BY CAMILLA MORTENSEN
Predator Poison
DeFazio plans to ban deadly toxins
I
t’s been called “one of the most danger-
ous [toxins] known to man,” and it was
banned in 1972 after it killed 13 people.
Compound 1080 (sodium monofluoroac-
etate) is a colorless, odorless, tasteless poison
that has no antidote and its use was reintro-
duced in the U.S. in the early 1980s to kill
predators. Since then it has also killed pet
dogs and turned up in former dictator
Saddam Hussein’s chemical laboratories in
Iraq.
Congressman Peter DeFazio is seeking
cosponsors for a bill, the “Compound 1080
and M-44 Elimination Bill,” that would ban
its use and possession as well as the use of
highly toxic M-44 sodium cyanide devices.
This isn’t the first time DeFazio has pro-
duced legislation to ban Compound 1080. He
asked the Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) to halt production of Compound 1080
in 2004 and then took the issue to the
Department of Homeland Security. He intro-
duced a bill, HR 4567, banning 1080 last year
after the substance was found in Iraq. The bill
was referred to the Subcommittee on Crime,
Terrorism, and Homeland Security, but never
picked up any cosponsors in the House. This
latest legislation, which does not yet have a
bill number, would ban both Compound 1080
and M-44 devices. It would make it not only
illegal to use the substances but to possess
them as well.
Compound 1080 was first developed as a
rat poison in Nazi Germany, according to
Brooks Fahy of Eugene’s Predator Defense.
Fahy has been working to end the use of
Compound 1080 since before its use was
reintroduced in the Reagan era. It is so toxic
that “one teaspoon can kill up to 100 human
adults,” says a letter from DeFazio to his con-
gressional colleagues seeking cosponsors for
the bill.
with 1080; when a predator such as a coyote
goes to kill the animal, it instead ingests the
toxin when it bites down, and it later dies.
The bladders can also be burst by barbed wire
or other sharp objects. Each collar contains
enough poison to kill five people, says
DeFazio’s letter.
“I have nightmares about this stuff,” says
Fahy, who says it can take hours or days for
an affected animal to die. Compound 1080
causes vomiting, convulsions and collapse.
Heart failure is usually the cause of death. It
is so potent, according to Fahy, that animals
eating tainted carcasses — even months after
‘This isn’t
just a wildlife
issue, it’s
a national
security
issue.’
— B ROOKS F AHY ,
P REDATOR D EFENSE
The chemical is produced in only one
place, Tull Chemical Co. in Alabama, and it is
used legally by only one group in the U.S. —
the USDA Animal Plant Health Inspection
Service (APHIS) Wildlife Services. It is used
in something called a “livestock protection
collar.” This device is placed around the neck
of a sheep and has two rubber bladders filled
that poisoned animal has died — can die of
secondary poisoning.
After the substance’s reintroduction,
Predator Defense successfully campaigned to
have Compound 1080’s use banned in
Oregon in 1998. However there has been evi-
dence that the substance has been used ille-
gally to kill federally protected wolves, ea-
gles and other predators as well as domestic
pets across the West, says Fahy.
M-44 devices, which would also be
banned under the bill, have also killed pets
and endangered species. They consist of a
spring-loaded ejector wrapped in an ab-
sorbent material coated with a goo that at-
tracts coyotes and dogs. When an animal
pulls on the material, the device sprays
sodium cyanide granules with enough force
to send the poison five feet into the air.
Some 12,000 to 15,000 coyotes are killed
each year by M-44s, says Fahy, along with
hundreds of dogs. In one incident in Jan.
2000, Buddy, an Estacada family’s dog, was
killed by one of seven M-44s planted on a
suburban Christmas tree farm. The devices
were planted by Wildlife Services in response
to complaints of coyotes in the area.
Unlike Compound 1080, sodium cyanide
does have an antidote — amyl nitrate — but it
is only effective if administered immediately.
According to the USDA APHIS website, an
M-44 kills within 10 seconds to two minutes.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC)
lists both sodium cyanide and Compound
1080 as chemical agents in its section on
chemical emergencies. Scientists have specu-
lated that Compound 1080, because it is
odorless and tasteless, could be mixed in with
water supplies in a terrorist attack. “It’s been
called a great tool for assassination,” says
Fahy, because “it’s difficult to find in the
body.”
“This isn’t just a wildlife issue,” says
Fahy, “it’s a national security issue.” ew
NOVEMBER 15, 2007 13