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. 
   
   

Terbufos

General Information

• Product Names:
  Counter (AMVAC Chemical)
• Chemical Class: Organophosphate Insecticide/Nematicide
• Uses: corn, sugar beets, sorghum, imported bananas
• Alternatives: Organic Agriculture
• Beyond Pesticides rating: Toxic

Health and Environmental Effects

• Cancer: Not documented
• Endocrine Disruption: Not documented
• Reproductive Effects: Not documented
• Neurotoxicity: Not documented
• Kidney/Liver Damage: Not documented
• Sensitizer/ Irritant: Yes (8)
• Birth/Developmental: Not documented
• Detected in Groundwater: Not documented
• Potential Leacher: Not documented
• Toxic to Birds: Yes (8)
• Toxic to Fish/Aquatic Organisms: Yes (8)
• Toxic to Bees: Yes (19)

Additional Information

• Regulatory Status:
  • Interim Reregistration Eligibility Decision signed 9/2006
• Supporting information:
  • PAN Pesticides Database: Terbufos (Pesticide Action Network)
• Studies:
• Pesticide use and incident Parkinson’s disease in a cohort of farmers and their spouses. Shrestha, S. et al. (2020) Pesticide use and incident parkinson’s disease in a cohort of farmers and their spouses, Environmental research. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7822498/.
• Pesticide use and inflammatory bowel disease in licensed pesticide applicators and spouses in the Agricultural Health Study. Chen, D. et al. (2024) Pesticide use and inflammatory bowel disease in licensed pesticide applicators and spouses in the Agricultural Health Study, Environmental Research. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0013935124003682?ref=pdf_download&fr=RR-2&rr=88272c5c9b94942f.
• Pesticide exposure and increased breast cancer risk in women population studies. Panis, C. and Lemos, B. (2024) Pesticide exposure and increased breast cancer risk in women population studies, Science of The Total Environment. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969724031358?via%3Dihub.
• Child and adolescent mortality associated with pesticide toxicity in Cape Town, South Africa, 2010–2019: a retrospective case review. Davies, B., Hlela, M.B.K.M. and Rother, H.-A. (2023) Child and adolescent mortality associated with pesticide toxicity in Cape Town, South Africa, 2010–2019: a retrospective case review, BMC Public Health. Available at: https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-023-15652-5.
• High Pesticide Exposure Events and Dream-Enacting Behaviors Among US Farmers. Yuan, Y., Shrestha, S., Luo, Z., Li, C., Plassman, B.L., Parks, C.G., Hofmann, J.N., Beane Freeman, L.E., Sandler, D.P. and Chen, H. (2022), High Pesticide Exposure Events and Dream-Enacting Behaviors Among US Farmers. Mov Disord, 37: 962-971. https://doi.org/10.1002/mds.28960
• Pesticide use and risk of Hodgkin lymphoma: results from the North American Pooled Project (NAPP). Latifovic, L., Freeman, L. E. B., Spinelli, J. J., Pahwa, M., Kachuri, L., Blair, A., Cantor, K. P., Zahm, S. H., Weisenburger, D. D., McLaughlin, J. R., Dosman, J. A., Pahwa, P., Koutros, S., Demers, P. A., & Harris, S. A. (2020). Pesticide use and risk of Hodgkin lymphoma: results from the North American Pooled Project (NAPP). Cancer causes & control : CCC, 31(6), 583–599. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-020-01301-4