SODIUM FLUOROACETATE

Sodium fluoroacetate is the salt of a naturally occurring toxin which is found in Australia, Brazil, and Africa. Naturally occurring fluoroacetate can be found in Gastrolobium minus (family: Fabaceae), a flowering plant in Western Australia and often referred to as the ‘poison pea.’ Descriptions of the fluoroacetate activity may have been described as early at 1904 in Sierra Leone, when colonists used extracts of Chailletia toxicaria to poison rats. The actions of fluoroacetate have also been described in animals having ingested the poison leaf Gifblaar (Dichapetalum cymosum). Sodium fluoroacetate was then developed as a rodenticide and predacide in 1942 in the United States and went under the synonym of 1080, which is its catalog number. In the late 1970s, the use of sodium fluoroacetate was significantly restricted in the United States due to its high acute toxicity and the need for specialized training for application. Additional restrictions were also imposed as to the locations that the agent could be used and under very defined conditions. A ‘toxic collar’ was developed which contains a very small amount of sodium fluoroacetate (0.3 mg per collar). This collar could be placed around the throats of livestock and would contain chemical pouches that would be ruptured when the animal was attacked by a predator thus restricting the poison only to the predator. The toxicity in certain predators (dogs, wolves, coyotes) is up to 20-fold higher than in humans. Amphibians and other reptiles have been shown to be relatively resistant to sodium fluoroacetate and can feed on insects and other animals which have high levels of sodium fluoroacetate present with no ill-effects. In the late 1980s, all use of sodium fluoroacetate as a rodenticide was discontinued. The availability of products containing sodium fluoroacetate is permitted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the regulatory conclusion of the EPA is that these products will not pose unreasonable risks or adverse effects if the products are used following the restriction on the product labeling.