PERSISTENCE OF SODIUM MONOFLUOROACETATE IN RABBITS AND RISK TO NONTARGET SPECIES

1 Sodium monofluoroacetate (1080), a vertebrate pesticide used in New Zealand, was administered orally to rabbits at two dose levels (sub-le thal and lethal) to determine how long 1080 would persist in plasma, l iver, kidney, and muscle so that the risk of consumption of meat from lethally or sub-lethally poisoned rabbits by non-target species could be assessed. 2 The plasma elimination half-life in rabbits receiving a sub-lethal dose was 1.1 h. Retention of 1080 in tissue was greater in rabbits dosed with a lethal dose than in those that received a sub-le thal dose. Irrespective of the dose level, concentration of 1080 in mu scle, kidney, and liver was substantially lower than in the plasma. 3 Poisoning of dogs is possible because of their extreme susceptibility to 1080. Poisoning of birds is less likely. The risk of secondary pois oning is reduced as the concentration of 1080 declines in putrefying c arcasses.