Facts:

• The use of SGARs without management of trash and other food sources is 100% ineffective according to research according to Dr. Robert M. Corrigan, Urban Rodentologist who wrote Boston Rat Action Plan (BRAP).
• The Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR) reports that over 500,000 pounds of anticoagulant rodenticides are going into the food web used annually in Massachusetts.
• “...SGAR's are proven to not actually result in a decrease in the rat population, there's no end to their use. Therefore, if you do use them, you'll always use them. Using a combination of prevention, birth control, gassing burrows, and other non-SGAR options will actually reduce the rat population to a level where the predators can help maintain a reasonable rat population.” Josh Morse, Newton’s Public Buildings Commissioner
• Bioaccumulation of these chemicals in animals leads to a toxic food web. See studies below on the presence of SGARs in animals who do not primarily eat rodents.
  
• Between 2004-2008, Poison Control Centers in the US received between 10,000 and 14,000 calls each year about children under 6 who were exposed to SGARs (2010, EPA).
• 100% of 43 red-tailed hawks admitted to Tufts Wildlife Clinic tested positive for SGARs and 91% of those had more than one SGAR in their system (2020, Tufts University)..
•  From 2012-2016, 94% of the 3 species of owls* and red-tailed hawks admitted to Tufts Wildlife Clinic tested were positive for at least one SGAR. (Murray, 2017) *barred owls, great horned owls and eastern screech owls
• 100% of red-tailed hawks tested positive for SGARs in their organs at Tufts Wildlife Clinic (source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33405327/ )
• Hundreds of animals treated each year at New England Wildlife Center (source: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ntgGcQ1ieMAU_AuycGoCMPLCivaLj3Uj/view?usp=drive_link)
• 82% of tested bald eagles are exposed to rodenticides (source: Anticoagulant rodenticide exposure and toxicosis in bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) and golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) in the United States | PLOS ONE)
• 98% of deceased fishers in New England tested exposed to rodenticides (source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37857759/)
• Dozens of pet dogs and cats treated each year at MSPCA Angell Veterinary Hospital  (source: https://www.mspca.org/animal_protection/rodenticides/)
• A National study of 303 dead Bald Eagles found that 82% of the sampled birds had been exposed to rodenticides (source: Anticoagulant rodenticide exposure and toxicosis in bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) and golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) in the United States | PLOS ONE)
• 2021-23: Almost 200 people (half were under age 6) were exposed to SGARs in Mass
  (Source: Ex. 68, Mass. Dep’t of Pub. Health, Bureau of Cmty. Health & Prevention, Toxic Exposure Surveillance System Data 2021-2023.)

News and Online Articles

• Breitrose, C. (2025). Snapping Turtle Found in Dead in Watertown from Rodent Poison. In Watertown News. 2025, Aug 29.
  DESCRIPTION: Report of a 30-pound snapping turtle whose death was determined to be SGARs.
• Corrigan, R. (2024) Boston Rat Action Plan Final Report - Part II. 2024, Jun 17.
  DESCRIPTION: Study of rat infestation in Boston, Massachusetts with recommendations on ways to control rats and Integrated Pest Management techniques.
• MSPCA. (2025) . Restricting the Use of Rodenticides in the Environment. Last updated 2025, Aug 27.
  DESCRIPTION: Information on the proposed bill restricting rodenticides in Massachusetts.
• McClure, R. (2010).  "Super-Toxic" Rat Poison Kills Owls. In SciAm. 2010, Dec. 13.
  DESCRIPTION: Article looks at anti-coagulant rat poisoning in barn owls who are bleeding to death from stomach hemorrhages in Vancouver, Canada.
• McClure, R. (2010). Rat Poisons Endanger 10,000 Children Every Year in the U.S. In SciAm. 2010, Dec. 14.
  DESCRIPTION: Article reporting that 10,000 children are exposed to anti-coagulant rat poison. Nearly all of calls to U.S. poison control centers concern children under age six.
  
• Nelson, A. (2020). Understanding the Risks of Rodent Poisons to Birds of Prey. In Tufts Now, 2020, Sept 16.
  DESCRIPTION: Basic information about SGAR poisoning in wildlife and pets as well as the wider implications of the impact on the food web (including insects and songbirds.
  
• Sudborough, S. (2025). Could banning some rat poisons lead to better pest control in Mass.? In MassLive. 2025, Feb 19.
  DESCRIPTION: Article suggests that some of nature's best rodent killers (raptors, owls), are dying from SGAR poisoning. Additionally, SGARs not only aren't solving the problem, they discourage property owners from dealing with the bigger rodent attractant: food refuse.
  

Research References

• Cooke R, Whiteley P, Death C, et al (2023). Silent killers? The widespread exposure of predatory nocturnal birds to anticoagulant rodenticides. In Sci Total Environ. 2023 Dec 15; 904:166293. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.166293.
  DESCRIPTION: This study analyzed liver samples from dead birds of four nocturnal predatory species for SGARs. SGARs were detected (at potential toxicological or lethal impacts) in every species and 92% of birds analyzed. Given species that do not primarily eat rodents have comparable concentrations to rodent predators suggesting that there is broader contamination of the food-web than anticipated.
  
• Murray, M. (2020). Continued Anticoagulant Rodenticide Exposure of Red-tailed Hawks (Buteo jamaicensis) in the Northeastern United States with an Evaluation of Serum for Biomonitoring. In Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. 2020, Aug. 17.
  DESCRIPTION: From 2017 to 2019,. 100% of forty three red-tailed hawks tested positive for anti-coagulant rodenticides. The data in the study show that exposure to SGARs remains widespread in the northeast US.
• Murray, M. (2017). Anticoagulant rodenticide exposure and toxicosis in four species of birds of prey in Massachusetts, USA, 2012-2016, in relation to use of rodenticides by pest management professionals. In Ecotoxicology. 2017 Oct;26. (8) p. :1041-1050. doi: 10.1007/s10646-017-1832-1.
  DESCRIPTION: This study analyzed liver tissue from four species of birds of prey from 2012-2016 for residues of anticoagulant rodenticides (ARs). Ninety-four birds were analyzed and ninety-six percent of all birds tested were positive for SGARs.
• Murray, M. (2011). Anticoagulant Rodenticide Exposure and Toxicosis in Four Species of Birds of Prey Presented to a Wildlife Clinic in Massachusetts, 2006–2010. In Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine, 42(1), 88–97. https://doi.org/10.1638/2010-0188.1
• Memmott K, Murray M, Rutberg A. (2017). Use of anticoagulant rodenticides by pest management professionals in Massachusetts, USA. In Ecotoxicology.. 2017 Jan. 26(1):90-96. doi: 10.1007/s10646-016-1744-5.
  DESCRIPTION: Results from online survey of pest-management professionals (PMPs) across Massachusetts from October to November 2015. Respondents varied in their level of concern and showed a low level of awareness regarding SGAR potency and impact on non-rodent species.