Thankyou Cannabis Business Times for this rather sad and offbeat story
Two men who used bat poop, or bat guano, as a cannabis fertilizer died from “a rare fungal lung infection” they caught from the bat guano, according to a Dec. 16 report on Live Science. The men, both from Rochester, N.Y., were cultivating cannabis for personal use and “developed a condition called histoplasmosis after breathing in spores of a harmful fungus known as Histoplasma capsulate” from the guano, Live Science reported.
One of the men, who was 59 years old, reportedly bought the guano online to use as a fertilizer in his home grow, though no specific information was given on the product name or company that produced and/or sold it. The other man, who was 64 years old, had found guano in his attic “following a ‘heavy’ bat infestation,” according to the report. It is unclear from the report whether he had begun using bat guano to fertilize his cannabis plants or if he got sick before he began.
“The doctors who treated them said that their deaths should serve as a warning about the potential dangers of using bat guano as a fertilizer for any plants,” Live Science reported. “This may be a particular issue for cannabis growers.”
Bat guano is used by many cannabis cultivators for its nutrient values, specifically the primary nutrients of nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P) and potassium (K), and it is permitted as a soil amendment (as is bird guano) “with restrictions” imposed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, according to an article on the website for the University of Washington’s horticulture-focused Elizabeth C. Miller Library. “They must be decomposed and dried according to the USDA Organic Regulations requirements for raw manure.”
