Toxicity label

"Red label" and "Yellow label" redirect here. For red label tea, see English breakfast tea.
Toxicity labels

Red, yellow, blue and green labels.
Effective region India
Effective since 1971
Product category Pesticides
Legal status Mandatory
Mandatory since 1971

Toxicity labels[1] viz; red label, yellow label, blue label and green label are mandatory labels employed on pesticide containers in India identifying the level of toxicity of the contained pesticide.[1][2][3] The schemes follows from the Insecticides Act of 1968[1] and the Insecticides Rules of 1971.

The labeling follows a general scheme as laid down in the Insecticides Rules, 1971, and contains information such as brand name, name of manufacturer, name of the antidote in case of accidental consumption etc. A major aspect of the label is a color mark which represents the toxicity of the material by a color code. Thus the labelling scheme proposes four different colour labels: viz red, yellow, blue, and green.[4]

Label Name Level of toxicity Oral lethal dose mg per kg body weight of test animal Listed chemicals
Red label Extremely toxic 1-50 Monocrotophos, zinc phosphide, ethyl mercury acetate, and others.
Yellow label Highly toxic 51-500 Endosulfan, carbaryl,[2] quinalphos,[2] and others.
Blue label Moderately toxic 501-5000 Malathion, thiram, glyphosate,[2] and others.
Green label Slightly toxic More than 5000 Mancozeb, oxyfluorfen, mosquito repellant oils and liquids, and most other household insecticides.

The toxicity classification applies only to pesticides which are allowed to be sold in India. Some of the classified pesticides may be banned in somes states of India, by decision of the state governments. Some of the red-label and yellow-label pesticides were banned in the state of Kerala following the Endosulfan protests of 2011.[2]

References

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