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A consumer guide to lawn and garden products
(A project of Thurston County Environmental Health in Olympia, Washington)
This is a very useful website that lists and rates the active ingredients and the hazard levels for home-use products from fertilizers to pesticides. All products in this guide are registered for outdoor home use in Washington State. There are no restricted use pesticides in the guide or products that require a pesticide license to purchase or apply. Products with the same name may be found in different states or countries but they may not be the same as those you find in this guide. Please ensure that any pesticide product you purchase is applied according to the label directions and that it is registered for use in your area.
Product ranking system
The Grow Smart, Grow Safe® hazard-ranking system is based on the pesticide active ingredient review process developed and used by Thurston County Environmental Health Division. Thurston County rates products based on reviews of the pesticide active ingredients. The reviews include but are not limited to: chemical mobility, persistence, bioaccumulation, non-target wildlife toxicity, human toxicity, carcinogenicity, developmental and reproductive toxicity, mutagenicity, and applicator safety. Each of these potential hazards are rated from low to high. Products are then listed based on their known hazards.
Understanding the hazard
The Grow Smart, Grow Safe® table columns show hazard ratings of active ingredients. The review criteria is consistent for each chemical and all data used is referenced. The symbols reflect the level of hazard determined by a product’s active ingredient review.
Human: Ratings are based on a chemical’s potential to cause carcinogenicity, mutagenicity, reproductive toxicity, or developmental toxicity. Ratings also include an assessment of risk from short- or long-term exposures to humans.
Pet and Wildlife: Ratings are based on risk of toxicity to pets and wildlife from potential exposures following labeled uses of specific pesticides.
Aquatic Life: Ratings are based on the potential to cause toxicity from short- or long-term exposures to fish or other aquatic organisms resulting from labeled uses of specific pesticides.
Water Pollution: Ratings are based on the combined hazards of mobility and persistence of an active ingredient. When the hazards of mobility and persistence are both rated high, the potential for water pollution is rated high.
Persistence: how long a chemical (or its toxic metabolites) remains in the environment.
Mobility: the potential for a chemical to move off the site of application with rain or irrigation water.
