Proceedings of the Vertebrate Pest Conference

Three types of assessment techniques explore the possible environmental hazards of two anticoagulant compounds currently used for rodent control. In the first, rheological methodologies were used to assess the ability of pelletized baits to withstand precipitation. From these data, objective information was developed to assist agricultural producers to select a proper bait for a specific climatic period. Bioanalytical evaluations of chlorophacinone indicated that the compound decomposes when exposed to ultraviolet light into four nontoxic elements. Hence, if translocation were to occur, the elements--not the parent compound--would be the likely candidates. Finally, radioactive (14C) bromadiolone was tested for translocatability. From the preliminary data developed to the date of this report, little, if any, translocation occurs.