Chinese rodenticides -- Not the first time in the news
The pet food poisonings that have struck across North America has been tentatively linked to imported Chinese wheat gluten that was contaminated with aminopterin, a rat poison that is not used in Canada or the United States. But this is not the first time bizarre and dangerous Chinese rat poisons caused pain and suffering in the United States. In 2002, a 15-month-old girl suffered permanent damage from a rat poison whose primary ingredient is so dangerous that scientists aren't even sure what the lethal doses are.
See all the posts related to the pet food recall.
In further background checking on the possible cause of the dog and cat poisonings that have been tracked to Menu Foods products, that is, the presence of a rodenticide aminopterin in lethal concentrations contaminating wheat gluten imported from China, I've been coming across all sorts of interesting information on how cavalier the Chinese are when it comes to deadly compounds.
First, the Chinese have noted just how irresponsible they are in appying rodenticides to the food supply to control rodents.
But this sort of thing has been going on for a long time. In 2002, a young girl in New York City suffered permanent debilitating injuries when she injested a rat poison. The poison in question, tetramethylenedisulfotetramine or TETS, is illegal for use in the United States. For any reason whatsoever. In fact it is so nasty that scientists don't really know what it can do:
TETS meets criteria for inclusion in the list of extremely hazardous pesticides maintained by the World Health Organization (WHO) and is more lethal than WHO's most toxic registered pesticide, sodium fluoroacetate. Multiple large intentional and unintentional exposures in China have demonstrated the human toxicity of TETS. The dose at which TETS kills 50% of mammals (LD50) is 0.1--0.3 mg/kg; a dose of 7.0--10.0 mg is considered lethal in humans. TETS is potentially 100 times more toxic to humans than potassium cyanide and might be a more powerful human convulsant than strychnine.
And yet the girl was exposed because Chinese authorities allowed this poison to be used in poorly labelled products, and worse yet, to be exported, probably to be sold in local shops in Chinatown next to pirated DVDs:
On May 15, 2002, a previously healthy female infant aged 15 months living with her family in New York City was found by her parents to be playing with a white rodenticide powder that they had brought from China and applied in the corner of their kitchen. After 15 minutes, the child had generalized seizures and was taken to an emergency department. Her initial blood glucose level was 108 mg/dL (normal range: 80--120 mg/dL). Despite aggressive therapy with lorazepam, phenobarbital, and pyridoxine, she had intermittent generalized seizure activity for 4 hours and required intubation.
After 3 days, the infant was extubated successfully but appeared to have multiple neurologic deficits, including absence seizures and possibly cortical blindness. Continuous electroencephalogram monitoring, performed during the initial hospitalization, revealed multiple epileptogenic foci. The infant was discharged in June; as of November 5, the infant remained severely developmentally delayed and was on valproic acid therapy for seizure control.
Translation of the rodenticide package labeling from Chinese to English did not clarify its contents. A search of the China National Poison Control Center's (NPCC) web-site for rodenticides suggested that the ingredients might have included sodium monofluoroacetate, fluoroacetamide, tetramethylenedinitrosotetramine, or strychnine. However, an initial laboratory analysis was negative for sodium fluoroacetate, fluoroacetamide, bromethalin, strychnine, 1,3-difluoro, 2-propanol, and carbamate insecticides.
This is what passes for labelling in China:
Compare to what we use here:
Given this attitude towards managing dangerous substances, the focus on profits, and the lack of oversight, it might be that Chinese authorities might have trouble figuring out what just what was being used as a rat poison.
Makes you wonder about just how safe any food import is from China.
Funny, isn't it. One cow in Alberta is diagnosed with Mad Cow, a disease that still puzzles scientists as to the cause and how it is spread, and the entire industry shuts down as no one is willing to import as much as a hamburger patty from Canada. And the only reason the case was discovered was because Canada has robust inspection system managed by people who put the public good over the financial interests of any sector of the economy. I wonder what the reaction will be if it is conclusively determined that this Chinese wheat shipment was poisoned by the deliberate act of officials spraying some kind of mystery rat poison directly on the food.
