TFM (3-

trifluoromethyl The trifluoromethyl group is a functional group that has the formula -CF3. The naming of is group is derived from the methyl group (which has the formula -CH3), by replacing each hydrogen atom by a fluorine atom. Some common examples are trifluoro ...

-4-

nitrophenol Nitrophenols are compounds of the formula HOC6H5−x(NO2)x. The conjugate bases are called nitrophenolates. Nitrophenols are more acidic than phenol itself. Mono-nitrophenols with the formula HOC6H4NO2. Three isomeric nitrophenols exist: ...

) is a common

piscicide A piscicide is a chemical substance which is poisonous to fish. The primary use for piscicides is to eliminate a dominant species of fish in a body of water, as the first step in attempting to populate the body of water with a different fish. They ...

, i.e., a

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of ...

poison used to combat

parasitic Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson ha ...

and invasive species of fish. The substance was discovered in 1958 when researching means to combat

sea lamprey The sea lamprey (''Petromyzon marinus'') is a parasitic lamprey native to the Northern Hemisphere. It is sometimes referred to as the "vampire fish". Description The sea lamprey has an eel-like body without paired fins. Its mouth is jawless, ...

s and it remains the primary

lampricide A lampricide is any chemical designed to target the larvae of lampreys in river systems before they develop into parasitic adults. One lampricide is used in the headwaters of Lake Champlain and the Great Lakes to control the sea lamprey (''Petromyz ...

(lamprey-killer) in the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lak ...

area. TFM toxicity has not been thoroughly investigated for humans, but is considered an irritant, respiratory irritant, and toxic by the manufacturer. Toxicity studies of other mammals have generally found it to be non-toxic at concentrations expected to be found in treated areas. Impact on other fish species may be controlled by selective application during the larvae season for lampreys and other management of its concentration. TFM does not accumulate, since it breaks down within several days.

References

Pesticides Agnatha Fisheries science Nitrophenols Trifluoromethyl compounds {{jawless-fish-stub