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Sodium monofluoroacetate facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Sodium fluoroacetate is a chemical compound that is a poison for many organisms. Pesticides used kill rodents sometimes contain Sodium monofluoroacetate. Sometimes the chemical substance is used as a marker for cancer cells in Positron emission tomography. TO act as a marker, only very small quantities of a substance are needed. For this reason, the toxicity of Sodium fluoroacetate is not a problem.

Gifblaar
Dichapetalum cymosum

Fluoroacetate occurs naturally in at least 40 plants in Australia, Brazil, and Africa. It was first identified in the poison leaf (gifblaar) Dichapetalum cymosum by Marais in 1944. As early as 1904, colonists in Sierra Leone used extracts of Chailletia toxicaria which also contains fluoroacetic acid or its salts to poison rats. Several native Australian plant genera contain the toxin, including: Gastrolobium, Gompholobium, Oxylobium, Nemcia and Acacia.

Images for kids

  • Brushtail possum

    Common brushtail possum, an invasive pest in New Zealand whose population is controlled with sodium fluoroacetate

  • 1080PoisonWarning gobeirne

    Sign warning of poisonous sodium fluoroacetate baits on the West Coast of New Zealand

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Fluoroacetato de sodio para niños

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