Ferdy the Cat explains this in terms of mercantilism.
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Comments
But, Steve, China is a DEVELOPING country. Surely, you do not expect the same from them as you would from those evil money grubbing WESTERN ranchers?
This is similar to the required pass that China and other blessed developing countries have regarding pollution; i.e., they can pollute if it aids their development; evil westerners must pay “carbon offsets” if they are so immoral as to pollute.
/sarcasm off.
I really do not expect the MSM to criticize China, or to hold them to the same standards as they do the West.
Posted by: terrence at March 26, 2007 07:36 PM
Call me obsessive, but ever since I saw reports of avian flu & saw pictures of how people in Asia keep their animals, I have stopped buying any food products that I know come from there.
The problem is that with globalization, one doesn't always know where ingredients originate, or where do fruits, vegetables, and fish come from. This to me is more important than labelling genetically modified foods.
I'm sorry, I don't wish them any ill, but I want to be sure the food I ingest has been grown & prepared in the best conditions.
Posted by: Gabby in QC at March 26, 2007 08:14 PM
This reminds me of an old joke.
What do Chinese mice have in their mouths?
Mousey tongues!
Posted by: ebt at March 27, 2007 04:47 PM
And the only reason the case was discovered was because Canada has robust inspection system managed by people who put the public good over the financial interests of any sector of the economy.
As if any sector of a free economy has a financial interest in poisoning it's customers! Free enterprise means personal responsibility and either meeting the needs of your customers, or losing them. Unfree, government-managed economies are where you see hapless, careless business practices. When a government feels the need to nurture and protect certain favored businesses, that's when the business owners stop giving a damn about their customers, and start caring only about pleasing the self-important government knobs who pull their strings.
China has a crappy economy and the farmers do desperate things to make money because there is too much government interference in their business, not because of a lack of government interference.
Canadian food is not safe because a bunch of selfless governmentopians are keeping an ever-watchful lookout for our wellbeing. Canadian food is safe because compared to places like China, farmers have stronger rights over their private property and therefore they have more to lose if they screw up and poison someone. The same with the people who buy and process and sell their products (our commie Wheat Marketing Board notwithstanding). Whereas in China their land titles, farming methods, investments, labor and profits are snared by a multitude of government restrictions, subsidies, "advice" and "safeguards" all of which were promoted as innovations meant to make food more abundant and safe but every one of which actually impairs property rights, innovation, investment and most of all personal responsibility.
If you really want a "robust system" looking out for the public good then a communist system like China is definitely the way you want to go.
Posted by: at March 27, 2007 08:27 PM
A simple matter of China's exponential economic/industrial/trade growth not keeping pace with their political/economic ethics or regulation.
China's manufacturers/commercial processors operate virtually regulation and liability free.
Aside from the fact that every dollar I spend on Chinese goods is going to destroy my job, lifestyle and will buy a missile to shoot at me, this health liability is as good a reason as any to personally boycott Chinese goods....I just wish that the government made retailers and importers here make the country of origin more prominent on the items package so I can identify goods that threaten my health and security coming from China.
Posted by: WL Mackenzie Redux at March 28, 2007 08:39 AM
WE BETTER WAKE UP !
DONT EAT FARM RAISED FISH from CHINA. Walmart sells this as well as many other restaurants and grocers.
The current mehtod of farm raising fish is disgusting and highly dangerous to humans. This will probably be the next major issue.. like spinach lettuce, etc. China has some of the most polluted waters in the world. Especially NOW. Dont be fooled by the farm raising label... all that means is the fish have no where to go but swim in a large pool of toxic waste and run off of chemical plants around China....
SOMEONE better start looking into this !!!!
Posted by: dice at March 31, 2007 07:00 PM
 
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