Temik
From Free net encyclopedia
Temik is a pesticide, the active ingredient of which is aldicarb. It is now owned and manufactured by Bayer CropScience, but was formerly owned and produced by Union Carbide. It is used as a pesticide to protect a range of edible and inedible agricultural and horticultural crops worldwide. One of its precursors, methyl isothiocyanate, was involved in a mass poisoning incident at a production facility in Bhopal, India, that resulted in hundreds of deaths. This event precipitated the sale of Union Carbide's agricultural chemicals division.
In the summer of 1985 nearly 1000 people in the western United States and Canada were poisoned by residue of Temik in watermelons. Their symptoms included nausea, vomiting, blurred vision and muscle weakness. Although no one died, some of the victims were seriously ill and two women later gave birth to stillborn babies. This incident received far more press coverage in North America.
Temik remains an extremely effective material where resistance to organophosphate insecticides is found and is extremely important in potato production where it is used for the control of soil borne nematodes and some foliar pests. It is manufactured and used as a granular material because of its high level of dermal toxicity. Its weakness is its high level of solubility which restricts its use in certain areas where the water table is close to the surface.