138 people poisoned in Kenya - could it be carbofuran?
Category: carbofuran | Date: May 05 2008 | By: admin
I‘ve been shocked at the response from our government and private agencies about the carbofuran allegations. We are apparently a nation in total denial.
I’ve just seen this on Nat Geo in which Nicholas Wadhams relates his interview with FMC and - I quote …
“Philadelphia-based FMC Corporation, the maker of carbofuran, denies WildlifeDirect’s claims of inappropriate use, adding that the company cannot be held responsible.
The Kenyan distributor of Furadan, Juanco SPS, also denies that carbofuran caused the hippo deaths in Masai Mara.
“Those claims are completely unjustified, and we have our own data to support that,” said Julius Gatembo, head of horticulture at Juanco.
“What they say about the hippos is just impossible. You’d probably require that hippo to eat about 300 to 500 [kilograms] [661 to 1,102 pounds] of Furadan at once to die from it.
“That’s just impossible.”
FMC argued in 2006 that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency had “exaggerated the risks of carbofuran and underestimated its unique benefits to agriculture.”
The company added that carbofuran “does not pose an unreasonable risk” if handled correctly”.
Can you believe this? How can FMC, the makers of the chemical, disown responsibility for any negative effects? Is this highly irresponsible or am I imagining things?
Many are wondering why we aren’t seeing reports of human poisoning by carbofuran if it’s accumulating in vegetables. Interestingly I found this article about the hospitalization of 132 people in eastern Kenya due to poisoning after eating sick animals on News 24 and on The Times
Reuters write: ” NAIROBI - Some 132 villagers in eastern Kenyan have been treated in hospitals for food poisoning linked to eating meat from sick animals, a health official said.
Scores of people flocked to hospitals in eastern Kenya’s Nyambene district complaining of “vomiting, diarrhoea, general abdominal pains and body weakness,” local health official Michael Kariuki told state-run Kenya News Agency”.
I wonder if this could this be a case of carbofuran poisoning? I’m going to write to the Pest Control Products Board immediately to investigate. After all it is the planting season and it’s likely that livestock and wildlife are getting exposed to the chemical on farms.
Paralysed lion video
Category: Masai Mara, carbofuran, lions | Date: Apr 29 2008 | By: admin
Greetings everyone, this is the first post of a multi authored STOP WILDLIFE POISONING blog.
Our meeting last week in Nairobi revealed the shocking damage that carbofurans are having on Kenya’s wildlife and led to a press release on Monday by Richard Leakey that has already attracted much local and international interest by the Daily Telegraph here, Reuters here FM radio here and in India here. The story has been picked up on several blogs like Not Honey here and Ethics and Animals here as well as here and Yubanet here. We expect the story to continue to generate interest.
This video taken by a vet Asuka shows the debilitating effect of secondary poisoning on a lion after it ate a hippopotamus that had died of carbofuran poisoning in the famous Masai Mara game reserve.
This incident raises grave concern about the toxic levels of pesticides that are entering into an otherwise pristine ecosystem, this could have been due to inappropriate use locally, or even possibly from agricultural areas may kilometers away. Either way, it shows just how dangerous this chemical is in Kenya.
We are looking for a good name for our campaign - In the USA there is a group called the Poison Action Network North America (PANNA), in UK there is the Campaign Against Illegal Poisoning of Wildlife (CAIP).
Sadly, the poisoning of wildlife is not unique to Kenya and big cats, but is also a problem across the sea - conservationists in the USA are raising awareness about the attempts by the city authorities in Philadelphia to rid parks of rats has wiped out squirrels. Humans are notoriously good at creating more problems than they solve.
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