Melathion: you haven't heard the half of it yet

[Joseph R Parrish Jr <JoeParrish@compuserve.com>]

More on New York City's favorite spray:

Malathion Fact Sheet. Loretta Brenner. Journal 
of Pesticide Reform, Volume 12, Number 4, 
Winter 1992. Northwest Coalition for 
Alternatives to Pesticides, Eugene, OR.


Malathion Fact Sheet
By Loretta Brenner

Malathion is one of the most widely used 
organophosphate insecticides in the United States 
and throughout the world. It is used to control 
pests of agricultural crops, ornamentals, 
greenhouses, livestock, stored grain, forests, 
buildings, households, and gardens. Industrial, 
commercial, and government applications constitute 
most of the annual U.S. usage. These uses include 
schools, hospitals, warehouses, eating 
establishments, food processing plants, and wide 
scale pest control or eradication programs.(1) 

Contributing to its popularity is malathion's 
relatively low acute mammalian toxicity. But like 
DDT and other pesticides that have been found to 
cause irreparable damage to human and environmental 
health, malathion may pose a greater risk than the 
product label would lead one to believe. Shown to 
be mutagenic, a possible carcinogen, implicated in 
vision loss, causing myriad negative health effects 
in human and animal studies, damaging to nontarget 
organisms, and containing highly toxic impurities, 
malathion has a legacy of
serious problems.

*USES*

Malathion was first registered for use in the 
United States in 1956, and 10 to 15 million pounds 
of active ingredient are used annually based on 
1990 and 1991 data.(2) American Cyanamid Co. was 
the first manufacturer of malathion; now there are 
at least 14 primary producers worldwide. The U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) lists 342 
registrants (manufacturers and formulators), and 
1218 products were registered as of 1987.(1) 
Malathion is used in a wide variety of situations 
to provide broad spectrum control of many insects 
and mites, especially household pests, aphids, 
spider mites, and scales. Malathion has also been 
used extensively in eradication programs for 
mosquitoes, grasshoppers, gypsy moths, 
Mediterranean fruit flies, and other pests. 
Malathion is sold under many trade names both alone 
and in mixtures with other pesticides. Malathion is 
applied in ground and aerial sprays, aerosols, 
foggers, baits, paints, pet collars, animal dips, 
animal dust bags, and cattle feed blocks.(1,3) 

*EXPOSURE*

Malathion's widespread use makes potential for 
human exposure high. The National Institute for 
Occupational Safety and Health estimates that 
between 20,000 and 100,000 workers are 
occupationally exposed to malathion in the U. S.(4) 
For example, grain elevator workers in Louisiana 
were exposed to grain dust contaminated with 0.17 
to 32 parts per million (ppm) of malathion.(5) In 
another incident, office workers complained of 
headaches and nausea after working in a room 
adjacent to a pesticide storage shed for a mosquito 
control program. Investigation showed that 
malathion was still evaporating from a wall where a 
pesticide spill had occurred five years earlier.(6) 
In California, where physicians make mandatory 
reports of pesticide-related illnesses, malathion 
was the third most frequently
reported pesticide. Malathion caused five times 
more occupational illnesses, per pound sold, than 
did the average pesticide.(1) (These data are based 
on reports collected between 1981 and 1985.)

Exposure due to drift and overspray can also be 
problematic, as is well illustrated by several 
examples. A homeowner adjacent to a school in 
Arizona sprayed his garden with malathion. The 
spray drifted into the school ventilation system 
and caused nearly 300 elementary school children to 
be hospitalized with headaches, nausea, and 
breathing difficulties.(7) During the 1990 medfly 
eradication spray program in California, two 
baseball diamonds were sprayed while children's 
games were in progress. Most of those present 
reported
sumptoms, including headaches, sore throats, 
irritated eyes, hives, rashes, and nausea.(8) 
Exposure due to household use is also common. In 
EPA's recent home and garden pesticide use survey, 
malathion was the 22nd most commonly used home and 
garden pesticide (out of 78 chemicals reported in 
the survey).(9) Nearly 60 percent of the uses are 
for roses, other ornamentals, and lawns, and 20 
percent for food crops. Malathion was still 
detectable in hand rinsings from a home gardener 
seven days after spraying.(4)

