Impact of - IDL-BNC @ IDRC - International Development Research ...

Safer packaging and labeling
of pesticides
L.S. Dollimore
Shell International Chemical Company Ltd,
London, UK
During the past 5 years, major developments in the area of pesticide
packaging and labeling, particularly the use of pictograms, have improved
safety for the user and the environment. Pictograms are symbols indicating
essential advice and warning messages to the user. Introduced only a
few years ago, they are now being used in at least 66 countries, mainly in
the developing world. The most significant advances in packaging have
been in the use of new plastics and container designs. New products, such
as polyethylene terephthalate and fluorinated high-density polyethylene,
are able to withstand aromatic solvents, allowing many new safety features,
such as simple-to-use dispensers, to be built into containers.
In the past 5 years, major changes in pesticide labeling and packaging have
contributed significantly to safeguarding not only end-users and those in the
supply chain, but also the general public and the environment. A major
stimulus was the International code of conduct on the distribution and use of
pesticides (FAG 1986), which outlines rules of responsible practice for both
governments and the crop-protection industiy
Labeling
One of the recommendations of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations (FAO) was to "include appropriate symbols and pictograms
whenever possible, in addition to written instructions, warnings and precautions."
A pictogram is a symbol designed to convey a message, e.g., the
no-smoking symbol. The message should be recognizable at a glance.
In the late 1970s, a specialist on information graphics, Shirley Parfitt, was
working on an FAO project in Bangladesh when her illiterate maid was
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