5.1 Classifying the hazards of pesticides
There are at least four aspects to pesticide ‘safety’ (i.e. managing hazards):
- acute (short-term) risks to farmers and other spray operators (only partially mitigated by protective equipment – see section 6.5)
- impact of pesticides on the environment
- residues remaining on food (and animal feed) and related to this
- real and perceived concerns about longer term effects of pesticides (including combinations of substances)