*MODE OF ACTION*

Malathion is an organophosphate insecticide, one of 
a class of pesticides that are highly toxic to 
vertebrates and are chemically related to nerve 
gases used during World War II.(10) Like all 
organophosphate pesticides, malathion kills insects 
and other animals, including humans, through its 
effect on the nervous system. It inhibits an 
enzyme, acetylcholinesterase (AChE), that breaks 
down acetylcholine, a chemical essential in 
transmitting nerve impulses across junctions 
between nerves. Without functioning AChE, 
acetylcholine accumulates, producing rapid 
twitching of voluntary muscles, incoordination, 
convulsions, paralysis, and ultimately death.(11) 
Effects of AChE inhibition on nerve cells in the 
brain appear to be particularly important.(12) 
Malathion can also inhibit liver enzymes that 
affect biological membrane function.(13)

The toxicity of malathion is compounded by its 
metabolites and contaminants. Malaoxon, a 
metabolite produced by the oxidation of malathion 
in mammals, insects, plants, and in sunlight, is 
the primary source of malathion's toxicity and is 
40 times more acutely toxic than malathion.(14,15) 
Over 11 chemical contaminants and analogues created 
in the production process have been found in 
technical malathion.(16,17) These chemicals can act 
synergistically with malathion to potentiate 
(increase) its toxicity. Some of these compounds 
inhibit not only AChE,(18) but other enzymatic 
systems in the liver that would typically detoxify 
the contaminants.(15)

Malathion and malaoxon are more toxic to immature 
than to adult rats, due to a slower rate of 
inactivation of the insecticide in the livers of 
immature animals.(14) Acute ToxicitySymptoms of 
acute organophosphate poisoning in humans include 
headaches, nausea, dizziness, salivation, tearing, 
urination, diarrhea, convulsions, muscle weakness, 
incoordination, abdominal cramps, blurred vision 
and pupil constriction, slowed heart beat, 
respiratory depression, paralysis, and coma.(19) 
Other acute effects of malathion exposure include 
skeletal muscle damage (after inhalation)(20)
and abnormal eye movement.(21) Inhalation of 
malathion may be particularly hazardous. 

In animal studies (rabbit and quail), inhalation of 
malathion caused inhibition of AChE equivalent to 
that caused by an oral dose 15 to 20 times 
larger.(22) The acute oral LD50 of malathion (the 
dose that kills 50 percent of a population of test 
animals) varies between 1522 to 1945 milligrams per 
kilogram of body weight (mg/kg) in rats.(1) If 
humans are as sensitive, less than 5 ounces would 
be fatal to a 70 kilogram human. Effects on skin 
and eyes: Repeated exposure to malathion has caused 
allergic responses in humans, guinea pigs, and 
mice.(23,24) A single exposure to the skin of a 10 
percent malathion solution induced contact 
sensitization in almost half of human volunteer 
subjects, and once sensitized, very weak dilutions 
of malathion (1 ppm) would trigger skin 
reactions.(23) Technical malathion is mildly 
irritating to the eyes,(1) can cause temporary 
visual disturbances,(25) and questions remain 
regarding its ability to produce external eye 
irritation.(25) 

*SUBCHRONIC AND CHRONIC TOXICITY*

Physicians have described longer term effects of 
malathion exposure in humans. For example, asphyxia 
of a pesticide applicator under anesthesia during 
an operation was associated with his exposure to 
malathion.(26) An older man suffered acute kidney 
failure after malathion exposure.(27) In laboratory 
animals, malathion exposure has caused stomach 
ulcers, testicular atrophy, chronic kidney 
disease,(28) increased liver and kidney weights, 
adverse gastrointestinal tract affects,(29) and 
changes in the adrenal glands, liver, and blood 
sugar levels.(30,31) 

