The earliest seed dressings were of organo-mercurials used to control pests such as oat smut and bunt of wheat.
[7] One seed pesticide, imidacloprid, from the neonicotinoid family of insecticides, is controversial and was banned in France for use on maize, due to that government's belief that the chemical was implicated in recent dramatic drops in bee counts, and possibly in Colony Collapse Disorder.
[8] Dust from treated seed is known to have caused at least some health and safety problems particularly from crops such as maize drilled during the main honey flows.
[10] Water-absorbing polymers may be added around seeds to help with absorbing water dry conditions, or to delay the germination until drought has passed.
[1] Seed coating may contain a dose of fertilizer, typically of plant micronutrients, but also occasionally containing slow-release macronutrients.