ABSTRACT
Nan Lin Vincent F. Garry Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.A.
INTRODUCTION
Agricultural adjuvants are chemicals added to pesticides and pesticide mixtures in order to aid the operation and improve the effectiveness of the active ingredients. These agents are ubiquitous in terms of application, formulation, and chemical composition. Adjuvants greatly improve the efficiency and targetspecificity of pesticides, and therefore play an important role in modern agriculture. In general, adjuvants do not pose a significant acute toxic hazard. However, recent studies suggest that adjuvants can complicate the toxicity of commercial-grade pesticides either by additive or independent effects of the active ingredients, and therefore further toxicological studies and enhanced regulatory oversight are required.