*CARCINOGENICITY*

Use of malathion by farmers in Iowa and Minnesota 
has recently been linked to an increased risk of 
one type of cancer, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.(32) 
Risks of the disease were elevated for those 
farmers who had ever handled malathion and 
significantly elevated for farmers who used 
malathion prior to 1965. Risks were greater for 
those treating livestock than for those using 
malathion on crops. In another study, similar 
increased risks were found for Nebraska farmers 
using malathion.(33)

A nationwide study of flour mill employees found a 
significant excess risk of developing non-Hodgkin's 
lymphoma among employees of flour mills.(34) The 
risk rose with increased duration of work. 
Malathion is commonly used in flour mills for 
insect control.The National Cancer Institute (NCI) 
has studied the carcinogenicity of malathion and 
malaoxon in rats and mice. An independent review of 
this study found benign and malignant tumors of the 
endocrine glands, brain, liver, lung, and 
blood.(28) Liver neoplasms were found in mice.(28) 
An EPA toxicologist also found evidence of thyroid 
tumors in rats and liver tumors in mice.(35) Dr. 
Brian Dementi, another toxicologist with EPA, 
concurred and "found that the NCI study indicates a 
positive oncogenic response."(36) In reexamining 
its original study, NCI found dose-dependent 
increases in thyroid tumors in malaoxon-treated 
rats, but no other evidence of carcinogenicity.(37) 
Tumors of the adrenal glands and leukemia have also 
been associated with malathion exposure and rats 
exposed to malaoxon developed benign mammary gland 
tumors.(1)

The cancer causing potential of malathion and its 
metabolites has been the subject of controversy 
since the early 1980s. In light of this, EPA has 
requested three new cancer bioassays from American 
Cyanamid.(25) 

*MUTAGENICITY*

Malathion is mutagenic (causing genetic damage) in 
human, animal, and bacteria cells. Frequencies of 
chromosomal aberrations were significantly higher 
in cotton field workers exposed to malathion and 
other pesticides.(38,39) (The design of the study 
did not permit conclusions about a specific 
chemical.) Increased chromosome breaks and 
aberrations occurred following acute malathion 
human poisonings(40) and in human blood cells 
exposed to malathion.(41,42) Malathion caused 
sister-chromatid exchanges (exchanges of genetic 
material within a pair of chromosomes) in human 
blood cells(41-44) and fetal cells.(45) Malathion 
has also caused mutations in laboratory animals, 
including mice and hamsters,(46-49) and induced DNA 
breakage in the bacteria Escherichia coli.(50)

In some cases malathion induced genetic damage at 
doses far below acutely toxic levels (45,51) and 
effects can be cumulative.(45) Birth DefectsIn 
humans, maternal exposure to malathion during early 
pregnancy possibly caused an almost total absence 
of skeletal muscle in a developing fetus.(52) The 
mother had repeatedly used a hair lotion containing 
malathion for treatment of lice. In the San 
Francisco Bay area, a two-year study examined the 
relationship between aerial sprays of malathion for 
medfly and the occurrence of congenital anomalies 
and low birth weights. The researchers found no 
definitive associations, but they also admit to 
limitations in the data and analysis. However, they 
did find positive associations between malathion 
exposure in individual years and increases in ear 
anomalies, bowing of leg bones, clubfoot, and other 
deformities.(53)

Malathion has also been associated with birth 
defects in domestic and laboratory animals. In 
rabbits, malathion crosses the placenta and acts on 
the central nervous system.(54) Injection of 
malathion into the yolk sac of chicken eggs caused 
reduced growth and weakening of a leg bone,(55) 
increased production of insulin,(56) reduced chick 
weights, reduced hatch, short legs, bleached down, 
nerve damage two to six weeks after hatching,(57) 
sparse plumage, limb shortening, growth reduction, 
and beak defects.(58) Reproductive Effects
Juvenile male rats exposed to daily doses of 
malathion 
had decreased numbers of sperm-forming 
cells.(59,60) In two rat teratology studies, 
maternal exposure to malathion reduced pup weights, 
increased the incidence of hemorrhagic spots on the 
backs of pups, and decreased weight gain of the 
mothers.(25) Doses of 50 and 100 mg/kg/day of 
malathion caused pregnant rabbits to have reduced 
maternal weight gain and greater increases of fetal 
resorptions (dead fetuses absorbed into the mother, 
not aborted); statistically significant increases 
in maternal deaths occurred at all doses.(25) A two 
generation study of male and female rats exposed to 
malathion yielded offspring that weighed less than 
the controls, and had increased susceptibility to 
ring-tail disease.(61) In sheep, malathion exposure 
of pregnant ewes resulted in an increase in aborted 
fetuses, still births, low birth weight babies. 
Longer duration and earlier initiation of malathion 
exposure resulted in more severe problems.(62) 

