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<br />12 B(ol.oc(cAl- RepoxT 85(1.23)
<br />celed (EPA 1976a; Connolly and Simmons 1984).
<br />Although both ejectors dispense toxicant when
<br />pulled, they difTer in the way ejection is achieved.
<br />In the coyote getter, the toxicant is in a 0.38-caliber
<br />cartridge case and is expelled by the explosive force
<br />of the primer plus a small powder charge. The
<br />M-44 uses aspring-driven plunger to push out its
<br />toxic contents. M-44 capsules weigh about 0.94 g,
<br />and consist of about 89% NaC2~', 6 ro Celatom
<br />MP-78 (mostly diatomaceous silica), 5'~ potassium
<br />chloride, and 0.25%r. FP Tracerite yellow-used as
<br />a fluorescent marker (Connolly and Simmons
<br />1984). Coyote getters and M-49's are set into the
<br />ground with only their tops protruding. Fetid scent
<br />or lure stimulates a coyote to bite and pull, where-
<br />upon alethal dose of NaCN is ejected into its
<br />mouth; coma and death follow in 30 to
<br />60 s. Although coyote getters were about 99%n efTec-
<br />tive against coyotes, compared with 73n- for
<br />M-44's, the Service decided that spring-driven
<br />plungers were less hazardous to operators than
<br />were explosive-driven plungers (Connolly and
<br />Simmons 1984)- The coyote getter was generally
<br />much more selective than the trap for the capture
<br />of coyotes. It was less destructive than traps to
<br />small mammals, birds of pre}~, ground-nesting
<br />birds, deer, antelope, and domestic sheep, but
<br />more destructive to dogs, bears, and cattle (Robin-
<br />son 1943). Ina 1-year test period (1940-41)in
<br />Colorado, Wyoming, and New Mexico, the follow-
<br />ing numbers of animals were killed by the coyote
<br />getter: 1,107 coyotes, 2 bobcats (L~~nx rujasl. 24
<br />dogs. 14 black-billed magpies (Pica pica), 7 foxes
<br />(Vulpes sp.), 8 unidentified skunks, 2 badgers, 2
<br />unidentified eagles, 2 bears (Ursus sp. ),and 1 each
<br />of ha~~~k (unidentified), pika (Ochotona sp.), and
<br />cov.~ ~i:obinson 1943).
<br />Cyanide compounds have been used to collect
<br />various species oCfreshwater fish. In England and
<br />Scotland, cyanides are used legally to control rab-
<br />bits,and illegally to obtain Atlantic salmon (Salmo
<br />solar) and brown trout (Salmo trutta) from rivers,
<br />leaving no visible evidence of damage to the fish
<br />(Holden and Marsden 1964). Sodium cyanide has
<br />been applied to streams in Vlyoming and Utah to
<br />collect fish through anesthesia; mountain white-
<br />fish (Prosopium urilliamsoni) were sensitive to
<br />cyanide and died at concentrations that were toler-
<br />able to salmon and trout (Wiley 1984 ).Sodium cya-
<br />nide was also used as a fish control agent in
<br />Illinois, Nebraska, South Dakota, Missouri, and in
<br />the lower Mississippi River valley, but was never
<br />registered for this use because of human safety
<br />concerns (Lennon e: al. 1970).
<br />Cyanide compounds have been prescribed by
<br />physicians for treatment of hypertension and can-
<br />cer (Sprince et al. 19821. Sodium nitroprusside
<br />(NazFe(CN)SN0 2HzO) was widely used for more
<br />than 30 years to treat severe hypertension and to
<br />minimize bleeding during surgery (Solomonson
<br />1981; Vesey 1967). Laetrile, an exttact of ground
<br />apricot kernels, has been used for cancer chemo-
<br />therapy and, in deliberate high intakes, as an at-
<br />tempted suicide vehicle (Gee ]987).
<br />Road salt in some areas may contribute to ele-
<br />vated cyanide levels in adjacent surface waters
<br />(Ohno 1989). In climates with significant snowfall,
<br />road salt is applied as a deicing agent. Road salts
<br />are commonly treated with anticakting agents to
<br />ensure uniform spreading. One anticaking agent,
<br />sodium hexacyanoferrate, decomposes in sunlight
<br />to yield the highly toxic free cyanide that contami-
<br />nates surface waters by runoff iOhno 1989). An-
<br />other anticaking agent, yellow prugsiate of soda
<br />(sodium ferrocyanide), has been implicated in fish
<br />kills when inadvertently used by fish culturists
<br />(Barney 19891.
<br />The military uses of HCN were first realized
<br />by Napoleon III, but it was not until World V~'ar I
<br />(WW I)that this application receives widespread
<br />consideration. About 3.6 million kg of hydrogen
<br />cyanide were manufactured by France as a chemi-
<br />cal weapon and used in VJWI in varihus mixtures
<br />called Manganite and Bincennite, although its use
<br />was not highly successful because of limitations in
<br />prof ecti le size and other factors. During 41N~' II, the
<br />Japanese were armed with 50-kg HCN bombs, and
<br />the United States had 500-kg bombs. More than
<br />500,000 kg of HCN chemical weapons were pro-
<br />duced Suring WWII by Japan, the United States,
<br />and the Soviet Union, but it is not known to what
<br />extent these weapons were used in that conflict
<br />(Way 1981).
<br />Cyanides are widely distrihuted Among com-
<br />mon plants in the form of cyanogenic glycosides
<br />(Egekeze and Oehme 1980; Solomonson 1981; Way
<br />1981: Biehl 1984; Homan 1987; Marrs and Ballan-
<br />tyne 1987). Their toxicity following ingestion is
<br />primarily related to the hydrolytic release ofHCN.
<br />Ingestion of cyanogenic plants probably has ac-
<br />counted for most instances of cyanide exposure
<br />and toxicosis in man and range animals- Of chief
<br />agricultural importance among plants that accu-
<br />mulate large quantities of cyanogenic glycosides
<br />arc the sorghums, Johnson grass. Sudan grass,
<br />corn, lima beans, flax, pits of stone frgits ~cherr~~,
<br />apricot, peach), vetch, linseed, sweet potatoes,
<br />bamboo shoots, southern mock orange, millet, al-
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