There are 8,000 to 9,000 regulated pesticides in use in Pennsylvania at any one time. There are some 35,000 certified pesticide applicators in the state who must meet standards set by state and federal laws. Factor in the countless consumers who grab some bug spray or lawn herbicide off the shelf, and the need for pesticide safety education becomes clear.

Penn State's Pesticide Education Program answers that need with programs that help farmers, businesses, and consumers better monitor how pesticides are used. Most land-grant universities operate similar pesticide education programs, many dating back to the late 1960s. Penn State developed its program in 1974 and hired plant pathologist Win and Hock to run it. More than 20 years later, Hock still runs the program, supervising a staff of six and coordinating a variety of education and outreach programs across Pennsylvania.

Pesticide education programs go well beyond farm boundaries. Each year, Hock and his staff reach employees from pest control and lawn care companies, golf courses, utilities, and other businesses. "We cover everything from swimming pool operators to homeowners," Hock says.

Program staff spend most of their time supervising certification and training programs that ensure pesticide applicators are qualified to apply pesticides safely. Users are certified by passing a written test, administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, which covers safe use, disposal, storage, personal and environmental protection, pest identification, and integrated pest management. The Pesticide Education Program developed the curriculum for pesticide training classes. In addition, the program offers specialized training information on specific pests and fact sheets on various agricultural chemicals. The program also offers a comprehensive training guide, The Pesticide Education Manual.

Other efforts include a pesticide education newsletter published jointly with the Department of Agriculture; a Web site, http://www.pested.psu.edu; a toll-free phone line, (800) Penn-IPM (736-6476), for pesticide recertification and pest management information; and a fax-back system, which provides callers with a printed list of all training meetings approved by the Department of Agriculture. The toll-free phone line is a cooperative venture between Penn State's Integrated Pest Management Program and the Pesticide Education Program

Although most of Pennsylvania's pesticide education efforts focus on commercial users, staff members also are developing a science curriculum for secondary schools. The project combines integrated pest management and pesticide education into a teaching module aimed at environmental science teachers. Pesticide education specialist Kerry Hoffman is testing the curriculum at various Pennsylvania schools during the 1998­1999 school year.

Each Penn State Cooperative Extension county office runs pesticide education programs independently, although most of the material they use comes from Hock's office. Program staff also are revising all of the training packets used in pesticide certification and recertification programs as well as the examinations used by the state. Study guides for the new examinations also are being prepared. "Our goal is to have each certification test customized from a central computer database," Hock explains. "Previously, the same examinations were used over and over again, so many people taking the tests became very familiar with the questions after testing several times."

Hock and his staff also are developing educational materials for commercial users, consumers, and youth to illustrate how pesticides function within the food system, an effort mandated by the Food Quality Protection Act of 1996. The new law has set exposure standards not only for a single pesticide, but also for related groups of chemicals. In addition, the Environmental Protection Agency now counts cumulative exposure to pesticides not only through the diet, but also through other sources, such as lawn and garden use, pet care, residential use, and water sources. "This is a major effort that will affect what chemicals will be available in the future," Hock adds. "It also will determine what alternative control techniques can be used on the crop. This has major implications on the quantity and quality of our food items."

The Penn State program also plays a major role in the National Agricultural Pesticide Impact Assessment Program (NAPIAP), a federally funded project tracking how pesticides are used in Pennsylvania. Pesticide education specialist Bill Hoffman is collaborating with the Pennsylvania Agricultural Statistical Service to track pesticide use patterns for most of the state's major crops. He also is formulating commodity profiles for a number of major crops in the state, including field corn, mushrooms, potatoes, tart cherries, grapes, and pumpkins. The profiles detail the pesticides used on the crop, management practices used by growers, alternatives to pesticides, and how important pesticides are to maintaining the crop as a major commodity. These commodity profiles will help to show the EPA the benefits of a pesticide or how to maintain the quality and quantity of an important crop using alternatives to pesticides.

While program staff are involved in a wide range of projects, Hock believes they all contribute to a single mission. "Pesticide education is simply trying to make people understand what pest management is on a large scale," he explains. "There's a lot more to controlling pests than going out and squirting pesticides around."