Introduction
Fungicides represent chemical compounds or biological organisms used by people to kill or inhibit the growth of fungi or fungal spores. Fungicides are used both to fight fungal infections on animals and also in agriculture. The chemicals used to control oomycetes, which are not fungi, are also referred to as fungicides, because oomycetes use the same mechanism as fungi to infect plants. Most fungicides can be bought retail under a liquid form. A very common active ingredient in fungicides is the sulfur, present at 0.08% in weaker concentrates, and as high as 0.5% for a stronger fungicide. Fungicides can be found under powdered form and usually contain around 90% sulfur, thus being very toxic. Fungicide resides have been found on food destined for human consumption (mostly from post harvest treatments). Some fungicides are dangerous to human health (e.g. the fungicide called Vinclozolin) and because of that they were removed from use. A very common used fungicide is the Banrot WP.
The product
Banrot WP is a broad spectrum fungicide for the control of soil diseases. It contains active ingredients such as Truban plus a systemic fungicide used for the control of several fungi such as Pythium, Fusarium, Rhizoctonia and more others. It can be used as a soil drench when the time of seeding and transplanting comes or also as a periodic drench throughout the plant’s life cycle for controlling the fungi problem in greenhouses and outdoors. Banrot is a product safer than many others, but it presents, as all do, an imminent danger to fishes. Due to its chemical composition, Banrot is toxic for fish and it is forbidden for someone to apply the product directly on water or to areas where surface water is present or to intertidal areas below the mean high water mark.
PPE
PPE stands for Personal Protective Equipment. Some materials are chemical resistant to Banrot. These include barrier laminate, butyl rubber, nitrile rubber, neoprene rubber, and natural rubber. For your personal safety, if you are using Banrot and are a mixer, a loader, a handler or an applicator, you must wear protective equipment such as goggles or a face shield for your head and eyes, coveralls over long sleeved shirts and long pants, chemical resistant gloves made of any waterproof material. You should also use chemical resistant footwear plus socks and a respirator with an organic vapor removing cartridge, a canister and a respirator with an OV cartridge all approved by NIOSH (the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health is the United States of America’s federal agency responsible with recommendation for work related illnesses and injuries prevention)
First Aid
The first aid for Banrot accidents is specialized for the type of accident. For example, if someone inhales it, they need to be taken to fresh air and if case given CPR. If someone swallows it on the other hand the poison control center must be called the best practice is to give that person a glass of water (if still able to drink) and in some cases vomit inducing is the protocol.
