Acaricide

A substance or preparation that kills mites.

Active agent

The active component of a chemical plant protection product/pesticide (® formulation).

Cement clinker

The glassy, clinkerlike product of fusing together clay and limestone as the first stage in the manufacture of cement. The cement clinker from the rotary kiln is finely comminuted in roller or tube mills containing steel balls. This yields the extremely reactive product called cement. To obtain Portland cement, about 5 wt. % gypsum is added to the cement clinker. The essential starting materials for use in the production of cement are lime (chiefly calcium carbonate) and clay minerals (mainly alumosilicates), which must be mixed in the proper proportions. Depending on the type of cement to be produced, small amounts of magnesium carbonate, iron oxide and/or quartz are added. The ground stock is filled into the rotary kiln as raw powder and burnt to obtain cement clinker.

Contamination

Corruption of a substance or material with undesirable impurities/admixtures.

Formulation

Preparation of an ® active agent, usually in the solid or liquid state, together with correctives, according to a formula to obtain a commercial-grade plant protection product/pesticide.

Herbicide

A substance or preparation used to destroy or inhibit plant growth (weedkiller).

High-temperature incinerating plant

High-temperature incinerators are a special combustion plant used for the environmentally sound destruction of hazardous waste. The temperatures of incineration prevailing in the rotary kiln and the downstream combustion chambers are selected to destroy the toxic contents of the waste material. This requires temperatures of 1,200°C and higher, an ample supply of oxygen via secondary air, and gas retention times in excess of 2 seconds in the combustion chamber. The stack gases resulting from the combustion process are passed through electrostatic dust control filters, and the gaseous pollutants are removed by stack-gas scrubbers. Additional steps are included to effect removal of organic residues, dioxins and furanes. The incineration of hazardous waste is subject to very strict (national and European) statutory limits.

Insecticide

A substance or preparation used for the control of insects.

Integrated plant protection

A combination of processes and procedures designed to minimize the need for chemical pesticides by prioritization of biological, biotechnical, plant-breeding and crop/soil cultivation techniques.

Isomers

Chemical compounds that differ in their physical or chemical properties despite their mutually identical molecular compositions and relative molecular masses.

Persistence

Term used to express the stability of organisms and substances over time in a given medium.

Pesticides

Chemical and biological substances employed in averting biotic and abiotic detriment to plants.

Pesticide resistance

Hereditary resistance to pesticides on the part of certain subspecies, types or strains of causative organisms (pests).

Rotary kiln

Also referred to as “revolvers”, rotary kilns consist of nearly horizontal metal tubes measuring several meters in diameter and between 10 and 200 meters in length. They are lined with refractory bricks. A rotary kiln rotates slowly around its own longitudinal axis such that the top-loaded material slowly wanders toward the opposite - hot - end, which is heated by a flame that feeds on a lance-injected mixture of oil and air or coal dust and air. The hottest zone is near the flame, of course. In this area, called the sintering zone, the kiln run heats up to beyond 1,450°C, consequently undergoing chemical transformation. Rotary kilns serve in the manufacture of cement clinker and in high-temperature incinerating plants used for destruction of hazardous waste.

Toxicity

The degree to which a substance is poisonous