Independent scientific reviews

and official documents on 1080

Does 1080 “dissolve” and break down into harmless molecules? – Read the science

When 1080 is added to water it is diluted very rapidly but the toxic fluoroacetate molecule remains intact
Not all of the breakdown products of 1080 have been identified, but they include fluorocitrate, which is highly toxic

date	authors	source	name	quote
2007	ERMA Committee Decision	P 71	Environmental Risk Management Authority Reassessment of 1080	“the applicants..clarified that the breakdown of 1080 in the aquatic environment would be better described as dilution”
2007	ERMA Agency Appendix C: Fisk Report	P 439	Environmental Risk Management Authority Reassessment of 1080	“1080 is hydrolysed very slowly in water at neutral pH in the absence of biota…at ambient temperatures the half-life would be expected to be at least 4 years”
2007	ERMA Agency Appendix B	P 328	Environmental Risk Management Authority Reassessment of 1080	“Metabolism of 1080 is of particular significance because it is the formation of fluorocitrate, which is necessary to produce the toxic effects”
2007	ERMA Agency Appendix C	P 353	Environmental Risk Management Authority Reassessment of 1080	“In a study with the aquatic plant Elodea canadensis, formation..of fluorocitrate from 1080 in the water was observed..presumably micro-organisms present in the test system were able to..release fluorocitrate into the water column”
2007	ERMA Agency Appendix C	P 360	Environmental Risk Management Authority Reassessment of 1080	“the Agency was not able to locate, any data on the aquatic toxicity of the metabolite fluorocitrate in water or soil”
2014	Northcott, G., Jensen, D., Ying, L. & Fisher, P.	Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 33(5): 1048-1058	Degradation Rate of Sodium Fluoroacetate in Three New Zealand Soils	“Potential degradation pathways of SFA in soil include chemical hydrolysis in solution and biotic mechanisms of metabolism or mineralization. Degradation in solution begins with dissociation of the sodium ion followed by hydrolysis of fluoroacetate to produce fluoromethane and bicarbonate. Metabolism of SFA following ingestion by soil organisms occurs via conversion to fluorocitrate within mitochondria or by root uptake of fluoroacetate in solution followed by metabolism by plants. Mineralization of SFA through microbial degradation produces fluoride ion and hydroxyacetic acid (HAA; also termed glycolate/glycolic acid)…If the role of these other SFA degradation pathways in soil [production of fluorocitrate or fluoro-methane] was of concern, additional research would be required…”
2007	ERMA Agency Appendix B	P 329	Environmental Risk Management Authority Reassessment of 1080	“One metabolic product [of 1080] was..an amino acid..it is possible that a fluorinated amino acid may be incorporated into proteins..The Agency considers [this finding] needs verification…Clark (1991) also refers to the interaction of 1080 metabolites on amino acid metabolism”
2007	ERMA Agency Appendix B	P 328	Environmental Risk Management Authority Reassessment of 1080	“Metabolism by pathways other than the Kreb’s Cycle cannot be excluded”
2007	ERMA Agency Appendix C: Fisk Report	P 435	Environmental Risk Management Authority Reassessment of 1080	“The pathway and rate [of uptake by organisms] would need to be considered in order to determine whether such a process is important in determining the assessment of overall persistence”
2014	Northcott, G., Jensen, D., Ying, L. & Fisher, P.	Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 33(5): 1048-1058	Degradation Rate of Sodium Fluoroacetate in Three New Zealand Soils	“larger organisms were excluded from test soils; thus our estimated degradation rates did not account for their potential contribution to degradation of SFA through metabolism to fluorocitrate. This transformation pathway may have been occurring through microorganisms present in the test soils but was not measured.