Farm Progress Show

 Maria Turner and the PSEP display at the Farm Progress Show

URBANA, ILL.

   The Pesticide Safety Education Program was represented at the Farm Progress show in Decatur this year with a booth on Pesticide Look- alikes. It was a great opportunity to share with the public the dangers of pesticides, especially those that are not kept in original containers. Because many of the pesticide incidents involve children 12 and under, we passed out “Mr.Yuk” stickers to put on containers at home that could be harmful to children. This will enable youth to have a visual aid to stop them from picking up harmful products. Many children can’t or won’t read a label and may wrongly assume a product is safe so a quick visual can help them. We also updated our pesticide look-alike fact sheet and handed out several. Many folks shared stories of youth accidentally ingesting pesticides because they were in the wrong container. The accidents that happened "close to home" left lasting impressions and changed significant behavior towards pesticides. We appreciate all these stories and opportunities to get out to speak with others. Should you need this information covered in a classroom or event, please feel free to reach out to the PSEP team.

   We look forward to the next Farm Progress Show. ∆