informant38
.

-
...But of these sophisms and elenchs of merchandise I skill not...
Milton, Areopagitica

Except he had found the
standing sea-rock that even this last
Temptation breaks on; quieter than death but lovelier; peace
that quiets the desire even of praising it.

Jeffers, Meditation On Saviors


-

31.7.06

Carbofuran is the most popular granular insecticide in worldwide
-
"The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says it poses an unreasonable hazard to birds, and biologists have stated:
"There are no known circumstances under which carbofuran can be used without killing birds."
Nonetheless, on June 19, the Environmental Protection Agency lifted its ban on carbofuran, without consulting either the Fish and Wildlife Service or the public."
family farmer
-
Yountville, California, 1990. Carcasses of one acorn woodpecker, one bushtit, one white-breasted nuthatch, one western bluebird, one American robin, one cedar waxwing, four hermit thrushes, seven yellow-rumped warblers, one chipping sparrow, one white-crowned sparrow, eleven dark-eyed juncos, nine house sparrows, three house finches, and six lesser goldfinches were reported following drip irrigation of a vineyard with a 6 lb/acre usage rate of flowable carbofuran*.
In 1991, a Virginia state monitoring project documented wildlife mortalities in 10 of 11 farm sites where carbofuran was in use. Following this monitoring effort, the state of Virginia banned all granular formulation of carbofuran for sale or use in the Commonwealth. Canada has also banned the use of granular carbofuran in 1998.
Hundreds of bald eagle deaths have been linked to carbofuran. Eastern bluebirds, Northern pintails, American robins, owls, swallows, grackles, killdeer and kestrels: more than one hundred bird species have been documented as having died from carbofuran poisoning. The number of birds involved in any single incident ranges up to 2,450. Carbofuran has also killed mammals and fish. US Fish and Wildlife biologists have stated,
"there are no known circumstances under which carbofuran can be used without killing birds."
American Bird Conservancy
-
Infringement upon the right to use "Carbofuran" trademark by Shanghai Agricultural Production Means Co. has been handled by the department of industry and commerce in the municipality.
The survey conducted has proved that the company has illegally marketed "Carbofuran" insecticide in a big way.
The sales amount exceeds 2,000 tons with a revenue of more than 8.4 million yuan RMB.
-
On July 31 at 4 a.m., a cotton field was sprayed aerially with a solution containing as active ingredients 0.26% carbofuran (n-methyl carbamate), 0.05% abamectin (macrolytic lactone), and 0.05% mepiquat chloride (growth regulator).
Although carbofuran, when used on cotton, has a restricted entry interval (REI) of 48 hours and requires both posting of treated fields and oral notification of workers, neither warning was provided. At 6 a.m., the 34 workers (age range: 13-64 years; median: 31 years) entered the field to complete weeding begun the previous day.
After weeding for approximately 4 hours, the workers were transported to a second field 2-1/2 miles away that had been sprayed 2 days earlier with a solution containing cyfluthrin (synthetic pyrethroid), diclofol (organochlorine), and mepiquat chloride. The REI for these pesticides is 12 hours. Within approximately 1/2 hour of entering the second field, the workers began feeling ill and stopped working.
CDC
-
the wikipedia entry for carbofuran, while factually accurate, is excessively neutral, and gives the false impression that the damage is mostly in the past and under control, without ever, technically, having said that.
"Carbofuran is also known to be highly toxic to birds. In its granular form, a single grain will kill a bird. Birds often eat numerous grains of the pesticide, mistaking them for seeds, and then die shortly thereafter. Before it was banned, granular carbofuran was blamed for millions of bird deaths per year.
*The liquid version of the pesticide is less hazardous to birds since they are not as likely to ingest it directly, but it is still very hazardous.
Carbofuran usage has increased in recent years because it is one of the few insecticides effective on soybean aphids, which have expanded their range since 2002 to include most soybean-growing regions of the U.S."

Blog Archive