New information on sulfuryl fluoride

Q: I thought you might like to know that sulfuryl fluoride is now being used as a fumigant for bulk food storage. The stuff leaves fluoride residue on the foods we eat. The Environmental Protection Agency had to increase the allowed fluoride levels of foods to permit it to happen. The science used was bogus. I saw the animal studies that Dow Chemical had to submit to the government to try to say it would be safe. In every single animal study, the animals suffered and many died. I'm curious if you knew about it before you wrote your recent article in The Chronicle.

A: I didn't know it, and I would have mentioned it if I did. Now I do, and so do the thousands of people who read this column. It is my hope that with the new administration, we will have an Environmental Protection Agency that actually looks after the environment and not the pesticide special-interest groups.

The Fluoride Action Network (www.fluoridealert.org/f-pesticides.htm) tried to stop the use of sulfuryl fluoride as a food fumigant. Here's a quote from its Web site (under the Fluoride Pesticides heading): "Sulfuryl fluoride is the most immediate and important pesticide issue for the FAN Pesticide Project. This acutely toxic fumigant received its first-time approval for use on stored food commodities (raw and processed) in the U.S. in January 2004. This approval allows the highest levels of fluoride residue levels in food in the history of the EPA. FAN, together with Beyond Pesticides, submitted formal objections to EPA on this approval."

Sulfuryl fluoride is being used because the United States agreed with other nations to stop using methyl bromide as a fumigant. In Europe they use other, far less toxic methods to fumigate bulk food storage. I will look into it further and report any more information I can find.

Q:My son's dog was poisoned by Corry's snail bait, and the veterinarian's bill came to $8,000 and still counting. The vet said it was a very common occurrence. Why does the EPA allow poison laced with sweeteners to be packaged in a flimsy cardboard box instead of a childproof container? Quaker Oats is packaged in a more substantial container than Corry's snail bait. Small children, animals and birds cannot read the ineffective warning labels.

A: As I have said in other columns, the Environmental Protection Agency is in the pocket of pesticide special-interest groups. And as I said, hopefully that will change now.

Corry's snail bait contains metaldehyde, a material that is deadly to dogs. There are attractants in the baits that appeal to pets, so they ingest the bait when they find it on the ground. Other brands that contain varying amounts of metaldehyde are Corry's Slug & Snail Death, Deadline and SlugTox. Avoid these products if you have pets in the yard.

These products are sold as granules, sprays, dusts, pelleted grain or bait. They are usually applied to the ground around plants to attract and kill slugs and snails.

Metaldehyde is classified by the EPA as a "slightly toxic compound that may be fatal to dogs or other pets if eaten."

Many vets have experience with dogs ingesting metaldehyde baits. According to the "Field Guide to the Slug" (Sasquatch Books), ingested metaldehyde can lead to nervous system damage or death in humans and other animals: "The threshold for tolerance is related to size, making birds and small mammals especially vulnerable."

I would recommend using safe snail baits such as Escar-Go Slug Control and Sluggo. They use iron phosphate, which is a naturally occurring compound found in the soil. Manufacturers of iron phosphate baits say they are nontoxic around children and pets and much safer to use than those baits containing metaldehyde.