Thursday, February 25, 2010

1080 & HONEY

The following headline introduced a letter in the latest Organic NZ magazine:

1080 stops organic honey exports to USA

The author then tells his story.....

"I was audited in September 2009 by AsureQuality to make sure my honey
meets the standarts for the USDA National Organic Program ( NOP).

The standards are:

1/ All apiaries must be 3km from any farming operation, or forestry. The
area must be wild managed.

2/ No formic or oxalic acid is allowed for control of varroa.

3/ Sugar feeding is allowed (organically certiefied sugar)

I met all the above criteria. I told AsureQuality that both sites had been
subject to areal 1080 drops.
This then stopped me exporting honey to the USA using the USDA NOPs label.
So the message for banning 1080 must get international publicity.
No one can meet the NOP standart- AsureQuality or Bio Gro. " Ends.


This is an issue that was going to be raised in Poisoning Paradise, but it was culled because we weren't aware of any incidents affecting the industry directly.

1080 is highly toxic to insects, including bees. The late invertebrate specialist, Mike Meads (1938-2009), found that when a 1080 operation is undertaken, dust and particles (which are clearly visable in several scenes in Poisoning Paradise) are enough to kill invertebrates on the ground, weeks after the drop. Meads recommended, back in 1994, that long term studies should be done in regard to the effects of 1080 on inverebrates. When we interviewed him he said...."In 1994, when I did my study, I recommended long term studies should be done.....it's now 2008, have any studies been done?...not a one!"

On 3 occasions while filming PP, we came across behives that had had 1080 dropped directly onto them, or within a few hundred metres.

We filmed one episode in Thames, where the bait was dropped directly onto the live hives.
Another episode was in Oamaru. In that instant, we filmed 6 weeks after the drop, and there were piles of dead bees around the hives. This was around winter time. What killed the bees is unknown, as they were not tested.

Another incident was near St Arnaud, where 1080 pellets were dropped directly onto snow covered hives. This drop was undertaken straight after a fresh snow fall, and the baits were dropped directly into the snow. It probably equates to dropping directly into water, when you think about it.

There are many rural industries affected by the use of aerial poisoning operations, some we are probably not even aware of...yet. Taking these issues into account, surely the use of 1080 in a small country like New Zealand with an image to uphold, makes it a foolhardy practice!

71 comments:

  1. " In one US study to test 1080 in water - it was put into pure water, and 10 years later was as deadly as the day it was put in."

    can somebody reference this study please...i can't find it anywhere!

    ReplyDelete
  2. "what killed the bees in unknown as they were never tested for residues"

    um, did Meads actually test for 1080 dust contamination in his study to validate whether it was actually there to cause invertebrate effects? If his 'control' area become a 'treatment' halfway through the study due to the never-tested-for-but-claimed presence of 1080 it seems weird that the W-OKs didn't mention it.....

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  3. Watch Poisoning Paradise and find out! Why do you find it so hard to believe that a broad spectrum pesticide - insecticide kills wildlife and insects?

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  4. Excert from Bio-Grow:
    The USDA NOP doesn’t have a specific apiary standard, hence their livestock standard must be applied. This means that:
    1. Bees must be raised as organic from the second day of life.
    2. Bees are required to have 100% organic forage that is organically produced. This forage may include wild crop areas where plants
    are not maintained under cultivation or other agricultural management.
    3. It must be verified that the bees do not forage over areas that have been treated with prohibited substances within the previous
    three years. In line with other standards and in lieu of a specific NOP apiary standard, the area that must be verified is all land
    within a three km radius from the hives.
    4. Bees can not be fed or treated with any prohibited substances, and any supplementary feed must be NOP certified.
    5. All other conditions of production and handling must comply with the NOP requirements.
    6. Honey and bee products which are certified organic to other standards and market regulations, but not to the NOP, can not be
    labelled and sold in the US as 'organic'.
    We do not believe that it is possible to produce honey in New Zealand under the above requirements. It is unlikely that there are any
    apiary sites in New Zealand which have three km radius surrounding areas which have had no prohibited materials applied in the
    previous three years, even public conservation land will usually have had pesticides applied (such as herbicides for track maintenance)
    which are prohibited under the NOP. HENCE BoiGro CERTIFIED HONEY CANNOT BE EXPORTED TO THE US AS ORGANIC.

