Toxic Chemicals are all around and all round
Category: Uncategorized | Date: Aug 24 2008 | By: Martin
Hi all,
We are now struggling with pushing on with the implimentation of the outcomes of the just convened meeting of the Stop Wildlife Poisoning Task Force at Wildlife Direct, Nairobi, Kenya . We still hope Richard Leakey’s call for ban of carbofuran will yield a reasonable response from the government. Meanwhile we are trying to make headways with a review of all that concerns carbofuran which is essentially our mission. Hopefully, we will garner enough of more of the necessary evidence (of course in addition to what we already have) against carbofuran to get everybody’s attention and only justifiably lay to rest the chemical that clearly is dangerously outliving its time. I say enough of more necessary evidence because we hope it will not be deemed insufficient. I just do not know when the evidence will be sufficient to the local and international custodians of this chemical and many others. What it means is that the chemical continues to act out there both in its good ways (limited since even proper use is harmful; EPA will agree with me) and limitless lethal toxic ways. I hope when the information is enough, our wildlife populations will still stand at handsome figures though. I hope this will not be when almost, if not every organism, including humans, when tested they will positively have carbofuran in their systems (A sad case for Alaska where pollutants are just in almost every living thing which is what I have stumbled on, thinking that I would read something far from toxic chemicals).
The wild supply and haphazard distribution of the pesticide Carbofuran will therefore continue facilitating poisoning of wildlife, birds, fish and who knows even of human poisoning whose facts lie locked in the confines of lack of data and documentation. Such is the desperate need of heed at which we stand.
After ‘a break’ from head aching matters of carbofuran, today I ventured into the current affairs of the fate of our planet and read of the goings on in the U.S.
Based on a conference held in July 17-20 the15th Protecting Mother Earth conference - organized by Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN) where there were more than 600 attendants, mostly from indigenous nations of the United States and Canada, but also from as far as Peru, Bolivia, Mexico, and Europe Came together. Generally, they talked of global problems, challenges and solutions. They discussed energy and climate change as it affects indigenous peoples. Stories were told of health damage and ecological destruction brought about by oil refineries, coal power plants, gold mining, and nuclear military activity.
I think the whole issue of energy and climate change just infers global warming. Indeed this is documented of the conference of Minnesota’s new proposed 1600-mile oil pipeline extension which opponents say would contribute significantly to global warming for the way oil is extracted from the tar sands, which is extremely energy intensive. Tar sand oil extraction requires stripping all the trees and vegetation, scooping up and steaming the sands. Potential oil spills on Minnesota’s wetlands is also a concern. IEN states that very few of these projects are assessed for their social and cultural costs or their cumulative environmental and health impacts, which would cause fragmentation of the boreal forest, disruption to indigenous cultural life-ways and production of greenhouse gases.
Here we go again, global warming directly linked to a toxin-highly acknowledged energetic fluid-oil- which will intoxicate wildlife, fish, birds and humans during its extraction, distribution and use for man’s energy requirements.
Shawna Larson, Ahtna Athabascan and Supiaq, Aleut/Eskimo from Alaska, working with the Alaska Community Action on Toxics said that heavy metals and highly toxic persistent organic pollutants, such as DDT, PCBs, and dioxins, some already banned and rarely used in the Arctic are found in very high levels in native people and wildlife in Alaska. These pollutants used somewhere else are transported by wind, water currents and migratory species and concentrate in large quantities in the Artic. Alaskan indigenous people according to their cultural traditions feed on local fish and wildlife, which are considered to be the most contaminated in the world.
At this point, I think we should refresh our minds on the contaminants of Alaska.
For the whole story, read Talking about the future of Mother Earth.
Tags: Alaska, Canada, carbofuran, DDT, EPA, global warming, Indigenous Environmental Network, Kenya, PCB, Protecting Mother Earth, Richard Leakey, Stop Wildlife Poisoning Task Force, United States, Widlife Direct
Funds for surveys for carbofuran intoxication amongst humans
Category: Pesticides, carbofuran | Date: Jul 07 2008 | By: Martin
Hi, I am back from field. No poisoning encounters during my short trip to Machakos in eastern Kenya. I am yet to get down to Mwea. Only through a phone call yesterday, I was briefed by a friend that carbofuran poisoning is on as always. ‘The people of Mwea cannot resist the ducks’, my informant jocked!
As part of Wildlife Direct’s campaign against carbofuran, we wish to come up with supportive statistics of human cases of intoxication by carbofuran so that we try to win Kenya’s Ministry of Public Health’s support in the campaign against carbofuran.
Two sites have been identified so far where humans are eating birds killed through carbofuran poisoning. These are Mwea and Bunyala irrigation schemes in Eastern and Western provinces of Kenya respectively. There are allegations by laymen from Mwea that when you feed on the carbofuran-poisoned ducks, you feel a sensation described only as ‘weak knees’ after the meal, which clears up shortly after (nervous disfunctioning?). They add that continued regular feeding on the poisoned birds eventually kills the people who fancy the poisoned birds’ meat. $ 600 is required to get someone to these two sites to:
1. Interview the people who subsist on the poisoned birds and,
2. To obtain human neurotoxication (relating to nervous disfunctioning which might suggest effects of carbofuran) data from nearby health centres and,
3. Gather similar data from health centres whose surrounding population is not exposed to carbofuran-poisoned wildlife for their subsistence for comparison with data in where individuals are eating carbofuran-poisoned birds.
The more the evidence we gather against carbofuran, the bigger our alliance becomes. This then accredits more the appeal by Dr. Richard Leakey to barn carbofuran in Kenya and increases the chances of this conservation appeal being heeded.
Tags: carbofuran, poisoning, Richard Leakey, Wildlife Direct
Richard Leakey writes an appeal for carbofuran ban to the ministry of wildlife
Category: Uncategorized | Date: Jul 02 2008 | By: Martin
This comes in the wake of the outrageous poisoning of wildlife in Kenya by the deadly toxic carbofuran pesticide. Richard Leakey, the chairman of Wildlife Direct has sent a letter appealing for the ban of furadan supply and use in Kenya to the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife in Kenya. Other ministries as well as a number of other stakeholders. concerned and/or directly or indirectly affected by the chemical’s poisoning have also been sent for the apppeal documents. You may also petition for this action through your comments here at our blog.
Tags: carbofuran, Kenya, Richard Leakey, Wildlife Direct
Lion poisoning story on BBC today!
Category: Uncategorized | Date: Jun 18 2008 | By: Martin
We have just been informed that the carbofuran poisoning story by BBC’s Adam Mynot has just aired on BBC World
It is also all over the BBC website
In his investigative report covering the lion poisonings in Masai Mara on BBC website (BBC Tv and BBC radio)Adam notes that he went to buy Furadan and in one place
“one shop-keeper even described carbofuran as a “lion-killer”.
Isn’t it Amazing that FMC and Juanco still insist that this pesticide is harmless!
Thanks you BBC for giving the story this kind of coverage
If anyone sees the footage please let us know how it is!
We are so pleased to have Martin Odino working with us now to help develop the Action plan Stop Poisoning Wildlife Action
Tags: BBC, Kenya, lion poisoning, Masai Mara, Richard Leakey, Wildlifedirect
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