Evaluation of Pesticide Incident Report 2009-1106

Background

Pest control products are only registered by Health Canada's Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) for use if there is reasonable certainty that no harm to human health or the environment will result from exposure to, or use of the product as directed on the label. Health Canada collects incident reporting data under the authority of the Pest Control Products Act. If a pesticide manufacturer receives information about an incident involving one of their products, they are required by law to submit that information to Health Canada. Members of the public may also submit information about an incident directly to Health Canada. It is important to note that the information presented in incident reports reflects the observations and opinion of the person reporting it, and does not include any assessment by Health Canada, nor does it confirm an association between the pesticide and the effects reported.

Health Canada considers the reported information to determine if there are potential health or environmental risks associated with a pesticide and, if necessary, takes corrective action.

Incident Report 2009-1106

The deaths of a raccoon, muskrat and bald eagle were reported to a British Columbia Ministry of Environment conservation officer by a landowner. The raccoon had been discovered in a landowner's field. The bald eagle was observed to have died immediately after feeding on the raccoon carcass. The dead muskrat was discovered shortly after in the landowner's barn along with a pile of unidentified powder.

The carcasses were submitted to the British Columbia Ministry of Agriculture and Lands Animal Health Centre (BC MALAHC) for post-mortem examination, and the results from this examination were provided along with the incident report. According to the BC MALAHC evaluation, extensive decomposition prevented the cause of death to be determined for the raccoon. The cause of death for the muskrat was attributed to trauma, likely inflicted by attempted predation. The gross post-mortem of the bald eagle revealed that the bird was in excellent general body condition. Exposure of the eagle to carbofuran was confirmed by the analysis of the eagle's stomach. No other pesticide residues were detected. The levels of cholinesterase, a biomarker of carbamate poisoning, were also found to be consistent with exposure to this pesticide.

In accordance with the Pest Control Products Incident Reporting Regulations classification system, this incident is classified as Environment Moderate. This incident report can be requested through the PMRA electronic Public Registry on the Health Canada website.

Health Canada Evaluation

In this incident, there was not enough information available to determine whether the raccoon was exposed to carbofuran, and the death of the muskrat was determined to be due to trauma.

There was definite exposure of the eagle to the active ingredient, carbofuran, based on the laboratory evaluation of the eagle's stomach contents. Additionally, cholinesterase levels were consistent with exposure to this pesticide. Carbofuran is known to be highly acutely toxic to birds, and there is a history of previous bird kill incidents in Canada and the U.S. involving carbofuran.

Health Canada Conclusion

The PMRA has concluded that there was insufficient information to assess how likely it was that the raccoon death was related to any exposure and the death of the muskrat was determined to be unrelated to any pesticide exposure. It is highly probable that exposure to carbofuran caused the eagle death, based on submitted laboratory data.

The PMRA completed its re-evaluation of carbofuran; a Proposed Re-evaluation Decision was published on July 31 2009 (PRVD 2009-11). All products containing carbofuran are proposed for phase-out. No further regulatory action is required as a result of this incident report.

More information about the Pesticide Incident Reporting Program is available on the Health Canada website. Should you require further information please contact the Pesticide Incident Reporting Program.