concerns about diatomacious earth

[muddobber]

Good morning to all; This might be a little long winded ,so please bear with me.I've been using DE in salt water filtration systems for many years with great results. Recently, I started using food grade DE for parasite control on all my livestock and garden.Just about anywhere you go on the web theres references made to studies done by a M.F. Petty DVM. I tried to find these published papers to no avail.I then tried to research DR.Petty, As far as the Alabama Veterinarian assoc. is concerned there has never been an M.F. Petty liscensed,neither is there anyone of that name liscensed with the AVMA. I did however read two published papers on DE. one concerned the pulmanary health hazards associated with the mining and handling of DE (it's worth reading) and secondly a study done on DE as insect control in graineries.(also worth reading). I may be totally wrong, but I don't think there's a DR. Petty. What I do think is that people with good intentions are repeating "quotes" of nonexistant studies. After reading the research papers on the pulmanary issues attributed to DE,I'm not going to use it. I'm a farmer,not a computer user extrodinaire.Maybe someone can solve this mystery

[silvergramma]

i am not a farmer but i have horses ,geese, chickens , llamas, and goats and i use it for deworming on their feed sprinkled on and wetted a little bit to keep the dust down..only use i have for it and it works,, those chemical daily wormers that my first horse was on made his coat coarse and he never looked good ,, so i asked someone i knew very well and they told me about it.. works like a charm and with all the good things i give my 21 year old retired stud he still shines ...

[Anon001]

Personally speaking....

I've never, nor will I ever, put it in any animals feed, unless it was the food grade. However, I will use the other on my vegetables. Since it is not a chemical, it won't absorb through the flesh of vegetables, but it will kill insects.

Putting DE on animal feeds, would eliminate some parasites, but I don't see how it can eliminate parasites that are not in the digestive tract.

The dewormers for daily use are not any good. All they do is help the parasites build resistance over time as they will when exposed to the same dewormer over and over. A good deworming plan calls for rotation in the types of dewormers to keep the parasites from building resistance such as an ivermectin based, or pyrantel, or fendabendazole. Those are the three most common for horse and cattle. Also, for poultry I use piperazine.

Paul

[AlchemyAcres]

Originally Posted by muddobber

Good morning to all; This might be a little long winded ,so please bear with me.I've been using DE in salt water filtration systems for many years with great results. Recently, I started using food grade DE for parasite control on all my livestock and garden.Just about anywhere you go on the web theres references made to studies done by a M.F. Petty DVM. I tried to find these published papers to no avail.I then tried to research DR.Petty, As far as the Alabama Veterinarian assoc. is concerned there has never been an M.F. Petty liscensed,neither is there anyone of that name liscensed with the AVMA. I did however read two published papers on DE. one concerned the pulmanary health hazards associated with the mining and handling of DE (it's worth reading) and secondly a study done on DE as insect control in graineries.(also worth reading). I may be totally wrong, but I don't think there's a DR. Petty. What I do think is that people with good intentions are repeating "quotes" of nonexistant studies. After reading the research papers on the pulmanary issues attributed to DE,I'm not going to use it. I'm a farmer,not a computer user extrodinaire.Maybe someone can solve this mystery

Couple of questions.....

Where did you find reference that Petty's study was an actual published study?

How did you search the Alabama Veterinary Association membership?


~Martin

[muddobber]

In answer to Martins questions, 1st, Having read on different homesteading/animal management sites and publications, the benifits and claims of DE(all refering back to DR.Petty's studies by name)I pretty much assumed them to be published,how else could so many different and varied websites be quoting his work? secondly, What I found out about(or didn't) on DR.PETTY came from their website, When I came up with nothing, I had a vet friend who went to AUBURN and has strong ties with the Alabama Vet Assoc. make inquires. Those of which came back negative. This I do know, Any scientific study requires money,Those who fund such studies require accountability,ususally in the form of a paper showing the process. The real question I'm looking for is WHERE IS THE DATA THAT BACKS UP THE CLAIMS made by those who market DE? All I've found is the same references back to Dr.PETTY. I'd like to close by saying this. When I was a kid some grownup came to the conclusion that a teaspoon of MARVEL MYSTERY OIL taken twice a week purged your body of poisons. This became accepted as fact, and 45yrs. later,the old timers in my hometown still subscribe to it.

[AlchemyAcres]

Originally Posted by muddobber

Good morning to all; This might be a little long winded ,so please bear with me.I've been using DE in salt water filtration systems for many years with great results. Recently, I started using food grade DE for parasite control on all my livestock and garden.Just about anywhere you go on the web theres references made to studies done by a M.F. Petty DVM. I tried to find these published papers to no avail.I then tried to research DR.Petty, As far as the Alabama Veterinarian assoc. is concerned there has never been an M.F. Petty liscensed,neither is there anyone of that name liscensed with the AVMA. I did however read two published papers on DE. one concerned the pulmanary health hazards associated with the mining and handling of DE (it's worth reading) and secondly a study done on DE as insect control in graineries.(also worth reading). I may be totally wrong, but I don't think there's a DR. Petty. What I do think is that people with good intentions are repeating "quotes" of nonexistant studies. After reading the research papers on the pulmanary issues attributed to DE,I'm not going to use it. I'm a farmer,not a computer user extrodinaire.Maybe someone can solve this mystery

Gotcha!!!

Sleuth that I am, hehehe , I did, I think, find evidence of a Dr. M. F. Petty's existence, whether his 'study' is of value or not is another question.

For what it's worth....

There's an article in AcresUSA v.3 1987 "The use of Perma-Guard Fossil Flour in Feeder Pigs"by M.F. Petty, DVM

I'll betcha that's the source of a lot of the info that folks are quoting.

I found this reference to M.F. Petty, DVM in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association‎ back in 1963.

"B. F. Hoerlein, DVM, Ph.D.; AB Few, DVM; MF Petty, DVM ... Few (1961) was a Research Fellow and Dr. Petty (1960) a Student Fellow of the Morris Animal Foundation."

Edited to add:
I found another reference to Drs. Petty and Hoerlein in the 1967 book Veterinary Radiology

HOERLEIN, BF and PETTY, MF: Contrast encephalography and ventriculography in the
dog — preliminary studies. Am. J. Vet. Res. 22:1041, 1961

Is it the same Dr. M. F. Petty in the AcresUSA article and the other references? I have no idea!! LOL

You may want to contact AcresUSA to see if a copy of the article is still available.

http://www.acresusa.com/magazines/magazine.htm


~Martin

[MT4me]

^^^^^ good bit of research there ^^^^


Regarding the pulmonary concerns, DE is mostly silica. You DO NOT want to breath this stuff in. Silicosis is nearly as bad a asbestosis.
I do use it in my garden though and I love the stuff.