LEAD ARSENATE

Use

Lead arsenate appears as odourless white heavy powder and practically is insoluble in water. It is not combustible and emits irritating or toxic fumes (or gases) in a fire. Lead arsenate is currently used as a growth regulator on grape fruit crop. A large bulk of lead arsenate is also used annually to control cockroaches, silverfish, crickets, earthworms, and other soil-inhabiting insects on golf greens and lawns and on airport turf adjoining runways to reduce bird hazard related to earthworm. Lead arsenate is quite stable and readily accumulates in soils either as a result of use in specific soil treatments or foliar application. Lead arsenate insecticide was used in many countries, including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States. It was used for insect pests on apples and other fruit tree, garden crops and turf grasses, on rubber and coffee trees, and for mosquito abatement in cattle dips. All insecticidal uses of lead arsenate in the United States were officially banned on August 1, 1988 (U.S. EPA, 1988), with a comment that all registrations for insecticidal use had lapsed before that date. In Australia, use of lead arsenate decreased after the introduction of DDT in 1950, and it has not been used on exported crops since 1983.