    ReplyDelete
  5. ..so this whole organic honey export America thing is just another Graff media blow-up?

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  6. yep...thats it... basically using fly spray within 3 k's of a hive will make you non-complying...which is why we can't export organic honey to the states.

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  7. So all New Zealand honey is unworthy of export to the states? Does that go for beef and milk as well? Perhaps NZ should look at its pesticide use?

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  8. ABSOLUTELY !! the first smart thing you've said for about nine months Clyde!

    Read 'Poisoning New Zealand' by Muriel Watts and get a reality check on poison in our food. If you eat food from the supermrkt thats soaked in chemicals you'll realise that we've got much bigger issues than the hunting lobby moaning about 1080 to worry about!!

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  9. Wroung BCT I'd rather eat an apple than water cress soaked with 1080.

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  10. "There are many rural industries affected by the use of aerial poisoning operations, some we are probably not even aware of...yet."

    No but given the usual Graff attitude to honesty and truth I bet you'll find a few ...eh Clyde?

    ReplyDelete
  11. Dr Shaun Ogilvie, Senior Lecturer in Wildlife Management  at Lincoln University and his team have studied the uptake and persistence of 1080 in watercress and puha; plants that are culturally important to Maori.
    Their research showed that there is a negligible risk of humans being poisoned from consuming either puha or watercress plant material that may have taken up 1080 from baits after an aerial 1080 operation.
    “To put it in practical terms,” said Dr Ogilvie, “at the maximum levels we found in watercress (in parts per billion) a 70 kg person would need to eat over two tonnes of the affected watercress at one sitting to have a 50% chance of dying from 1080 poisoning.  The puha results were even lower.”
    “In fact, the trace levels of 1080 found in the puha and watercress we studied were similar to those naturally occurring in common tea brands.”

    just more propaganda and smokescreen eh Clyde?

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  12. How much 1080 does it tske to affect an unborn child, how much 1080 does it take to affect the nervous system?

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  13. What do the manufactorers specifications say regarding cumulative exposure? Is there evidence of carcinogenic effect? What does the toxilogical information state on the manufactorers specs? What are the Chronic health effects stated on the specs? Does repeated exposure cause kidney disease and were Moari aware of these facts? What does the manufactorer state about ecotoxicity on birds and cold water fish? How high is the mobility of 1080 from soil to water to vegetation?
    Can you clarify these BCT?

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  14. A pine wood shipment has been stopped due to 1080 residues detected. There is a leading international pine forest organisation that does not allow 1080 to be used in its forests. At least 2 wild venison shippments have been stopped over the same issue, one just last year. 2 wild deer, out of the 300 odd that were tested randomly, had 1080 detected in them. Possum shipments to Japan were cancelled. Milk, milk powder and water have all been dumped due to 1080.
    You should watch Poisoning Paradise - there's several Doctors who suggest that the residues of 1080 detected in several water tests, are high enough to cause damage to the unborn child, if their mother ate a small portion of food containing minute doses of 1080. The levels detected in eels was much higher. That was only after feeding on possums, not deer, that fall into the streams, who would have much more poison in there guts.
    Sean Olgivie, the scientist you refer to, now works for ERMA!! Interesting!

    One last thing - Could you please refer to ONE study that shows 1080 is in tea???

    ReplyDelete
  15. "what is apparent is when you have no answer you ask the pro conservation people for it or for clarification when you can do that yourself....you see you have no argument your are losing and clutching at straws."

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  16. no doubt that 1080 can kill insects that are exposed to it. My question was about the Meads study, and whether the 1080 dust contamination (of the control plot) that he claimed had occurred was actually tested for to prove it was there. If it wasn't there that would seem an important consideration.

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  17. I have searched for a study, any study, that shows 1080 is in tea. I can't find one. Any help identifying the study would be much appreciated, as the Pro 1080 people tend to quote it alot. Thanks.

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  18. " Compound 1080 is a highly toxic chemical that will certainly kill humans if they
    are exposed to even minute amounts, but this is true of many substances. It is fairly clear from
    the literature the aerial 1080 in the concentrations in which it is usually applied does not
    constitute a major risk to humans from water contamination."

    Whiting OKeefe

    instead of lying around watching endless re-runs of your movie why don't you get out of bed and do the research ..even your own people admit 1080 doesn't constitute a risk from water contamination!!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Research that reports fluoroacetate in tea:

    Twigg et al 1996. Fluoroacetate content of some species of toxic Australian plants. Natural toxins 4: 122–127.

    Vartiainen & Kauranen 1984. The determination of traces of fluoroacetic acid by extraction alkylation, pentafluorobenzylation, and capillary gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Analytica Chimica Acta 157: 91-97.

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  20. Which one states that "Monoflouroacetate" is in tea? Thanks.

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  21. forgotten how to wipe your own ass Clyde?

    ReplyDelete
  22. " Compound 1080 is a highly toxic chemical that will certainly kill humans if they
    are exposed to even minute amounts, but this is true of many substances. It is fairly clear from
    the literature the aerial 1080 in the concentrations in which it is usually applied does not
    constitute a major risk to humans from water contamination."

    Whiting OKeefe

    ReplyDelete
  23. Okeefe must be right then! Oh well, let's keep dropping it! Screw what the other unfunded scientists say about the dangers. Hang on, what about the native wildlife that is being poisoned, sublethally, every 3 years?

    ReplyDelete
  24. same compound - there's quite a few different chemical names/terms that are used for it, as I suspect you are aware.

    hope you don't dismiss this research because the authors used a name you didn't like

    ReplyDelete
  25. I'm sorry, I can't ask Mr. Meads about his claims that dust was killing insects on the ground, months after a drop, he died in December. But the point is - it hasn't been researched at all, and it would seem like it should have got urgent attention. However, I think it is disturbing that because this man found that 1080 had a NEGATIVE effect on invertebrates, and he was determined to see that the use of 1080 was reduced and restricted, he was then ridiculed and harrassed out of his job. The thing is, he had nothing to gain by taking his stance. He was just being honest. After all, he was with the departments for 20 years, and was responsible for some great work. Clyde Graf.

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  26. BCT Please clarify why a 70kg Maori is not at risk from eating traditional vegetational foods from an area that has had aerial 1080 dropped,are they completely not at risk or just a bit not at risk, what does negelable mean? The manufacturer states that it is cumlative, carcinogenic and can cause kidney disease, did Dr Sean Oligivie's study cover this?

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  27. That's a good point, and one DoC use almost on a weekly basis. (I think it is used to try to soften the public into thinking that 1080 is safe). If someone does know of a study that shows 1080, Monoflouroacetate, is in tea, could you please let us know what the study is called? Thanks. Clyde Graf.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Thanks for the link. Because a "wikipedia" post says..."It is believed that the compound is even present in tea leaves in tiny amounts", doesn't mean it is so. (This is the same sort of research DoC support all the time - it is presumed, it is hoped, we think, we assume, it is expected...never the proof) The pro lobby, government servants, on a weekly basis, state that 1080 is in tea. If anyone out there works for DoC, or regional councils, please take this as a request during work hours, and see if you can present the study that shows Monoflouroacetate (1080, not some other similar chemical) is in tea. Much appreciated. Clyde Graf.

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  29. So what you're trying to avoid saying is that regular small exposures to monofluoroacetate are already occurring in people who drink tea?

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  30. No, but you're suggesting it is, like the other pro 1080 people do to try to convince the public that this pesticide is safe.
    We would just like to see the proof that the tea on the shelves at supermarkets has traces of 1080 in it. Thanks to anyone out there that can help. Clyde Graf.

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  31. not trying to convince anyone that it's safe.

    would you advise people that there's no traces of fluoroacetate in the tea on their supermarket shelves? curious to know as some of your main concerns appear to be sublethal effects

    ReplyDelete
  32. I think Sublethal exposure is just one of many issues relating to the dropping of large quantities of toxins into the environment. I don't live near the 1080 drops, but many people do. They have 1080 dropped into their water supply's. They don't want poison dropped into their water supply's, and nor should they have to accept it.

    Put another way, should the spring water that is exported from New Zealand state on their labels.."may contain traces of 1080"? Well, some would argue, they should. People are buying these products purely on their "pure" promotion. This is where the animal welfare comes into it. 1080 is inhumane, no question (as our latest 20 minute dvd clip demonstrates). If 1080 is being used to support industry, then it is perceived to be a factor in production of that produce. Another big part of the argument is perception, whether we think it's rational, or not. Clyde Graf.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Today somewhere in the order of 280 - 300 pesticide active ingredients are registered for use in New Zealand, directly for use in dairy and agriculture.

    2,4 -D
    2,4,5-T
    Captafol
    Roundup
    Paraquat
    DBCP
    Benlate
    Amitrole
    Captan
    Propoxur
    Atrazine
    Endosulfan
    Carbaryl
    Grazon
    Propham
    Fenitrothion
    Diphenylamine
    Lindane
    Malathion

    and on and on and on...

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  34. so what you're implying is that Clydes obsessive focus on 1080 to the exclusion of known pesticides and organo-chlorines that are poured onto the meat and vegetables in our supermarkets would suggest that he has a (not so hidden) agenda?

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  35. Freaky, isn't it! Everyone in ERMA should be sacked!
    Which ones are dropped from helicopters, as food, and kill 10's of thousands of animals and birds, every year, in an inhumane way? Clyde Graf.

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  36. it does seem that way
    anyone genuinely concerned with our collective health would be way up to speed with a whole range of much more pertinent issues than the use of a bio-degradable naturally occurring toxin being used over remote forest areas.

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  37. unless you were a hand-puppet in the pay of the hunting and pest meat industry?

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  38. hmmmm

    it does look that way

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  39. OK, but to ask again - would you advise people that there's no traces of (mono)fluoroacetate in the tea on their supermarket shelves?

    ReplyDelete
  40. And some of those have been in the news frequently because of their adverse affects on humans/nature. You should add Thalidomide to that list as well, causes severe birth defects and was administered to pregnant woman thought to be a safe sedative, DoC & AHB are treating 1080 much the same way lets hope we don't get the same lessons. Thalidomide is the worst medical targedy in history.

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  41. Thalidomide was never poured onto the fruit and vegetables and meat that you buy at the supermarket

    2,4 -D
    2,4,5-T
    Captafol
    Roundup
    Paraquat
    DBCP
    Benlate
    Amitrole
    Captan
    Propoxur
    Atrazine
    Endosulfan
    Carbaryl
    Grazon
    Propham
    Fenitrothion
    Diphenylamine
    Lindane
    Malathion

    makes your whinging about proof of 1080 naturally occuring in tea look rather pathetic eh Cldey boy?

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  42. They told us Thalidomide was safe, DoC, AHB, F&B tell us 1080 is safe just like salt N vinegar chips.

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  43. Thalidomide was never poured onto the fruit and vegetables and meat that you buy at the supermarket

    2,4 -D
    2,4,5-T
    Captafol
    Roundup
    Paraquat
    DBCP
    Benlate
    Amitrole
    Captan
    Propoxur
    Atrazine
    Endosulfan
    Carbaryl
    Grazon
    Propham
    Fenitrothion
    Diphenylamine
    Lindane
    Malathion

    makes your whinging about proof of 1080 naturally occuring in tea look rather pathetic eh Cldey boy?

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  44. I know Thalidomide was injected to pregnant ladies as a sedative, and what do you know BCT was born.
    How safe is 1080?

    ReplyDelete
  45. would you advise people that there's no traces of :
    2,4 -D
    2,4,5-T
    Captafol
    Roundup
    Paraquat
    DBCP
    Benlate
    Amitrole
    Captan
    Propoxur
    Atrazine
    Endosulfan
    Carbaryl
    Grazon
    Propham
    Fenitrothion
    Diphenylamine
    Lindane
    Malathion

    on their supermarket shelves? curious to know as some of your main concerns appear to be sublethal effects

    ReplyDelete
  46. It is unlikely that there are any
    apiary sites in New Zealand which have three km radius surrounding areas which have had no prohibited materials applied in the
    previous three years, even public conservation land will usually have had pesticides applied (such as herbicides for track maintenance)
    which are prohibited under the NOP. HENCE BoiGro CERTIFIED HONEY CANNOT BE EXPORTED TO THE US AS ORGANIC.

    ReplyDelete
  47. so the whole honey 1080 export thing was a Graff blow up?

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  48. "I know Thalidomide was injected to pregnant ladies as a sedative, and what do you know BCT was born."

    typical Clyde Graff humour,
    says it all really.....

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  49. It was not Clyde actually, it was me "PCE" (possumscaneat)

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  50. Clyde - fluoroacetate occurs at extremely low concentrations in tea leaves (Vartiainen and Kauranen,1984; Twigg et al. If you want I can try and track it down for you after the weekend.

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  51. 'pork and puha are still on the menu'

    www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU0910/S00387.htm

    ReplyDelete
  52. So is cancer & Kidney disease

    PCE

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  53. Thanks Ian, that'd be great! Clyde Graf.

    ReplyDelete
  54. would you advise people that there's no traces of :
    2,4 -D
    2,4,5-T
    Captafol
    Roundup
    Paraquat
    DBCP
    Benlate
    Amitrole
    Captan
    Propoxur
    Atrazine
    Endosulfan
    Carbaryl
    Grazon
    Propham
    Fenitrothion
    Diphenylamine
    Lindane
    Malathion

    on their supermarket shelves? curious to know as some of your main concerns appear to be sublethal effects

    ReplyDelete
  55. My main concern is the contamination of our environment, by those charged with protecting it. If there has been exports stopped because of those other herbicides you have mentioned, please let us know. Clyde Graf.

    ReplyDelete
  56. Very obviously the profits of your puppet masters are at the forefront of your concern..because export denial is no gauge of contamination of our environment ..our forests ...our children ...our Taonga.

    If you were genuinely passionate about Aotearoa and her cloak of ocean and land your focus would be greater than the export earnings of the venison and opossum pet meat industry.

    ReplyDelete
  57. " Compound 1080 is a highly toxic chemical that will certainly kill humans if they
    are exposed to even minute amounts, but this is true of many substances. It is fairly clear from
    the literature the aerial 1080 in the concentrations in which it is usually applied does not
    constitute a major risk to humans from water contamination."

    Whiting OKeefe


    Okeefe must be right then! what about the wildlife that is being poisoned, sublethally, every 3 years?
    Clyde Graf

    would that wildlife be rats, opossums and mustelids (stoats etc)?

    ReplyDelete
  58. BCT if you were genuinely concerned for NZ you would not advocate a super toxin to protect biodiversity, this is not about export earnings but how 1080 is adversly affecting our economy,our people and our native species in many ways. The most purist form of pest eradication is of course by hand....trapping. This has gone way past caring about profits, profits of pest eradication go to AHB, incorporated society spending $55m/year on what....chemicals synthesised to compound 1080 spread in, on and around everythning we treasure, no thats desecration of our land you don't even know the full effects of 1080 yet you support it and risk everyones health on it shame on you. If you really cared about your and my children you would advocate the natural way....no chemicals. You use some Maori words like you are one, very few indigenous people of this land advocate 1080 front up to any Marae and find out!

    ReplyDelete
  59. "this is not about export earnings but how 1080 is adversly affecting our economy"
    hmmm and whose economy is that Clydey-boy...hunters and pest meat producers?

    ReplyDelete
  60. "If you really cared about your and my children you would advocate the natural way....no chemicals."
    actually I do... there is no :
    2,4 -D
    2,4,5-T
    Captafol
    Roundup
    Paraquat
    DBCP
    Benlate
    Amitrole
    Captan
    Propoxur
    Atrazine
    Endosulfan
    Carbaryl
    Grazon
    Propham
    Fenitrothion
    Diphenylamine
    Lindane
    Malathion

    in the food I feed my children

    and no rats , (but heaps of native birds) in the small part of Aotearoa i'm charged with looking after.

    ReplyDelete
  61. So why do you advocate 1080 a synthesised super toxin, how do you explain to your children that what they eat is chemical free but to protect biodiversity the land needs 3kgs of toxin per ha 280,000ha in SI 2009 and 95,000ha in NI, 1,125000kgs of super toxic chemical spread over NZ in one year, don't you think it's a bit hypocritical. by the way it's not Clyde but PCE.

    ReplyDelete
  62. 3 grams per hectare ,Clydey boy...(PCE)..

    ReplyDelete
  63. "3kgs of toxin per ha "
    Clyde Graf

    At 2 kg of bait per hectare, the amount of 1080 per hectare drops to only 3 gm. Less than a teaspoon.

    ReplyDelete
  64. Hi you all! Just got back. Sorry to disappoint, with my absence. Even at one teaspoon per hectare, that's enough 1080 to kill....
    600 Weka, 1200 possums, or 2500 dogs...per hectare! Yes, it's lethal stuff! Clyde Graf.

    ReplyDelete
  65. given your little game up at Nelson Lakes I suppose we can expect a press release telling us how you've found 66 weka 1200 possums and 2500 dogs

    ReplyDelete
  66. would you advise people that there's no traces of :
    2,4 -D
    2,4,5-T
    Captafol
    Roundup
    Paraquat
    DBCP
    Benlate
    Amitrole
    Captan
    Propoxur
    Atrazine
    Endosulfan
    Carbaryl
    Grazon
    Propham
    Fenitrothion
    Diphenylamine
    Lindane
    Malathion

    on their supermarket shelves? curious to know as some of your main concerns appear to be sublethal effects

    ReplyDelete
  67. It is unlikely that there are any
    apiary sites in New Zealand which have three km radius surrounding areas which have had no prohibited materials applied in the
    previous three years, even public conservation land will usually have had pesticides applied (such as herbicides for track maintenance)
    which are prohibited under the NOP. HENCE BoiGro CERTIFIED HONEY CANNOT BE EXPORTED TO THE US AS ORGANIC.

    ReplyDelete
  68. "We would just like to see the proof that the tea on the shelves at supermarkets has traces of 1080 in it"

    Ironic as you've often implied fluoroacetate traces are present elsewhere, without any proof. Hopefully Ian can track down those two research articles for you. Once you've had a chance to go through them, my question remains.

    would you advise people that there are no traces of (mono)fluoroacetate in the tea on their supermarket shelves?

    ReplyDelete
  69. Just got up, it's a beautiful day apart from the chemtrails in the sky. Stopped my son from going outside. Too much aluminium in the sky. We're leaving this country. Embarrassed by the low quality food, lack of choice, no organic fruit in spring apart from apples and kiwifruit. The honey is toxic, the food is toxic. Going to go buy land and start a permaculture paradise away from fools and chemicals. Ha ha. The chemtrails will still follow us. Byebye.

    ReplyDelete