The KDA Pesticide Lab supports the KDA Pesticide and Fertilizer Program in its mission to fulfill the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act, or FIFRA. While FIFRA gives authority to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to regulate the manufacture and sale of pesticide products, state governments, such as KDA, have primacy for enforcing it.

Pesticide inspectors start the chain of custody when they gather pesticide drift samples and then ship them to the lab. Once the lab receives these samples, then custody is transferred to the laboratory. During sample receiving and throughout testing, the sample moves into or out of storage multiple times. Each movement or transfer is recorded. The entire process allows us to build a solid chain of custody record.

We have multiple sample preparation options to help us manage the wide variety of samples that we receive. Samples are treated with carbon dioxide to facilitate sample grinding or milling. Sometimes a sample with high moisture content can be difficult to analyze in an accurate manner. If we add carbon dioxide, it freezes the wet sample to make it easier to homogenize. When we take care to prepare a representative sample, we are reducing a source of error that can affect the accuracy of the test result.

The majority of our pesticide testing occurs during the growing season because of the seasonal usage of pesticide products. The lab receives a wide variety of samples that are related to cases of pesticide drift complaints. These samples could be environmental swabs, soil, vegetation, water, personal clothing or other type. The sample type depends on the nature of the pesticide complaint.

This is a very common type of sample preparation called QuEChERS, which stands for: quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe. As the name implies, it has many desirable benefits for a busy pesticide laboratory. QuEChERS simplifies sample clean-up and extraction. Our target here is the upper organic layer. This organic layer is what we want to put on an analytical instrument such as a gas or liquid chromatograph.

The lab also receives pesticide products from manufacturers or retailers. When we receive these samples, we analyze the contents of the container and then compare the results to the product label. Our analyses are used to verify label claims for these products. This work also ensures compliance with FIFRA.