against West Nile Virus. Program staff will conduct surveillance and necessary control measures to reduce the risk of further WNV transmission. The WNV program will begin the full-time monitoring, controlling and testing of mosquitoes in April. Collection and testing of dead birds begins May 1 and can be reported on www.westnile.state.pa.us or by calling (717) 346-8238.
Contact: Kevin Sunday, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, at 717-787-1323 or kesunday@pa.gov
Everyone seems to have quickened their step to enjoy the warm weather from the last two weeks! What a wonderful extended break in the normally dreary winter weather. Our office has had a busy winter and we are starting to buzz with the many new projects coming on board. Read below to what we have been up to and will be getting into soon!
Kerry, our director, has been very busy this winter meeting season. Kerry participated in a few of the 2+2 and 1+1 recertification meetings as well as presenting at traditional recertification meetings. She also has been working with several extension educators to spearhead several air blast sprayer calibration workshops in the coming months.
Bill, our pesticide education coordinator, has been out of the office more than in the office the past two months. A big part of his time was spent doing recertification meetings. To prepare for next winter meeting season, Bill is currently gathering feedback on topics you would like to see next year (email him at wmr11@psu.edu). Bill helped for a few days at the Butler County Pesticide Applicator Short Course, which helps applicators prepare to take the Core and the lawn and turf, ornamental and shade trees, or parks and schools pest control category certification exam. Bill also has been doing many one-day trainings across the state to help prepare pesticide dealers to take and pass the newly enacted pesticide dealer manager exam.
This week’s guest blogger is Scott Guiser, Penn State Extension Horticulture Educator from Bucks County. Scott has worked with our program on many projects including reviewing certification manuals and exam questions and serving on our Pesticide Education Program Advisory Committee.
In late January I was fortunate enough to hear Dr. Galen Dively of the University of Maryland give an overview of organic insecticides at the Mid-Atlantic Fruit and Vegetable Grower’s Conference. Did you miss it? I’ll try to provide a recap.
I have a copy of the Conference Proceedings (write-ups of the presentations) as a reference which will help me recall key points. If you missed the Mid-Atlantic Conference, mark you calendar for Jan 29-31, 2013… its a fantastic educational (and social!) event.
Chris Becker, our busy Consumer and Youth Pesticide Education Specialist, talks about last year’s Poison Prevention Week poster contest and how kids can enter this year’s contest in this blog.
In last week’s blog, “March is Poison Prevention Month–Time to Inspect your Home for Poison Hazards,” I talked about the importance of preventing accidental poisonings in our homes. And to know that just over 50% of all poisonings happen in kids under 6 years of age, we all need to eliminate the hazards in our homes that can lead to poisonings. During the month of March, we will be talking to over 8,000 1st graders statewide about Poison Prevention. And once again, our program could not do this massive educational outreach without the help of our many Master Gardener volunteers.
Chris Becker, our busy Consumer and Youth Pesticide Education Specialist, wrote this blog to kick off the beginning of our month long outreach, with the help of many Master Gardeners, to 1st grade students across the state.
Have you taken the time lately to look, really look, around your home for poison hazards that could lead to an accidental poisoning? We, here at the Pesticide Education Program, take poison prevention very seriously. Accidental poisonings are a major concern. There are more than 2 million poisonings reported annually to 57 poison centers across the country. More than 90 percent of these poisonings occur in the home. Just over one-half of the poisonings occur in children younger than six years old.
With poisonings being such a concern, we all need to take some time to scope out the hazards in our homes that could lead to a poisoning. What better time to do so than in March with the onset of spring and spring cleaning. Not to mention that March is Poison Prevention Month and March 18 – 24 is Poison Prevention Week.
Dave Scott, who is the Division of Health and Safety Chief in the Bureau of Plant Industry, Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, wrote the blog for today.
The Bureau of Plant Industry (in the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture) PaPlants website recently received a makeover. The screens are clearer and more user-friendly. One of the exciting new capabilities is the ability to renew Private Pesticide Applicator Certifications online and pay for it by credit card. The next website update in March will include online renewals for businesses and commercial/public applicators.
PaPlants is the Bureau’s primary internet application. As a certified applicator, you can create an account and logon to view and manage your certification. To access PaPlants, type https://www.PaPlants.state.pa.us/Reg into your browser’s address bar.
This week’s guest blogger is Chris Becker, our Consumer and Youth Specialist, who organizes our program’s major outreach events, including this year’s Farm Show.
Farm Show Posts Record Numbers in 2012
Seeing our fun Master Gardener (notice her headboppers) at the entrance, who wouldn't want to stop and play?
To say Farm Show was “BUSY” isn’t quite a big enough word to describe the massive number of people visiting this year’s event. The show was “packed,” to say the least. Whether from the show’s family-friendly activities and FREE admission, interest in Agriculture, mild weather, or a combination of all, Farm Show 2012 was the most well attended Farm Show on record. A press release cited nearly 70,000 vehicles parked in the Farm Show lots throughout the week. And, although that doesn’t mean much by itself, when compared to last year’s parking totals of 55,000 cars parked, that’s a 27% increase in attendance!
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