Gateway on Pesticide Hazards and Safe Pest Management

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