The terms every CORE exam tests, in plain English — grounded in the official National CORE manual. For the full context behind each one, read the CORE study guides.
Any chemical intended to directly control pest populations or to prevent or reduce pest damage — broader than just insecticides.
Any organism that damages or harms desirable plants, animals (including people), products, or structures.
The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act — the central federal pesticide law, covering manufacture, sale, and application. Administered by the EPA.
The EPA's authorization of a product for sale, distribution, and use. The EPA registers a product's uses, not just the product — it can approve a pesticide for one crop and decline another. State registration is also required before use in a given state.
A pesticide that could cause unreasonable harm to people or the environment without added restrictions. Only certified applicators, or people under their direct supervision, may buy or use RUPs.
The other major EPA classification — most pesticides. Federal law doesn't restrict these to certified applicators, though some states add their own requirements.
A registration that lets a state allow additional uses of certain already-registered pesticides within its own borders.
Allows a registered product to be sold and used for a specific unregistered purpose, for a set period, when an emergency pest problem has no registered pesticide.
A product exempt from federal registration because every ingredient in it is one the EPA has determined poses little to no risk. It must still follow health-claim rules and list all ingredients on its label.
Someone who applies pesticides to produce an agricultural commodity on land they or their employer owns or rents.
Anyone who doesn't fit the private applicator definition — including for-hire work like structural pest control and lawn care.
An application made by a competent noncertified person acting under a certified applicator's instructions and control. The supervisor doesn't always have to be physically present, but must be available — and some labels and states prohibit noncertified application entirely.
The EPA's standard for RUP work: the practical knowledge, skills, experience, and judgment to apply RUPs without causing unreasonable adverse effects.
Pesticide that remains on a crop after application.
The maximum amount of pesticide residue allowed to remain on a particular crop — the level that triggers enforcement. Above it, the commodity can be seized.
The required wait between treating a crop and harvesting it (also called days to harvest). It varies by pesticide and by crop.
The EPA's image for combined exposure: pesticides with a similar mode of action share one tolerance set, so the more uses a pesticide has, the greater the chance the tolerance is exceeded and some uses are canceled.
The federal standard that reduces pesticide poisoning and injury risk among agricultural workers and handlers — it informs, protects, and mitigates. Distinct from certification: WPS is safety training, not an exam credential.
Location-specific use limitations — buffers, reduced rates, timing restrictions, or prohibitions — that a label may direct you to obtain from an EPA website to protect listed species.
Steps that lessen a pesticide's risks — PPE requirements, rate limits, bloom-time prohibitions. Labels carry them, which is why the manual calls labels risk mitigation documents.
Definitions are paraphrased from the National CORE manual (2025, Third Edition). See how we keep this accurate.