From the Latin herba, herb, and caedo, to kill.

Chemicals used to selectively or completely kill unwanted plants. Many herbicides are a source of water body pollution and have toxic effects on hydrobionts. Herbicides can cause direct death of aquatic animals or lead to an increase in biochemical oxygen consumption due to the destruction of primary oxygen producers, thereby causing oxygen deficiency and subsequent freezing. Herbicides of general and selective action are distinguished, and their mechanism of action may differ. The most common synthetic herbicides are simazine and diuron.