Health Topic

Pesticides

Pesticides can help get rid of pests. Pesticides can protect your health by killing germs, animals, or plants that could hurt you.

Reviewed Reviewed by a registered pharmacistGeneral information

Also called: Fungicides · Herbicides · Rodenticides

Important: This page is general information, not medical advice. It does not recommend or prescribe any treatment. Always consult your doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping or changing any medicine.

About Pesticides

Pests live where they are not wanted or cause harm to crops, people, or animals. Pesticides can help get rid of them. Pesticides are not just insect killers. They also include chemicals to control weeds, rodents, mildew, germs, and more. Many household products contain pesticides.

Pesticides can protect your health by killing germs, animals, or plants that could hurt you. However, they can also be harmful to people or pets. You might want to try non-chemical methods first. If you do need a pesticide, use it correctly. Be especially careful around children and pets. Proper disposal of pesticides is also important - it can help protect the environment.

Biologically-based pesticides are becoming more popular. They often are safer than traditional pesticides.

Environmental Protection Agency

It sits within Poisoning, Toxicology, Environmental Health.

The lead U.S. institute for this subject is the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

When to speak to someone. Reading about a topic cannot tell you whether it applies to you. Speak to a doctor or pharmacist if symptoms are severe, sudden, getting worse, or simply not going away — and seek emergency care immediately for chest pain, breathing difficulty, sudden weakness or confusion, or a serious allergic reaction.

Research on Pesticides

78 studies areregistered for this condition on ClinicalTrials.gov, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's public registry. A selection is below — the links go straight to the registry entry, not to a summary of ours.

What a registered study does and does not mean. Registration means a study exists and has been declared publicly. It says nothing about whether the treatment being tested works, is safe, or is available to you. Many studies find no benefit — that is what research is for. Never seek out an experimental treatment on the strength of a registry entry alone.

Research currently under way

Research already completed

Study data from ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 2026-07-30. Registry entries are supplied by study sponsors and investigators; ClinicalTrials.gov does not verify their scientific validity. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH.

Where to read more

Rather than paraphrase, we point you to the primary sources. Every link below is to a government health agency, a national institute or a recognised medical body — grouped by what you are trying to find out.

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Treatments and Therapies

Prevention and Risk Factors

Related Issues

Clinical Trials

Medical subject headings

Clinicians and researchers index this subject under Pesticides. These are the terms to use when searching medical literature.

This page is built from the MedlinePlus health topic record for Pesticides, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health. Information is from MedlinePlus.gov. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and is not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH. Retrieved 30 July 2026.