Reply #131: Organophosphates

[quaker bill]

are a broad suite of chemicals. Some are designed as pesticides to mimic and supplant biochemicals in the central nervous system, like acetocholinesterace, in a way that blocks this neurotransmitter's function. Some are designed as herbicides which interfere with the synthesis of Chlorophyl in plants. There are many others. As it turns out the mammalian form of this enzyme is sufficiently different from the avian form that a sensitivity to certain organophosphates is very different between them. I actually did take biochemistry, plant and animal cell physiology, and aced all of them.

The point remains that avian species are much more sensitive to some chemicals than mammals. There is tons of research to back this up, I have read the pathology studies. The LD50's are massively different. There are specific histologic markers in the bird's brain and liver tissues used post-mortem to diagnose this sort of poisoning, and they are very sensitive to these chemicals at doses 100 times lower than humans and most mammals.

One need not approve of reality to recognize it.