Gregory James Lindner

Historical Survey on Ecolabeling Efforts and Criteria for Green Inert or Other Ingredients: EPA Design for the Environment

In addition to the active ingredient, pesticide formulations typically contain surfactants, solvents, diluents, fillers, adjuvant substances, and utility additives such as foam control agents. Over the past several decades, innovations in pesticide formulation have yielded accelerated evolution toward reduced environmental impact and improved sustainability. These provide the key benefits of what are considered “greener” formulations. An example of how this approach manifests in the marketplace is end product ecolabeling as practiced in the consumer products industry. A review of a 2010 global survey of certifying organizations is included in order to provide perspective on how criteria and standards can vary. The range of materials available that might offer either or both the desired reductions in environmental impact and/or improved sustainability varies based on the definition of “green” applied. Important aspects to consider include selecting a definition, deciding which ingredients to use, screening replacements for non-green or less green ingredients, and measuring performance against appropriate benchmarks. Various criteria can be applied in order to define targets for “greener” inert ingredients. The Environmental Protection Agency’s Design for Environment program (DfE) focuses on individual ingredients in addition to formulations. For materials offering similar performance, the underlying chemical, toxicological, or environmental data affect selection. DfE utilizes a third-party ingredient review system (by National Sanitation Foundation [NSF] International and ToxServices) and database (CleanGredients, as managed by GreenBlue) that can provide a basis on which to select materials for evaluation and development as part of formulating safer pesticides with reduced environmental impact and greater sustainability.

OD Formulations Structured with Self-Activating Organically Modified Clays

An oil dispersion (OD) or oil flowable is a suspension of a solid active ingredient in an oil medium. ODs may be used to deliver water sensitive actives and are an efficient means of delivering oil adjuvancy. The use of self-activating organically modified clays overcomes stability problems that OD formulators encountered using conventional organically modified clays. The impact of surfactants and processing parameters on OD performance is described.

Cationic-based Crop Oil Concentrates

For most of six decades, crop oil concentrates (COCs) have been used as important tank mix adjuvants for increased pesticidal penetration. For the past 30 years, cationic surfactants have been known to enhance the bio-efficacy of numerous acid-based herbicides, especially glyphosate. With the advent of glyphosate-tolerant crops, glyphosate has become almost universal in its use. This has led to some issues with weeds hard to control with glyphosate alone. Recently a practice has developed where other herbicides and COC formulations are mixed with glyphosate to address problems with glyphosate-tolerant plants. A field study was conducted to develop a COC containing cationic surfactants that would deliver excellent, stable emulsification of the oil phase and boost the herbicidal activity of both glyphosate and the admixed herbicide. This COC worked very efficiently in a broad range of waters as well as ultra-high electrolyte environments such as ammonium sulfate solutions common to glyphosate applications.