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The toxicity to rabbits and some other animals of the fluorofatty acid present in the seeds of Dichapetalum toxicarium
Author(s) -
Peters R. A.,
Hall R. J.
Publication year - 1960
Publication title -
journal of the science of food and agriculture
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 142
eISSN - 1097-0010
pISSN - 0022-5142
DOI - 10.1002/jsfa.2740111011
Subject(s) - fluoroacetate , toxicity , biology , toxicology , median lethal dose , zoology , physiology , biochemistry , medicine
The long‐chain fluorofatty acid in the seeds of Dichapetalum toxicarium , “ratsbane”, is toxic to rabbits in a dose of 1 mg./kg. Death is delayed and usually occurs quite suddenly, probably due to a heart attack. Wild as well as tame rabbits, are poisoned by a bait of the ground seeds mixed with oats, and are more easily killed than sheep; in this respect the compound is a better rabbit poison than sodium fluoroacetate. Some toxicity figures have been obtained for other animals. Deaths in sheep may be delayed up to 5 days, a fact which could explain some casualties of unknown cause in Africa.