[NatureNS] Sunflower seeds

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Date: Sun, 24 Feb 2008 11:35:12 -0800 (PST)
From: Lucas Berrigan <coppersmithbarbet@yahoo.ca>
To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
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I don't think there's anything that specific in here, but here's something I read in the book anyways. 

The chemical that he talks about in his book is Monocrotophos. He says "Monocrotophos is an organophosphate, or OP - a family of potent chemicals derived from phosphorus acids and similar in structure to nerve gases like sarin.....They are highly toxic to vertebrates, especially birds, and monocrotophos is considered among the most virulent of all avian toxins." In the winter of 1996, there was a massive kill of Swainson's Hawks; between fifteen and twenty thousand hawks were killed in just the small area of La Pampa where two scientists worked. "As soon as the 1996 kills were located, word spread across the Internet, generating tremendous grassroots concern. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Servise, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Canadian Wildlife Service, and the Argentine government cooperated on training and field surveys; the Argentines were regulating pesticides. The Argentine agricultural agencies cracked down on the use of monocrotophos and
 launched an aggressive education campaign aimed at farmers, while U.S. toxicological experts began training their Argentine counterparts in the exacting lab procedures required to monitor pesticides in the environment." Later on,Ciba-Geigy and three other manufacturers agreed to pull monocrotophos off the market in certain areas of the pampas, add warning labels, and help educate the farmers on alternative ways to get control locusts. "Ciba, now known as Novartis, later agreed to entirely phase out proguction and sale of monocrotophos and five other OP pesticides."



Lucas Berrigan
Eastern shore, HRM, 
Nova Scotia. 
My site:
http://www.geocities.com/interpolerater/

----- Original Message ----
From: Eleanor Lindsay <az678@chebucto.ns.ca>
To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
Sent: Sunday, February 24, 2008 9:06:48 AM
Subject: Re: [NatureNS] Sunflower seeds

Andy 
Dean 
wrote:
> 
I 
received 
a 
phone 
call 
this 
evening 
but 
unfortunately 
failed 
to 
get 
> 
the 
name 
of 
the 
caller.
> 
He 
has 
no 
access 
to 
send 
messages 
to  
NatureNS 
so 
asked 
me 
to 
pass 
a 
> 
message 
to 
the 
group, 
and 
Elinor 
Lindsay 
in 
particular,  
regarding 
> 
sunflower 
seeds.
> 
He 
quoted 
a 
book 
by 
Scott 
Weidensaul 
titled 
'Living 
On 
The 
Wind' 
> 
...specifically 
chapter 
8....which 
apparently 
relates 
an 
experience 
, 
> 
I 
believe 
it 
was 
in 
Argentina 
. 
where  
Swainsons 
Hawks 
died 
in 
large 
> 
numbers 
when 
they 
ate 
grasshoppers 
contaminated 
with 
either 
pesticide 
> 
or 
herbicide 
.[ 
sorry 
to 
be 
so 
vague 
but 
it 
was 
a 
brief 
call 
]
>  
He 
suggested 
that 
sunflower 
seed  
has 
evolved 
from 
simply 
being 
> 
produced 
to 
help 
birds 
survive 
the 
winters 
into 
a 
major 
business 
crop, 
> 
and 
this 
has 
resulted 
in 
lower 
safety 
standards, 
at 
least 
in 
some 
of 
> 
the 
countries 
producing 
huge 
commercial 
crops, 
and 
he 
strongly 
urged 
> 
that 
we 
read 
the 
item.
> 
I 
checked 
the 
Valley 
Regional 
Library 
catalogue 
but 
drew 
a 
blank 
on 
> 
that 
title.
> 
Andy
>  
> 
Andy 
& 
Lelia 
Dean
> 
86 
Baden 
Powell 
Drive
> 
Kentville, 
NS. 
Canada. 
B4N 
5P5
> 
Tel: 
[902] 
678-6243
>  
> 
aadean@ns.sympatico.ca 
<mailto:aadean@ns.sympatico.ca>
My 
thanks 
to 
Andy 
for 
passing 
this 
message 
on 
and 
to 
Lukas 
for 
offering 
information 
from 
his 
copy 
of 
'Living 
on 
the 
Wind';  
I 
don't 
doubt 
for 
a 
moment 
that 
the 
quality 
of 
sunflower 
seeds 
has 
diminished 
as 
the 
demand 
escalates.
My 
problem 
over 
the 
past 
few 
months 
(virtual 
cessation 
of 
black 
oil 
sunflower 
seed 
consumption, 
never 
before 
encountered 
in 
over 
25 
years 
of 
bird 
feeding) 
continues 
without 
change, 
leaving 
me 
concerned. 
When 
I 
put 
out 
mixed 
seeds 
the 
birds 
pick 
them 
through, 
leaving 
all 
the 
sunflower 
seeds. 
Checking 
with 
neighbours 
in 
the 
area 
yields 
mixed 
reports, 
with 
some 
feeling 
there 
has 
been 
a 
reduction 
and 
others 
not 
noticing 
any 
change. 
I've 
checked 
around  
some 
of 
the 
main  
sunflower 
seed 
suppliers 
in 
the 
area 
and 
most 
get 
them 
from 
Armstrong, 
a 
Hagersville 
Ontario 
distributor 
which, 
I 
am 
told, 
likely 
gets 
the 
bulk 
of 
its 
seeds 
from 
out 
west. 
I've 
bought 
these 
seeds 
from 
three 
different 
places 
(just 
in 
case 
storage 
is 
a 
source 
of 
the 
problem), 
and 
I've 
emptied 
and 
washed 
out 
my 
feeders, 
all 
with 
no 
appreciable 
difference. 
I 
can't 
think 
of 
anything 
else 
to 
try.
Lucas, 
if 
any 
of 
this 
relates 
to 
Chapter 
8 
that 
Andy's 
caller 
specifically 
recommended 
I'd 
very 
much 
appreciate 
hearing 
about 
it!

Eleanor 
Lindsay
Seabright, 
St 
Margarets 
Bay








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<html><head><style type="text/css"><!-- DIV {margin:0px;} --></style></head><body><div style="font-family:times new roman,new york,times,serif;font-size:12pt">I don't think there's anything that specific in here, but here's something I read in the book anyways. <br><br>The chemical that he talks about in his book is Monocrotophos. He says "Monocrotophos is an organophosphate, or OP - a family of potent chemicals derived from phosphorus acids and similar in structure to nerve gases like sarin.....They are highly toxic to vertebrates, especially birds, and monocrotophos is considered among the most virulent of all avian toxins." In the winter of 1996, there was a massive kill of Swainson's Hawks; between fifteen and twenty thousand hawks were killed in just the small area of La Pampa where two scientists worked. "As soon as the 1996 kills were located, word spread across the Internet, generating tremendous grassroots concern. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife
 Servise, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Canadian Wildlife Service, and the Argentine government cooperated on training and field surveys; the Argentines were regulating pesticides. The Argentine agricultural agencies cracked down on the use of monocrotophos and launched an aggressive education campaign aimed at farmers, while U.S. toxicological experts began training their Argentine counterparts in the exacting lab procedures required to monitor pesticides in the environment." Later on,Ciba-Geigy and three other manufacturers agreed to pull monocrotophos off the market in certain areas of the pampas, add warning labels, and help educate the farmers on alternative ways to get control locusts. "Ciba, now known as Novartis, later agreed to entirely phase out proguction and sale of monocrotophos and five other OP pesticides."<br><br><br><br>Lucas Berrigan<br>Eastern shore, HRM, <br>Nova Scotia.<div>&nbsp;</div>&l