"W. Allen Dick" wrote:
> Nonetheless, I have not been easily able to find information on the actual
> structure of the tau-fluvalinate molecule which is -- AFAI -- the major
> active ingredient in ApistanŽ.
For the chemical composition:
http://www.hclrss.demon.co.uk/tau-fluvalinate.html
A writeup as a pesticide residue on crops is at
http://pmep.cce.cornell.edu/profiles/insect-mite/propetamphos-zetacyperm/tau-fluvalinate/prop-pest-tol-taufluval.html
Part of which is quoted with editing:
A chronic dietary exposure analysis was performed for tau-
fluvalinate using a reference dose (RfD) of 0.01 mg/kg-bwt/day based on
a no-observable effect level (NOEL) of 1.0 mg/kg- bwt/day from a 2-year
rat feeding study with an uncertainty factor of 100. The end point
effect of concern was decreased body weight gain in both sexes. The
Theoretical Maximum Residue Contribution (TMRC) from established
tolerances utilizes 1.6% of the RfD for the U.S. population and 7.0% of
the RfD for the subpopulation most highly exposed, non-nursing infants
(<1 yr)..... EPA concludes that the chronic dietary risk of tau-
fluvalinate, as estimated by the dietary risk assessment, does not
appear to be of concern.
Unquote
This is for fluvalinate that is residual on foods consumed by the
public. The danger as a strip in a hive properly handled seeem to be
quite less.
It would be interesting to see what the residual levels are in wax and
how they compare to the levels set by the EPA as safe. If there ever is
a fluvalinate scare, it would help if it was below the standards set by
the EPA.
Bill Truesdell
Bath, ME
