AR-News: (US) NY- Environmentally safe bird repellent

[cathy goeggel]

                        Release


http://www.albany.edu/news/releases/2004/mar2004/garlic_repellent.htm

                        Study Reveals Garlic Oil an Environmentally Safe
Bird Repellent
                        Research indicates herb is an effective deterrent at
only one percent concentration

                        Contact: Michael Parker (518) 437-4980

                        ALBANY, N.Y. (March 30, 2004) --Garlic oil shows
significant activity as a nontoxic bird repellent for use against crop
damaging birds, according to a joint study by the University at Albany and
the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia. Garlic-based products,
which are environmentally benign as pesticides, should be useful as bird
repellents for airport, agricultural, and urban applications.

                        "The products could be applied to crops to reduce
bird damage, which can be quite costly," said Eric Block, Distinguished
Chemistry Professor at the University at Albany and co-author of the study.
"The products could also be used to keep birds away from airport runways,
where they pose an aviation hazard." Many current pesticides can be
hazardous due to their toxicity and environmental persistence. Garlic-based
repellents represent economically viable substitutes, and could be applied
to targeted areas as easily as fertilizer.

                        The research, published in the Journal of
Agricultural and Food Chemistry, involved Block and UAlbany graduate student
Zhixing Shan, along with USDA scientist Dr. Arla Hile of the Monell Chemical
Senses Center. The study was supported by grants from the Berryman Institute
and the National Science Foundation.

                        The research demonstrates that European starlings, a
species which causes considerable damage annually to U.S. crops,
significantly reduce their food consumption with as little as one percent of
garlic oil containing granules mixed with their food. The starlings further
decreased their consumption in foods treated with 10 percent and 25 percent
solutions, showing a correlation between the level of garlic and the adverse
reaction of the birds. Granules prepared from food-grade garlic oil as well
as commercially produced granules containing a refined garlic product (from
Germain's Technology Group, Custom Coating and Enhancements Inc., Gilroy CA
www.germains.com or ECOspray Ltd, UK www.ecospray.com are equally effective.

                        Copies of the report are available at:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/jf035181d.

                        The Monell Chemical Senses Center is a nonprofit
basic research institute based in Philadelphia, PA. Scientists at the Monell
Center conduct research devoted to understanding the senses of taste, smell,
and chemical irritation: how they function and how they affect our lives
from before birth to old age. The Center's approach is multidisciplinary.
Scientists from a variety of backgrounds collaborate to address topic areas
in sensation and perception, neuroscience and molecular biology,
environmental and occupational health, nutrition and appetite, health and
well-being, and chemical ecology and communication. For more information
about Monell, visit the Center's web site at www.monell.org or email
inquiries to media at monell.org.