[Testing pest control products for use under the Federal Communicable Disease Act]

The examination of pest control products and procedures under section 10 of the Federal Communicable Diseases Act is restricted to such products and procedures which are useful for the official control of arthropods as vectors of communicable diseases, i.e. which are effective and safe from the toxicological point of view if properly used. Insecticides and acaricides which are mainly intended for application in the household by laymen such as pressurized aerosol and strip formulations as well as products against nuisances such as silverfishes, dust mites or wasps are thus not accepted for examination, apart from a few exceptional cases where examination is still required. The examination of the products and procedures is first performed in the laboratory and then in the field if laboratory tests have revealed their effectiveness. Products and procedures are tested for their effectiveness, i.e. their knock-down, repellent, flashing, immediate and/or long-term effects. This is done on substrates of varying sorption capacities and with different pH values against all stages of development and nutrition in the indicated fields of application and, as far as necessary, also against strains of varying sensitivity of the species to be controlled.