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A mountain pine beetles is shown here in this handout photo from an electron microscope. (CP)
Updated: Sat Nov. 15 2008 17:57:13
ctvbc.ca
What was hoped to halt the spread of the B.C. mountain pine beetle may actually be hazardous to human health.
B.C.’s Ministry of Forests is testing thousands of trees in the Okanagan-Shuswap region near Penticton to see if they contain a dangerous concentration of arsenic.
For two decades, ending in 2004, as many as 100,000 trees throughout the Interior were treated with monosodium methane arsenate (MSMA) in a bid to stop the spread of the mountain pine beetle.
Also known by its trade name, Glowon, MSMA’s active ingredient is arsenic. Health Canada de-registered MSMA for use in 2005 when the manufacturer declined to have the product recertified.
The ministry is warning loggers and firewood cutters to avoid the treated trees.
The mountain pine beetle has devastated nearly half of B.C.’s marketable pine forest — an area more than four times the size of Vancouver Island.
The infestation has been another hit to the province’s beleaguered forestry industry, and swaths of trees have turned from green to a rusty red.
While scientists say its expansion through B.C. is slowing because it is running out of new trees to infest, the beetle is now pushing east past the Rocky Mountains and into Alberta.
Please Add Comments(4)
Patrick
I guess those trees won’t be used to build children playground sets anymore.
brad in bc
my logging buddies are going to hate me for this but i kinda like the little bug. we’ve been suppressing wildfires for over a hundred years now.maybe its time to let the grass grow instead of the lumber company’s cash crop.after all, elk and deer need to eat to.
John from London On
Hey save the trees and save the trees that’s a win win
Nimson Ofreneo
Use of Arsenic chemicals are definitely hazardous to human and animal. Additional hazard will arise when arsenic contaminated lumber is used in our homes. The best solution is to find a natural or engineered enemy, predator or irritant for the bettel to stop them reproducing, to destroy them, or irritate them. Put science into good use.
Yellow polygons indicate location of MSMA treated trees in B.C.’s Okanagan on this map provided by the Ministry of Forestry.
View larger image
The reddened patches you see in this August 2006 photo taken east of Burns Lake, B.C. are caused by a mountain pine beetle infestation. (Bill Doskoch / CTV.ca)
Source: http://www.ctvbc.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20081115/BC_beetle_trees_081115/20081115?hub=BritishColumbia
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