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The stability of ergocalciferol in rodenticidal baits

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 May 2009

A. D. MacNicoll
Affiliation:
Vertebrate Biochemistry Section, Tolworth Laboratory, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Block B, Hook Rise South, Tolworth, Surrey KT6 7NF
W. J. Simpson
Affiliation:
Midlands and West Region, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Woodthorne, Wolverhampton WV6 8TQ
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Summary

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Concentrations of the rodenticide ergocalciferol (vitamin D2) in samples of rodent baits laid in foodstores and in the laboratory were monitored over several months. Bait samples were solvent extracted and ergocalciferol concentration determined by high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC). Ergocalciferol levels were constant for more than 21 days in dry samples and did not fall by more than 30% in 100 days. When water (10% w/w) was added to the baits in the laboratory the ergocalciferol concentration fell by approximately 30 % in 30 days. In these wet laboratory samples there was a rapid visible growth of fungus and in normal rodent control use baits should have been replaced when such deterioration became evident.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1983

References

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