[NHCOLL-L:1113] World Health Organization Pesticide 2001 Document

[Kathryn Makos]

Useful reference just released.

Sincerely, Kathryn Makos
Industrial Hygienist, Smithsonian Institution
Office of Safety and Environmental Management
 
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THE WHO RECOMMENDED CLASSIFICATION OF PESTICIDES BY HAZARD AND
GUIDELINES TO CLASSIFICATION 2000-01 

http://www.who.int/pcs/docs/Classification%20of%20Pesticides%202000-01.pdf 
 revised 6.7.2001 (That must be 6 July -Mod)

The WHO Recommended Classification of Pesticides by Hazard was approved
by the 28th World Health Assembly in 1975 and has since gained wide
acceptance. When it was published in the WHO Chronicle, 29, 397-401
(1975), an annex, which was not part of the Classification, illustrated
its use by listing examples of classification of some pesticidal active
ingredients and their formulations. Later suggestions were made by
Member States and pesticide registration authorities that further
guidance should be given on the classification of individual pesticides.
Guidelines were first issued in 1978, and have since been revised and
reissued at 2-yearly intervals. 

The document is arranged as follows: 

Part I: The Classification as recommended by the World Health Assembly.
This part is not subject to periodic review and the classification table
and text can only be changed by resolution of the World Health Assembly. 

Part II: Guidelines to Classification. Individual products are
classified in a series of tables, according to the oral or dermal
toxicity of the technical product, and its physical state. The tables
are subject to review periodically. 

The toxicity values are intended to be a guide only. Formulations should
be separately classified using the methods set out on pages 3 (single
technical product) and 6 (mixtures) and the table in Part I. To assist
in the classification of formulations, an annex is now provided giving
numerical tables from which the classification may also be derived. 

Comments on Part II of the document are welcome, together with proposals
for new entries. These should be addressed to the International
Programme on Chemical Safety, World Health Organization, 1211 Geneva 27,
Switzerland, and should include supporting data on the compound being
commented on or proposed. 

This document is a revision of the document previously issued as
WHO/PCS/98.21

IPCS
The International Programme for Chemical Safety
World Health Organization
CH-1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland