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1080 NATIONAL NETWORK NZ PRESS RELEASE 8th June 2011 PCE gives green light for 1080 poison. ("Clean Green NZ" is a bad joke.) 1080 poison is a Class A toxin classified in the US, its country of origin, as a male reproductive toxin and suspected endocrine disruptor. First patented in Britain, 1927, as an insecticide, it was banned from use, considered to be too dangerous for use. One pinhead of pure 1080 will kill a human being. The PCE report is based on information provided solely by the poison proponents, government departments, those responsible for the approval and application of 1080 poison. The poison baits are produced by Animal Control Products, a State Owned Enterprise whose total shareholders (2 x 50% of company shares) are the Ministers of Finance and Agriculture. While the application of aerial poisons continues over much of our country, New Zealand has no right whatsoever to claim its "Clean Green" status. 1080 (ten eighty) has been distributed by air over our country for more than fifty years, during which time, it has been responsible for the accidental deaths of thousands of dogs, cats and farmed stock. The reported deaths are merely the tip of the iceberg. Many more are waved away as no fault of the applicators, all blame being put on irresponsible or ignorant owners, or careless farming practises. An extremely inhumane killer, no animal deserves to suffer the cruel death caused by 1080 poison. Have no doubt, 1080 is highly effective, killing through both direct and secondary poisoning. It is responsible for killing countless birds, bats, insects and insectivores, along with the introduced creatures of our forests. In the US, where they currently use four tablespoons of pure 1080 per annum in sheep collars, 1080 was responsible for wiping out a whole population of burrowing owls. In New Zealand, more than four tonnes is distributed each year over the habitat of our morepork, falcon, kiwi and other endangered and declining species. In the 1960s, possums had been cohabiting with native birds for more than 100 years and the forests were filled with birdsong. As in Australia, their diet consisted of foliage, berries, seeds and the occasional insect. Fifty years after the commencement of aerial 1080, our bird populations have decreased markedly and the possum is blamed for diet-switching. Last week, we saw the headlines, "Kiwi numbers still falling." For fifty years, a huge quantity of poison baits (which contain a reproductive toxin) is dropped over our forests, and the Department of Conservation wonders why kiwis are now unable to breed in their natural habitat? This week we see the headlines, "Last chance to save our forests, drop more poison." There's something wrong here! 1080 poison is affecting many New Zealanders; their lifestyles, recreational pursuits, their animals and their health. It is dropped in their drinking water and close to rural residential properties. Minute amounts of 1080 poison cause symptoms such as nausea, anxiety, chronic fatigue, cardiac irregularities, palpitations, memory loss, etc. Larger doses can attack the organs, causing serious symptoms such as bleeding, seizures and heart failure. Being a suspected endocrine disruptor, its potential effects on the unborn child is as yet unknown. In 2007 the government applauded the Environmental Risk Management Authority's decision to approve the continued use of 1080. Along with this approval, was the recommendation for urgent scientific research into the effects of 1080, both on our environment and eco-system. Also of concern, was the extreme urgency for research into the poison's effect on human health. Four years later, none has been carried out. ENDS |