Parathion bird control

Featherless chickens treated with DEF under laboratory conditions developed delayed neurotoxicity. Three birds were pretreated with atropine sulfate (20 mg/kg s.c.) 30 minutes before they were injected with DEF (800 mg/kg s.c. technical grade, 94 purity, Mobay Chemical Co.). (A second injection of atropine sulfate was administered 2 hours after treatment with DEF.) Control hens received two injections of atropine sulfate as above. The birds were observed daily for changes in behavior, weighed and blood samples taken 2, 6, 13, and 20 days after treatment. Ataxia developed 12 days after treatment with DEF. CHE decreased to low levels as expected, in both scaleless (Figure 6) and normal birds (not shown), and, in this study, did not return to normal levels by 20 days. CK levels rose after treatment with DEF, but did not rise in the controls. Plasma CK activity also rose in birds treated with TOCP and parathion (11). 

In 1978, the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) of 1947 was amended to give EPA authority to control pollution from DDT, mercury, aldrin, toxaphene, parathion and related chemicals. About 1 billion pounds of pesticides, fungicides, and rodenticides are used every year in the United States. While they contribute enormously to the success of agriculture, they can be harmful to animals, birds and hiunans if not used properly. 

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