Transport, Storage, Spills and Disposal
About 4 of every 50 questions on each state's practice exam (Alaska Core, Alabama General Standards, California Laws, Regulations and Basic Principles, Delaware Core, Florida Core, Georgia General Standards, Idaho Core Competency, Illinois General Standards, Illinois General Standards (Structural), Kansas General Exam, Louisiana General Standards, Louisiana Structural General Standards, Massachusetts Core, Maine Commercial Core, Missouri CORE, Montana Core, North Carolina Core, New Jersey Core, Nevada Core and Laws, New York Core, Ohio Commercial Core, Pennsylvania Core, Rhode Island Commercial Licensing, Texas General Standards (Agricultural), Texas General Standards (Structural), Virginia Core, Vermont Core, Washington Laws and Safety and West Virginia Core) come from this topic.
Sources checked
What to know
Transport pesticides in the truck bed, secured, never in the passenger compartment and never with food or feed, and protect paper containers from rain. Store them in their original containers in a locked area with warning signs, away from food, pet food, feed, seed, fertilizer and veterinary supplies, with liquids on lower shelves; mark the outer container when a leaking one is placed inside another. Tell the fire department where storage is and what it holds, and in a large fire evacuate people and animals, especially downwind, and consider letting it burn out. Handle a spill with the three Cs in order (control the source, contain the spread with a dike, then clean up with an absorbent such as cat litter) and never wash it down a drain. Triple rinse by filling the container 1/4 full, shaking 10 seconds and draining 10 seconds after dripping starts, three times in all, or pressure rinse through the side at about 40 PSI for at least 30 seconds, putting rinsate into the sprayer or mix tank or storing it for later use or disposal. Never reuse empty pesticide containers, and use up small excess amounts by applying them as the label directs. Under 40 CFR 165, containment rules cover stationary containers that hold undivided quantities of at least 500 gallons of liquid or 4,000 pounds of dry agricultural pesticide, and a secondary containment unit open to rain must hold at least 110% of the largest stationary container plus the volume other containers displace.
Where it comes from
- Nebraska Extension EC2507, Safe Transport, Storage, and Disposal of Pesticides
- EPA Label Review Manual, Ch. 13 Storage and Disposal
- UF/IFAS Extension PI223, Pesticide Fires
- Nebraska Extension G2038, Managing Pesticide Spills; Clemson HGIC 2753
- 40 CFR §§ 156.140, 156.146; EPA, Safe Disposal of Pesticides
- 40 CFR §§ 165.81, 165.85
Try a practice question
An applicator needs to haul three jugs of herbicide to a job in a pickup truck. Which placement follows Extension transport guidance?
- AIn the truck bed, loose, alongside bags of livestock feed
- BIn the truck bed, with the containers secured so they cannot shift
- COn the cab floor, where they stay shaded and out of the rain and sun
- DOn the passenger seat, held in place with the seat belt
Show the answer
In the truck bed, with the containers secured so they cannot shift. Hauling pesticides in the cab exposes the driver and passengers, so the open bed is the place for them, with each jug tied down so a sudden stop cannot tip or split it. Feed must never share the load.
Nebraska Extension EC2507, Safe Transport, Storage, and Disposal of Pesticides, p. 3