wrote:
somehow I deleted the message I wanted to respond to. Malathion is used to control
mosquitoes. The regional department of natural resources hydrologist (who I had
worked with on other issues to the public health) asked for my recommendation for
controlling mosquitoes due to the spread of West Nile Virus. I told her to go the NON
CHEMICAL route and use Bt israeli since a microbe will mutate close to the rate the
mosquitoes will mutate to resistance.
I am not an advocate of any kind of wide spread pesticide use. I actively advocate
and lecture against most GMO specifically against Bt corn and herbicide resistance in
crops. I DO advocate integrated pest management. In my own garden I use the least
noxious chemicals, in the least amount, limited only to the affected plants, and only
when absolutely necessary.
Pure Malathion is one of the least noxious chemicals when used correctly on land.
Contaminants and carriers are credited with much of the toxicity.
Ingrid

http://ipm.osu.edu/trans/121_121.htm
* Malathion is rapidly and effectively absorbed by practically all routes
including the gastrointestinal tract, skin, mucous membranes, and lungs. Malathion
undergoes similar detoxification mechanisms to other organophosphates, but it can
also be rendered nontoxic via another simple mechanism, splitting of either of the
carboxy ester linkages. Animal studies indicate it is very rapidly eliminated though
urine, feces and expired air with a reported half-life of approximately 8 hours in
rats and approximately 2 days in cows [2]. Autopsy samples from one individual who
had ingested large amounts of malathion showed a substantial portion in the stomach
and intestines, a small amount in fat tissue, and no detectable levels in the liver.
Malathion requires conversion to malaoxon to become an active anticholinesterase
agent. Most of the occupational evidence indicates a low chronic toxicity for
malathion. One important exception to this was traced to impurities in the
formulation of the pesticide [2].

Ecological Effects:

* Effects on birds: Malathion is moderately toxic to birds. The reported acute
oral LD50 values a in mallards, 1485 mg/kg; in pheasants, 167 mg/kg; in blackbirds
and starlings, over 100 mg/kg; and in chickens, 525 mg/kg [2,6]. The reported 5- to
8-day dietary LC50 is over 3000 ppm in Japanese quail, mallard, and northern
bobwhite, and is 2639 ppm in ring-neck pheasants [6]. Furthermore, 90% of the dose to
birds was metabolized and excreted in 24 hours via urine [79].
* Effects on aquatic organisms: Malathion has a wide range of toxicities in fish,
extending from very highly toxic in the walleye (96-hour LC50 of 0.06 mg/L) to highly
toxic in brown trout (0.1 mg/L) and the cutthroat trout (0.28 mg/L), moderately toxic
in fathead minnows (8.6 mg/L) and slightly toxic in goldfish (10.7 mg/L) [13,8,16].
Various aquatic invertebrates are extremely sensitive, with EC50 values from 1 ug/L
to 1 mg/L [28]. Malathion is highly toxic to aquatic invertebrates and to the aquatic
stages of amphibians. Because of its very short half-life, malathion is not expected
to bioconcentrate in aquatic organisms. However, brown shrimp showed an average
concentration of 869 and 959 times the ambient water concentration in two separate
samples [12].
* Effects on other organisms: The compound is highly toxic to honeybees [13].

Environmental Fate:

* Breakdown in soil and groundwater: Malathion is of low persistence in soil with
reported field half-lives of 1 to 25 days [19]. Degradation in soil is rapid and
related to the degree of soil binding [12]. Breakdown occurs by a combination of
biological degradation and nonbiological reaction with water [12]. If released to the
atmosphere, malathion will break down rapidly in sunlight, with a reported half-life
in air of about 1.5 days [12]. It is moderately bound to soils, and is soluble in
water, so it may pose a risk of groundwater or surface water contamination in
situations which may be less conducive to breakdown. The compound was detected in 12
of 3252 different groundwater sources in two different states, and in small
concentrations in several wells in California, with a highest concentration of 6.17
ug/L [33].
* Breakdown in water: In raw river water, the half-life is less than 1 week,
whereas malathion remained stable in distilled water for 3 weeks [12]. Applied at 1
to 6 lb/acre in log ponds for mosquito control, it was effective for 2.5 to 6 weeks
[12]. In sterile seawater, the degradation increases with increased salinity. The
breakdown products in water are mono- and dicarboxylic acids [12].
* Breakdown in vegetation: Residues were found mainly associated with areas of
high lipid content in the plant. Increased moisture content increased degradation
[33].
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/tp154-c2.pdf


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List at
http://weloveteaching.com/puregold/
sign up: http://groups.google.com/groups/dir?...s=Group+lookup
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I receive no compensation for running the Puregold list or Puregold website.
I do not run nor receive any money from the ads at the old Puregold site.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Zone 5 next to Lake Michigan


excellent info - thanx

Carl


--
to reply, change ( .not) to ( .net)