A pair of New York cannabis cultivators recently paid the ultimate price for a fertilizer selection mistake. Although bat poop or guano has become a popular choice for many due to its rich nutrients, using excrement from the flying critters can be dangerous.
One of them, 59, ordered a bag of bat poo online that he used to cultivate his plants. He smoked the flower it yielded and ultimately met his demise from it.
The other, 64, told doctors that he had planned to use a large quantity of guano left over from a bat infestation in his attic that he had been exposed to. Researchers did not specify whether he used the faeces in his home, but like the younger man, he also died of a bacterial infection known as “histoplasmosis.”
A fungus present in the stool of the winged animals causes this type of pneumonia. An assessment of the two fatalities was detailed in the peer-reviewed Oxford University Press journal Open Forum Infectious Diseases. Both cases occurred in the same part of the state but nothing indicates that the two knew each other or were growing pot plants together.
“Exposure to bat guano among cannabis growers appears to be a recent trend that can lead to histoplasmosis cases and outbreaks,” the University of Rochester scholars concluded in the journal entry.
Both men were smokers and had other health issues/comorbidities.
“Commercial biofertilizers containing bat guano should be tested for Histoplasma capsulatum [the bacteria] before reaching the market, and if testing is not feasible, risk mitigation strategies should be implemented.”
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Bat guano properties differ by region, weed blog says
The Highway 420 digital cannabis journal says that Mexican bat poo has a high quantity of nitrogen while Jamaican and Indonesian guano contain elevated levels of phosphorus. An Oregon dispensary chain is the blog’s author.
Nitrogen is beneficial for the vegetative phase while phosphorus promotes increased bud production during the flowering phase, the blogger says.
Others say that the airborne mammals excrete a cannabis superfood that can help provide improved terpene profiles and rich flavours. The fertilizer can be quite beneficial but it comes with risks.
It may be best to acquire your bat guano from a reputable source instead of scooping it off the floor in your attic like that unfortunate New Yorker had planned. Wearing proper protective gear while handling it is also advisable if you are willing to put your health at risk for top-notch marijuana.
rowan@mugglehead.com
