"It's not the actual selling over the phone that's dangerous," said MacDonald, a weed scientist
with the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. "It's the buying."

The most recent cases of telemarketed pesticide sales were to farmers. But homeowners have been
targets, too.

Lora Lee Schroder, a consumer protection specialist with the Georgia Department of Agriculture,
said some salespeople try to sell farm chemicals to homeowners. But homeowners can't legally use
them.

"They're trying to sell these chemicals to homeowners with the pitch that if it's diluted enough,
it's safe around the house," Schroder said. "Or (consumers are told) they can buy ag chemicals in
bulk and save money. Either way, it's an illegal use of the chemical."

Schroder said farm chemicals are formulated differently from those mixed for home use.

"Even though the active ingredient may be the same in both products," she said, "the concentrations are different, and the products are designed for different uses."

MacDonald said the main problem is that you can't see the label on a pesticide container sold over
the telephone. The label tells the buyer how to legally use the product, he said.

"We've had one case of a company selling a herbicide to kill the weeds in pecan orchards," he
said. "The seller promised it would kill weeds for four years. The problem was that the product
would kill the pecan trees, too."

Most often, the sellers exaggerate the pesticide's benefit or sell it for a use for which it is no
longer labeled. But without seeing the label, the buyer can't know the product's real use.

The label tells the buyer many important things: the chemical's legal use, how to dilute it for use
on different plants or crops, proper safety precautions, remedies for accidents with it and how to
contact the manufacturer with questions.

Schroder said it's a must to have a label on every product. "Without a label affixed to a pesticide
container, the product is considered illegal," she said. "And it's very unsafe."

Without a label, you can forget what chemical is in the container and how to treat any physical
injury the chemical could cause.

MacDonald suggests a few things to do to protect yourself from pushy telephone sales.

•   Ask for more information. Get a copy of the product label to read for yourself its uses and limitations.
•   Ask for the name of the active ingredient in the product. Call your county extension office to learn the appropriate use of that product.
•   Get the name and address of the selling company and the name of the salesperson. Use this information to find out the company's reputation from the Better Business Bureau.

Schroder said you can try to return it to the seller. But often the telemarketing firm has
disappeared, leaving its customers high and dry.

But that poses another problem: What do you do with unusable chemicals on the farm or in the
home? Your county extension office can tell you how to safely dispose of illegal chemicals. Or they
can help find someone who can legally use them.

MacDonald said sending an account of your bad experience to the local Better Business Bureau
can help others avoid the same situation.

Most often the telemarketers' deal sounds too good to be true and probably is. MacDonald said
the safest way to buy pesticides is to buy from someone you know and trust. "Otherwise," he said,
"it's definitely 'let the buyer beware.'"