Pests live where they are not wanted or cause harm to crops, people or animals. Pesticides can help get rid of them. Pesticides can protect your health by killing germs, animals or plants that could hurt you. However, most pesticides can be harmful to people or pets The word pesticide is a broad term that refers to any device, method, or chemical that kills plants or animals that compete for humanity's food supply or are otherwise undesirable. Pesticides include insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, nematocides and rodenticides. Pesticides are by their very nature toxic substances hence, a great deal of concern has centered on safety. The laws dealing with pesticide safety are very strict and will become even stricter in the future. Besides legal restrictions, pesticides are also subject to stringent quality control standards like any other manufactured product. Most large pesticide manufacturers have highly developed quality control laboratories that test each pesticide for potency, particle size and suspension. If the company makes more than one pesticide, the product's identity must also be verified.