Studies
The effectiveness and safety of 1080 as we use it in New Zealand has been the subject of many studies and extensive published scientific research over the past 30 years.
Some key findings
Water
Between 1990 and 2008 extensive water monitoring (2098 samples)21 was undertaken after a large number of aerial 1080 operations. This was a requirement of the Ministry of Health and more recently has been required for ERMA watchlist reporting purposes. The following are examples from the programme:
- After 34 different aerial 1080 operations in the Wanganui area between 1990 and 2008, 76 water tests found no trace of 1080 in any domestic reticulated water supplies.22
- In 2006, a set of trials was conducted in four streams on the West Coast, using 10 times the number of 1080 baits that might normally be expected to enter streams during aerial treatment. These trials showed that even this large number of baits had no detectable effect on aquatic life in streams.23
The conclusion of this extensive water monitoring programme was that there is no risk to human health from the aerial 1080 operations currently being undertaken in New Zealand. Watch a video about water testing here
Food chain
- Trials show that 1080 is rapidly biodegraded by aquatic and land plants, and by micro-organisms in water and soils.24
- Trials also show that animals ingesting sub-lethal doses of 1080 rapidly excrete the poison or metabolise it into non-toxic products. All traces of the poison in live animals are gone within 10 days.25
- Fish were fed 1080 baits in separate studies in the United States and New Zealand. Of the fish tested in both trials, 100 percent survived and none showed any ill effects.26
- Sausages containing levels of 1080 comparable to those found in a 1080-poisoned possum carcass were also fed to eels in the New Zealand study. After eating all of the sausages, all of the eels survived and none became ill. The eels rapidly eliminated the toxin from their bodies.27
Bird populations
- DOC monitors bird populations and bush health following 1080 applications in many parts of the country. Long-term assessments demonstrate that native bird populations are not damaged by 1080, and indeed that most native bird species show net benefits, especially from the impact of the 'triple predator' by-kill effect of aerial 1080 (referred to in Our natural environment: easy prey for predators). The benefits for native bird populations of effectively taking out three major predators at once are in some cases spectacular.28
- Some inadvertent by-kill of native birds has been recorded, but is more than made up for by the subsequent increase in populations. Kea deaths recorded on the West Coast in 2008 are, however, of real concern, and the Department of Conservation is working with the Kea Conservation Trust on intensive research to determine how to prevent this recurring in future.29
Insect populations
- Monitoring of ground-based insect populations show minimal loss of insect life from 1080, and an increase after aerial 1080 targeting as a result of reduced insect predation from introduced mammalian predators.30
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