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SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Wildlife officials in New Mexico are planning to use a pesticide to help re-establish a native Gila trout population, but some scientists say the chemical needs to be studied further.
The New Mexico Game and Fish Department says the pesticide, rotenone, has been safely used to kill invasive fish species in the Southwest for years, reported The New Mexican (http://bit.ly/1V58P8G ). The department hopes to use rotenone to kill off remaining populations of rainbow and brown trout in parts of Whitewater Creek and its tributaries, giving the threatened Gila trout a better chance of survival.
The Gila trout population in the Gila National Forest was wiped out by a massive 2012 wildfire.
Recent studies have linked rotenone exposure to an increased likelihood of developing Parkinson's disease. Some scientists say more information is needed about the pesticide's effect on humans and the environment.
Michael Ruhl, who manages the Game and Fish Department's Native Fish Program, argues that the pesticide has been approved by the Environmental Protection Agency and "is very safe for terrestrial animals."
"People are concerned about us putting a chemical in the water," said Game and Fish trout biologist Jill Wick. But she said that by the end of a public meeting on the Whitewater Creek proposal in Glenwood, everyone in the audience supported the project.
Rotentone, she said, "is the most effective tool that we have."
Still, scientists like Freya Kamel of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences say its use is "a very gray area."
People who say there are no health effects are exaggerating, said Kamel, who co-authored a 2011 study that found rotenone caused cellular changes that could enable the development of Parkinson's.
The EPA has also changed its policies on rotenone use, warning against rotenone-based household products in 2011.
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Information from: The Santa Fe New Mexican, http://www.sfnewmexican.com
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