Osmose is an example of which type of pesticide applicator?

• A. Private
• B. Research
• C. Commercial
• D. Government

Answer: (C)

The concept here is who is performing pesticide applications for a fee or for clients. A commercial applicator is a business that applies pesticides for customers and charges for the service, not just on its own land. Osmose fits this role because it provides pest control or wood-treatment services to clients and performs pesticide applications as part of a service they bill for. They’re not applying pesticides only to their own crops or land (that would be a private applicator), nor are they government employees, nor primarily researchers conducting experiments. So they are best described as a commercial applicator.