TheBigGuy
Well-Known Member
Rotenone is a natural plant toxin used for centuries by indigenous peoples of
Southeast Asia and South America for the harvesting of fish for human con-
sumption. It has been used as a commercial insecticide for more than 150 years and
for the management of fish populations since the 1930s. Fisheries management
uses include eradication of pest fishes, quantifying populations, food web manipu-
lation, controlling fish diseases, and restoring water bodies for threatened species.
Rotenone is considered one of the most environmentally benign toxicants available
for fisheries management. Fish are acutely sensitive to rotenone poisoning, quickly
absorbing the toxin across the gill surface and dying within hours at concentrations
below 1 ppm, although individual species sensitivities vary widely. Aquatic inverte-
brates are generally less sensitive than fish, but it will cause significant collateral
loss of invertebrate fauna, although invertebrate populations quickly recover.
Humans and wildlife are comparatively insensitive to rotenone, which provides a
large safety margin between concentrations required to kill fish and those that may
prove harmful to non-target, non-aquatic organisms. Rotenone can be applied to
standing or flowing waters as a generally dispersed toxicant, either in liquid or
powdered form, or as formulated baits to target nuisance species. Rotenone is
chemically unstable and breaks down rapidly in the environment, yielding water-
soluble non-toxic products. It is readily metabolised to non-toxic excretable
substances in the bodies of vertebrates receiving a sub-lethal dose. Rotenone is not
considered to be carcinogenic. Recent experimental findings linking it to
Parkinsonian effects seem unlikely to occur under normal uses. Cost and availability
limit the use of rotenone to relatively small water bodies.
Rotenone is non-persistent in the environment, being
quickly broken down by light and heat. It does not accumulate in animals and is
readily metabolised and excreted.
Recent research interest in rotenone stems mainly from
biochemical interest in its highly specific action in selectively inhibiting
mitochondrial activity and its possible anticancer properties.
Read the full text, and judge it's dangers for yourself. It is not the same as agricultural workers being exposed regularly for years (as with unprotected pesticide use).
http://www.doc.govt.nz/documents/science-and-technical/SFC211.pdf
Southeast Asia and South America for the harvesting of fish for human con-
sumption. It has been used as a commercial insecticide for more than 150 years and
for the management of fish populations since the 1930s. Fisheries management
uses include eradication of pest fishes, quantifying populations, food web manipu-
lation, controlling fish diseases, and restoring water bodies for threatened species.
Rotenone is considered one of the most environmentally benign toxicants available
for fisheries management. Fish are acutely sensitive to rotenone poisoning, quickly
absorbing the toxin across the gill surface and dying within hours at concentrations
below 1 ppm, although individual species sensitivities vary widely. Aquatic inverte-
brates are generally less sensitive than fish, but it will cause significant collateral
loss of invertebrate fauna, although invertebrate populations quickly recover.
Humans and wildlife are comparatively insensitive to rotenone, which provides a
large safety margin between concentrations required to kill fish and those that may
prove harmful to non-target, non-aquatic organisms. Rotenone can be applied to
standing or flowing waters as a generally dispersed toxicant, either in liquid or
powdered form, or as formulated baits to target nuisance species. Rotenone is
chemically unstable and breaks down rapidly in the environment, yielding water-
soluble non-toxic products. It is readily metabolised to non-toxic excretable
substances in the bodies of vertebrates receiving a sub-lethal dose. Rotenone is not
considered to be carcinogenic. Recent experimental findings linking it to
Parkinsonian effects seem unlikely to occur under normal uses. Cost and availability
limit the use of rotenone to relatively small water bodies.
Rotenone is non-persistent in the environment, being
quickly broken down by light and heat. It does not accumulate in animals and is
readily metabolised and excreted.
Recent research interest in rotenone stems mainly from
biochemical interest in its highly specific action in selectively inhibiting
mitochondrial activity and its possible anticancer properties.
Read the full text, and judge it's dangers for yourself. It is not the same as agricultural workers being exposed regularly for years (as with unprotected pesticide use).
http://www.doc.govt.nz/documents/science-and-technical/SFC211.pdf
