NEW YORK (PIX11) – Lawmakers are sounding the alarm over a rat poison sold by street vendors in New York City.
Push Out, a rodenticide, contains zinc phosphide – which becomes a toxic, potentially fatal gas when it gets wet, according to City Councilmember Carmen De La Rosa and public health officials. The warning for the rat poison was issued in Washington Heights, one of the neighborhoods it’s being sold in.
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Flaco, the owl who famously escaped the Central Park Zoo, had ingested three types of rat poison which led to his death, officials previously said. Three dogs were also killed by rat poison in Washington Heights two years ago.
Signs of poison exposure include:
- headaches, dizziness, fatigue, drowsiness
- burning pain in the chest
- nausea, vomiting, cough
- difficulty breathing, chest tightness, tremors
New York City officials have tried multiple ways to decrease the rat population, from dealing with garbage and treating rat-prone areas with birth control to flooding rat tunnels with carbon monoxide…