Sodium Fluoroacetate

Sodium fluoroacetate is the salt of a naturally occurring toxin which is found in Australia, Brazil, and Africa. Naturally occurring fluoroacetate can be found in Gastrolobium minus (family: Fabaceae), a flowering plant in Western Australia and often referred to as the 'poison pea.' It was noticed that indigenous animals can eat these plants, whereas livestock and other predators could not. Sodium fluoroacetate was then developed as a rodenticide and predacide in 1942 and went under the synonym of 1080, which is its catalog number. To restrict the spread of the chemical in the ecosystem, a 'toxic collar' was developed. This collar could be placed around the throats of livestock and would contain chemical pouches that would be ruptured when the animal was attacked by a predator thus restricting the poison only to the predator. In the late 1970s, the use of sodium fluoroacetate was significantly restricted due to its high acute toxicity and the need for specialized training for application. Additional restrictions were also imposed as to the locations that the agent could be used and under very defined conditions. In the late 1980s, all use of sodium fluoroacetate as a rodenticide was discontinued. The availability of products containing sodium fluoroacetate is permitted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the regulatory conclusion of the EPA is that these products will not pose unreasonable risks or adverse effects if the products are used following the restriction on the product labeling.