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It has been nearly 30 years since the use of carbofuran in one form was first outlawed in the U.S. after being blamed for the deaths of millions of birds each year, yet the chemical is still finding its way into America's ecosystem and killing animals on both coasts. In August 2019, two golden Labrador retrievers died in a location near the border of Laurens and Newberry Counties in South Carolina following their ingestion of carbofuran – a fact confirmed by a commissioned veterinarian's toxicology report.<\/p>\n
Congress banned the use of carbofuran in its granular form in 1991 following what experts believe was the chemical's direct role in the death of a suspected one million birds. In 2009, the Environmental Protection Agency banned the application of its liquid form on crops for human consumption.<\/p>\n
Continued carbofuran deaths, poisonings, despite two federal bans within three decades<\/strong> Officials determined that the animals had ingested the pesticide – used legally and illegally today by farmers and breeders around the world, mainly as a form of pest control<\/a> – after feeding from "recklessly placed" carbofuran-laced baits; the eagles were also found to have been eating a red fox carcass. In Kenya, for example, the pesticide has been reportedly used by herders as a deterrent to protect their flocks from lions, the BBC reported in the late 2000s.<\/p>\n Experts have claimed that just one teaspoon of carbofuran is toxic enough to kill a full-grown bear, according to the Los Angeles Times. Exposure to the chemical has the potential to cause side-effects ranging from "blurred vision" and "blue skin color" to convulsions and coma<\/a>, according to its FMC Corporation material safety data sheet. FMC currently sells the chemical under the trade name Furadan.<\/p>\n The most recent Maryland findings come less than a year after results of a 6-month investigation into the death of 13 protected bald eagles found on a Maryland farm determined that 5 had ingested the banned carbofuran from the carcass of a deceased raccoon that also contained the chemical. No arrests have been made in relation to any of the Maryland and South Carolina cases as of September 19, 2019.<\/p>\n Pesticide-of-choice for California's illegal pot farmers<\/strong> According to Quartz, carbofuran has "contaminated thousands of acres of forest" and has "seeped into stream." The LA Times reported that "traces" of the chemical<\/a> have been found in rivers, streams and animal carcasses (even those of endangered species). Cleanup efforts have reached at least 160 contaminated locations, with more than 800 still left as of August 2018, and some law enforcement personnel who touched plants and other surfaces contaminated with carbofuran have had to be hospitalized for proper treatment.<\/p>\n Federal and state authorities have recently raided hundreds of illicit marijuana-growing operations in the Sierras and found direct evidence of carbofuran usage for plants in at least one location with an estimated 6,000 plants: a full container of the chemical and a contaminated backpack sprayer. At other sites, authorities have noted in court filings that fertilizers and\/or pesticides had been used, although carbofuran was not named specifically, according to Quartz.<\/p>\n With instances of wildlife deaths attributed to carbofuran poisoning on both coasts, U.S. agricultural companies that may have used the pesticide in the past should consider undergoing testing to determine if unsafe levels are still present on their properties.<\/p>\n
In May 2019, Maryland wildlife officials announced that 7 bald eagles and one owl had been killed from suspected carbofuran poisoning<\/a> after the birds of prey were found on the state's Eastern Shore in the Kent and Talbot Counties, according to CNN.<\/p>\n
Despite its ban, the chemical today remains the illegal pesticide-of-choice for not only animal and food crop farmers, but also illegal marijuana growers – particularly among Mexican cartels operating in California's National Forests and the Sierra-Nevada mountains<\/a>, which U.S. Attorney McGregor Scott claims have been "systematically destroyed" as a result. In 2018, roughly 90% of the nearly 900 illegal marijuana grow operations raided in California <\/a>were found to have used "powerful" pesticides that were potentially toxic to humans "deadly" pesticides, according to The Associated Press.<\/p>\n