What are Antimicrobial Pesticides?
Antimicrobials (such as disinfectants and sanitizers) are pesticides by definition and are intended to sterilize, disinfect, sanitize, or reduce or suppress the growth and development of microbiological organisms. These substances or mixtures of substances are also used to protect inanimate objects like floors and walls, industrial processes or systems, surfaces, water or other chemical substances from contamination, fouling, or deterioration caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi, protozoa, algae or slime. Antimicrobial pesticides do not include wood preservatives, agricultural fungicides or aquatic herbicides.
Definitions
To learn the definition of each term, use the link below:
Pesticides
Sterilize
Disinfect
Sanitize
A pesticide is any substance or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling, or mitigating any pest. The term pesticide applies to insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, plant regulators, defoliant, desiccant, and various other substances used to control pests.
Sterilization is the destruction or elimination of all viable microorganisms, including spores, in a material or on the surface of an object.
Disinfection means to destroy or irreversibly inactivate viable microorganisms, but not necessarily their spores.
Sanitization is the reduction, but not necessarily the elimination, of viable microorganisms to levels considered safe
Antimicrobial products contain about 275 different active ingredients and are marketed in several formulations including sprays, liquids, concentrated powders and gases. More than 5,000 antimicrobial products are currently registered with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and sold in the market place.