*EFFECTS ON VISION*

Between 1957 and 1971 Japanese school children 
experienced a tremendous increase in cases of 
myopia (nearsightedness), that correlated with the 
increased use of organophosphate insecticides, 
including malathion.(63) In 1969, 98 percent of the 
children examined from Saku, an agricultural area 
where malathion was regularly applied, had reduced 
visual keenness. Other examples of what is now 
called 'Saku disease' in both children and adults 
were reported throughout Japan where 
organophosphate pesticides were applied. In 
California, a lawsuit is pending on behalf of a 15 
year old boy who was declared legally blind after 
being outside while helicopters were spraying 
malathion. An ophthalmologist and a pesticide 
expert both agree that the boy may have Saku 
disease.(64) 

*DIETARY EFFECTS*

Repeated exposures to malathion produce toxic 
effects in the liver regardless of an animal's 
nutritional status, but malnourished rats, 
especially those on low protein diets, are more 
susceptible to the negative effects of 
malathion.(13,65-69) Malathion was two to three 
times more acutely toxic to rats on a low protein 
diet.(70) This is due, at least in part, to the 
malnourished liver's decreased ability to detoxify 
malathion. According to the researchers, '...people 
sustaining on nutritionally inadequate diets may be 
more prone to the toxic effects of these pesticides 
as compared to those having nutritional 
adequacy,'(69) and they advise assessing the 
nutritional status of a community prior to 
exposure.(69) Behavioral EffectsMalathion blocked 
the ability of rats to learn to climb a pole when a 
buzzer sounded.(71) Learning to avoid a cage that 
gave rats electrical shocks, and the ability to 
remember this behavior, was also impaired by 
malathion.(72,73) In one study, this impairment 
occurred within one hour after exposure without 
significant inhibition of AChE activity.(73) 

*IMMUNE SYSTEM EFFECTS*

Eradication programs for pests such as mosquitoes 
and fruit flies expose thousands of people to 
malathion applied in aerial applications. These 
type of pesticide applications often provoke 
complaints of allergic reactions and flu-like 
symptoms.(8,25,74) In laboratory animals, oral 
doses of purified malathion disrupted immune system 
function in mice at levels far below the dose 
required to cause cholinesterase inhibition.(75) 
This work suggests that malathion can cause 
sensitization and allergic reactions in humans and 
animals.

Impurities present in technical malathion can 
further disrupt immune system function.(76-78) 
These immune system effects may have serious human 
health implications. Stimulation of immune 
responses may increase allergic reactions and also 
cause tissue damage.(77,78) Immunosuppression may 
enhance susceptibility of mammalian systems to 
bacterial, viral, or parasitic infection or 
possible increased tumor formation.(77) Changes in 
immune system functions in animals exposed to 
impurities in malathion may also trigger lung 
damage.(79) Both malathion and the impurities in 
malathion can directly affect one immune system 
function that creates risks for individuals with 
liver damage.(80)

