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Session: Malathion Man

Written by DrC123

Friday December 4 2009 07:30:00 AM

Surf spot: Ray Bay, United States of America

Surf Trip: The Pineapple Express ( 01 February 2008 - 01 February 2008)

Session's Rate:

Wind direction: Offshore

Wind Strength: Glassy

Nb waves ridden: Several

Length of the surf session: 2.5 hours

Surfboard ridden: 9'0" Quad

Fins: 3

Weather and water temp: 65F/62F

Waves height: Less than 1m / 3ft

Waves Quality:
- Soft
- Fun

Waves Shape:
- Multipeaks

Description:

Ray Bay was small but clean this morning, pix coming, in the meantime enjoy:

Is it Safe?

Now you have all heard of Marathon Man how about Malathion Man?

A friend of mine (who's name shall remain anonymous) after having survived
his ex-wife slipping arsenic or something into the sugar, may have poisoned himself.

The said friend noticed some nasty bugs on his prized herbage, thought to spray them with Malathion, which did kill the bugs, however after smoking the leaves he now complains of diarrhea and stomach pains ... is it safe?

I remember the Paraquat Pot scare back in the day ... we actually sold it!

"During the late 1970s, a controversial program sponsored by the US Government sprayed Paraquat N,N′-dimethyl-4,4′-bipyridinium dichloride on Marijuana fields in Mexico. (Since much of this marijuana was subsequently smoked by Americans, the US government's "Paraquat Pot" program stirred much debate and was eventually banned.)

According to the Center for Disease Control, ingesting paraquat causes symptoms such as liver, lung, heart, and kidney failure within several days to several weeks that can lead to death up to 30 days after ingestion. Those who suffer large exposures are unlikely to survive. Chronic exposure can lead to lung damage, kidney failure, heart failure, and oesophageal strictures. Accidental deaths and suicides from paraquat ingestion are relatively common. For example, there have been 18 deaths in Australia from paraquat poisoning since 2000."

"Malathion is an organophosphate parasympathomimetic which binds irreversibly to cholinesterase. In the former USSR it was known as Carbophos, in New Zealand and Australia as Maldison and in South Africa as Mercaptothion.

Malathion was used in the 1980s in California to combat the Mediterranean Fruit Fly at the time there were reports of paint damage to automobiles in the sprayed areas. Malathion was also sprayed to combat West Nile virus. In the Fall of 1999 Long Island was sprayed with several pesticides, one of which was malathion. It was claimed that use of these pesticides caused a lobster die-off in Long Island Sound, however there is as of yet no conclusive evidence to support this. Malathion is also used in industrial solvents and cleaning compounds.

Malathion in low doses (0.5% preparations) is used as a treatment for head lice, body lice, and scabies. It is claimed to effectively kill both the eggs and the adult lice.

Malathion itself is of relatively low toxicity; however, absorption or ingestion into the human body readily results in its metabolism to malaoxon, which is substantially more toxic. Chronic exposure to low levels of malathion have been hypothesized to impair memory. Acute exposure to high levels of malathion will cause body-wide symptoms whose intensity will be dependent on the severity of exposure. Possible symptoms include skin and eye irritation, cramps, nausea, diarrhea, excessive sweating, seizures and even death. Most symptoms tend to resolve within several weeks."