Ministry of Agriculture and Lands
About Pesticides
Chemical Families
A chemical family is a group of chemicals that have similar chemical structures and properties, such as poisoning symptoms and persistence as well as similar first aid, clean-up and safety guidelines. Most pesticides can be grouped into one of approximately 40 chemical families.
Knowing the chemical family of the pesticides can help you to select pesticides that will minimize the development of pesticide resistance, understand how the pesticide works, know what happens to it in the environment, and be able to respond to emergencies. The chemical family of each active ingredient is listed in the following tables on this Website:
Chemical Families and Resistance Management Groups
The way pesticides affect and enter pests is called the mode of action. Groups of pesticides work in similar ways or have similar modes of action. Pesticides in the same chemical family or similar chemical families often work the same way. By alternating the use of pesticides that work differently you can minimize the development of pesticide resistance.
The federal government has grouped pesticides according to how they work and have introduced voluntary pesticide resistance management labeling. Many pesticide labels identify the resistance management group on the front panel of the label.
Three tables on this web site identify which herbicide, fungicide/bactericide and insecticide/acaricide active ingredients are in the same groups. The information for these tables is from the Pest Management Regulatory Agency Website (http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/pmra-arla/english/pdf/dir/dir9906-e.pdf). (PDF)
