24
May
(Beyond Pesticides, May 23, 2023) Scientists have developed a nontoxic method to deter rodents from feeding on freshly planted seeds, publishing the approach in the journal Nature Sustainability this month. The new tactic, which confuses mice through olfactory misinformation, has the potential to significantly reduce the use of hazardous rodenticides in farming operations. The approach comes at a time of increased scrutiny around rat poisons, specifically second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides (SGARs), which can result in the secondary poisoning of predators that eat poisoned rodents. Researchers set out with the intent of finding a safe alternative to rodenticides that can effectively reduce pest damage without the need for hazardous interventions. “A simpler approach to pest damage is to manipulate decisions making by problem animals and disrupt their ability to find at-risk foods,†the study indicates. Contrary to the promises of the pesticide industry that its products are ‘silver bullets’ for pest management, the authors propose weaponizing misinformation over brute force by fooling mice into thinking their sought-out food source is not there. Mice and other rodent foragers most often rely on scent and odor to determine where food is located. In the context of this study, farmers plant wheat seeds along rows, […]
Posted in Agriculture, Mice, Rodenticide, Rodents, Uncategorized | No Comments »
09
Jan
(Beyond Pesticides, January 9, 2013) Boston health officials say new city data indicate that asthma incidences have dropped nearly by half since 2005. This is attributed to Boston Housing Authority (BHA) and Boston Public Health Commission implementation of an integrated pest management  (IPM)  program in low-income housing to reduce the number of cockroaches and rodents, while reducing the use of pesticides, which, along with cockroach and rodent droppings, can aggravate asthma symptoms. The data, covering 2006 through 2010, show the rate of adults who reported having asthma symptoms in the authority’s units dropped from 23.6 percent in 2006 to 13 percent in 2010, the latest year available. At the same time, asthma rates in other low-income housing in Boston, not run by BHA, remained relatively unchanged. Public health analysts studied data from a biennial telephone survey of Boston adults between 2006 and 2010. The survey asks residents a wide range of questions, and analysts compared the answers from roughly 300 housing authority residents to others not living in city-run housing. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, health authorities found extremely high infestations of roaches and rodents in BHA buildings, and equally concerning, housing leaders were seeing desperate residents resorting […]
Posted in Children/Schools, Cockroaches, Integrated and Organic Pest Management, Massachusetts, Mice, Rodents | No Comments »
09
Aug
(Beyond Pesticides, August 9, 2012) On Monday, Beyond Pesticides joined with 23 public health and environmental advocacy groups to send a letter to the U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), urging it to follow through with its original plan to cancel the sale of most toxic rat poisons to residential consumers. In 2008, after over a decade of these products being on the market and widely available to consumers, EPA gave manufactures three years to comply with new risk mitigation requirements for rat poisons. However, the companies Reckitt Benckiser, Liphatech, and Spectrum Brands, producers of d-Con, Rid-a-Rat, and Hot Shot each decided to flout EPA requirements and ignore compliance with the regulations. The letter urges EPA to follow through with its â€ËœNotice of Intent to Cancel’. It also instructs the agency to issue an order for emergency suspension of these products under FIFRA section 6(c), based on evidence of imminent hazard to human health and to wildlife. While the cancellation of these products will better safeguard the health of children, pets, and wildlife, EPA’s risk mitigation requirements do not go far enough to ensure protections for vulnerable populations. Children are particularly at risk for exposure because young children sometimes put bait […]
Posted in Brodificoum, Corporations, Mice, Pesticide Regulation, Rodenticide, Rodents | 1 Comment »
16
May
(Beyond Pesticides, May 16, 2011) The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is looking into “carpet-bombing†with pesticides (or a large aerial bombing) the Farallon Islands, off the coast of San Francisco, in an effort to eradicate the invasive house mouse that is encroaching on the survival of an endangered seabird. The problem is that this approach will also kill many other species in and around the Islands, including birds, reptiles and crustaceans. FWS announced April 26, 2011 that the agency is preparing a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for the islands located off the coast of San Francisco, California. The aim of the project is to “protect and restore the ecosystem.†The agency is accepting public comments, suggestions and other input on or before May 27, 2011. “These are man-made problems,” Maggie Sergio, director of advocacy for the nonprofit organization WildCare, told the San Francisco Gate. “Is the aerial dumping of tons of poison over a pristine wilderness area really the answer? We don’t think so.” WildCare, a Marin County animal rehabilitation center that has been around for 50 years, has been working to stop the spray. The organization sent around a petition and has so far collected over […]
Posted in Brodificoum, California, Invasive Species, Mice, Take Action | No Comments »
