The WHO Recommended Classification of Pesticides by Hazard and Guidelines to Classification 2009

The WHO Recommended Classification of Pesticides by Hazard was approved by the 28th World Health Assembly in 1975. Up until the present revision, the original guidelines have been followed without amendment. In December 2002, a document called "The Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals" was approved with the intent to provided a globally-harmonized system (GHS) to address classification of chemicals, labels and safety data sheet. The GHS is now being widely used. For this revision of the Classification the WHO Hazard Classes have been aligned in an appropriate way with the GHS Acute Toxicity Hazard Categories for acute oral or dermal toxicity as the starting point for allocating pesticides to a WHO Hazard Class.