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5189161 
Journal Article 
Source of fish poisoning in Rhine identified as insecticide 
Binder, D 
1969 
0 
New York Times
ISSN: 0362-4331
EISSN: 1553-8095 
June 26 
HAPAB Endosulfan ( Thiodan ) has been responsible for hilling millions of fish in the Rhine River since June 19, 1969. Endosulfan, used to dust fruit trees and vineyards, is distributed by three West German concerns at Frankfurt, Stade and Duesseldorf. It is believed that someone dumped more than 200 lb of the poison into the river near St. Goar or dusted vineyards and fruit trees in the area with the insecticide from t Ihe air on Jun 18 and again on June 20, 1969. The Dutch Institute of Public Health, which identified the poson, said that 1 mcg in a quart of water was enough to kill most fish. Fears that river life, including microorganisms, had been permanently damaged were allayed by tests near Duesseldorf, showing that fish now remain alive in the river. However, fish from other rivers dipped in the lower Rhine died within 7 min. The Netherlands Government charged that the German authorities had been negligent in having failed to advise the Dutch of the oncoming contamination. While admitting that warning was not given as promptly as it should have been, German authorities claim that the Dutch were warned 12 hr before the poison wave reached their borders. French conservationists charged that insecticides such as the one that has polluted the Rhine were responsible for deaths of people as well as wildlife. It blamed insecticides for sterilizing up to half the heron population of Great Britain and half of the 50 pairs of peregrine falcons surviving in France. European conservationists are concerned about the threat of the Rhine pollution to the bird-breeding grounds of the Wadenzee, in the Netherlands. They denied that the insecticide is not harmful to human life. Following an antimosquito campaign with similar chemicals in southwestern France, an incomplete convass of physicians disclosed 75 cases of poisoning of human beings, four of them fatal. EPIDEMIOLOGY AND TREATMENT 69/08/00, 256 1969