Gateway on Pesticide Hazards and Safe Pest Management

Beyond Pesticides offers resources below to evaluate the health and ecological effects of specific chemical exposure from ACTIVE INGREDIENTS in pesticide products, as well as regulatory information and supporting scientific documents. Because various pesticide products can contain more than one active ingredient, it is important to READ the LABEL to determine chemical components.

With 192 different active ingredients and counting, it is essential to establish the connection between the use of these chemicals and their respective hazards.

View the step-by-step guide on how to search for the active ingredient(s) in pesticide products below:

1. Go to U.S. EPA's Pesticide Product and Label System and enter the product name. The generic product name may vary.
   
2. After searching, click on the chemical ingredients tab or the link for the most recent label to find Active Ingredients.
                Chemical List                                            Label List 
   
   If one selects the chemical ingredients tab, skip to Step 4 . If not, proceed to step number 3
   
   
3. To find the active ingredient(s) on the label, search for the page in the document containing the date of registration. Usually, the active ingredients section occurs within the first few pages of the label document.
   
   
4. Return to the Beyond Pesticides Gateway and search for the active ingredient name in the yellow box to the right or from the list below. 
   
   

Captan

General Information

• Fact Sheet: captan.pdf
• Product Names:

  Complete Rose Spray II (Bonide Products), formulated with Carbaryl, Methoxychlor, Malathion
  Insecticide Miticide Fungicide (Bonide Products), formulated with Carbaryl, Malathion
  Captan-50% WP Fruit and Ornamental Wettable Powder (Bonide Products)
  Ortho Home Orchard Spray (Solaris Group), formulated with Methoxychlor, Malathion, Magnesium carbonate, Kaolin clay, Amorphous silica (Diatomaceous silica)
  Rose RX Insect & Disease Control (Bonide Products), formulated with Carbaryl, Malathion

• Chemical Class: Chlorinated organosulfur fungicide
• Uses: Variety of terrestrial food/feed crops, greenhouse food crops, indoor food (fruit dips), indoor non-food (e.g., paints, adhesives, etc.), seed treatments and ornamental sites
• Alternatives: Organic agriculture, Organic lawn care
• Beyond Pesticides rating: Toxic

Health and Environmental Effects

• Cancer: Possible (15)
• Endocrine Disruption: Not documented
• Reproductive Effects: Yes (7)
• Neurotoxicity: Not documented
• Kidney/Liver Damage: Not documented
• Sensitizer/ Irritant: Yes (7)
• Birth/Developmental: Yes (7)
• Detected in Groundwater: Not documented
• Potential Leacher: Not documented
• Toxic to Birds: Yes (40)
• Toxic to Fish/Aquatic Organisms: Yes (8)
• Toxic to Bees: Not documented

Additional Information

• Regulatory Status:
  • EPA Reregistration Eligibility Decision (RED) signed (9/1999)
  • Beyond Pesticides' comments on cancer classification change.
• Supporting information:
  • Daily News Blog entries (Beyond Pesticides)
  • Extoxnet captan Factsheet (Extension Toxicology Network)
  • PAN Pesticides Database: Captan (Pesticide Action Network)
• Studies:
• Aldehyde dehydrogenase variation enhances effect of pesticides associated with Parkinson disease.. Fitzmaurice AG, Rhodes SL, et al. 2014. Neurology.82(5):419-26.
• Comparison of residents' pesticide exposure with predictions obtained using the UK regulatory exposure assessment approach.. Galea KS, MacCalman L, Jones K, Cocker J, et al. 2015. Regul Toxicol Pharmacol.73(2):634-43.
• Developmental neurotoxic effects of two pesticides: Behavior and biomolecular studies on chlorpyrifos and carbaryl.. Lee I, Eriksson P, Fredriksson A, et al. 2015. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol. pii: S0041-008X(15)30066-1.
• Immune response of Brazilian farmers exposed to multiple pesticides . Jacobsen-Pereira, C.H. et al. (2020) ‘Immune response of Brazilian farmers exposed to multiple pesticides’, Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 202, p. 110912. doi:10.1016/j.ecoenv.2020.110912.
• Pesticide-Induced Inflammation at a Glance. Lopes-Ferreira, M. et al. (2023) ‘Pesticide-induced inflammation at a glance’, Toxics, 11(11), p. 896. doi:10.3390/toxics11110896.