*CONTAMINANTS AND ANALOGUES*

Technical formulations of malathion contain over 11 
contaminants and analogues that increase the 
toxicity of malathion.(16,17,81) These occur as a 
result of the pesticide production process, and 
their formation and concentration is affected by 
secret 'inert' ingredients and pesticide storage 
conditions.(16) These contaminants act to increase 
the toxicity of technical malathion up to ten-
fold.(15,16) Although the concentration of 
contaminants in commercial formulations is usually 
less than five percent, environmental conditions 
can increase the concentration during 
storage.(16,17) In 1976, an epidemic of malathion 
poisoning occurred among 7500 Pakistani spray 
applicators. After hand spraying malathion to 
control mosquitoes, five workers died and 2800 
became ill due to exposure to the analogue 
isomalathion in the pesticide.(82) Storage of 
malathion at high temperatures increased its 
toxicity by increasing the percentage of 
isomalathion and other contaminants in the 
product.(15,16,17,83-87) Other studies have shown 
similar effects during storage. Malathion stored at 
40C for six months was 33 percent more toxic to 
mice than unstored malathion.(82) Exposure of 
malathion to sunlight,(88) high relative humidity 
during storage,(84) and formulation with certain 
clays and surfactants, can increase contaminant 
formation in malathion.(85,88)

Some contaminants directly inhibit AChE 
activity,(18) and exposure to large doses causes 
symptoms similar to organophosphate poisonings.(81) 
At low doses (down to 15 mg/kg) some impurities 
cause a characteristic 'delayed toxic' effect in 
laboratory animals, with death occurring slowly 
days or weeks after exposure.(87-89) In several 
studies, rats appear normal except for weight loss 
from the time of pesticide exposure up until the 
time of death.(77,88-91) Other reported 
complications from mammalian exposure to 
contaminants or analogues include lung damage and 
bacterial pneumonia,(80,91,92) liver damage,(92,93) 
kidney damage,(91) and prolonged blood clotting 
time.(93)

*SYNERGISTS*

The use of malathion in combination with other 
pesticides can increase its toxicity to mammals. 
These synergistic effects are important because 
pesticides are often applied in combination rather 
than alone. In rats single low doses of malathion 
and carbaryl (a carbamate insecticide) increased 
certain enzymes that are indicative of cellular 
damage in the liver.(94) The same combination of 
pesticides reduced the number of live fetuses in 
pregnant rats and also reduced maternal weight 
gain.(95) Combinations of malathion and endosulfan 
(an organochlorine insecticide) are more toxic than 
malathion alone because the combination interferes 
with malathion detoxification.(96) Diazinon 
(another organophosphate insecticide) was also 
shown to potentiate the toxicity of malathion 
causing greater inhibition of cholinesterase in 
rats than malathion alone.(97) 

*RESIDUES*

Based on U.S. Food and Drug Administration residue 
analyses, malathion is the most commonly detected 
pesticide in food products.(98) Malathion residues 
were in 18 percent of the 936 food items tested, 
indicative of its widespread use in many crops. It 
is also commonly found in animal feeds. In 1988, 
EPA estimated that children could be consuming 
malathion residues 1133 percent in excess, and 
adults 507 percent in excess, of the amount 
currently determined not to cause adverse health 
affects.1In produce, malathion tends to concentrate 
in the peel,(99) and may not be readily removed by 
washing in water alone.(100) Peeling, cooking, and 
heat processing reduce residues.(99-101) In one 
greenhouse study, malathion applied at recommended 
rates was easily detected on plant surfaces up to 9 
weeks after spraying.(102) Malathion residues 
increased with storage time in treated wheat, 
barley,(101,103) and rice.(104) Apparently, this 
occurred because the malathion dust used to treat 
the grain adheres to the grains' surface and was 
absorbed over time.

*SECRET 'INERT' INGREDIENTS*

Formulated products of malathion, like all 
pesticides, contain many compounds that are 
classified as 'inert' ingredients and do not have 
to be identified on the label. There is little 
publicly available information about 'inerts' in 
malathion. At least two formulations contain 
xylenes(105,106) and xylene was present in a 
formulation of malathion that resulted in a human 
fatality.(106) Xylenes cause skin, eye, nose and 
throat irritation; impaired memory; liver and 
kidney damage; incoordination; dizziness; hearing 
loss; and fetal death and decreased fetal weight 
gain.(107) 

*PERSISTENCE*

Water: Hydrolysis (break-up of the malathion 
molecule by a chemical reaction with water) is a 
major pathway of degradation of malathion in 
aquatic systems, and increases with increasing 
alkalinity(108) and temperatures.(109) Half-lives 
in water range from 1.5 days(109) to 21 weeks.(4) 
In one river, 30 percent of the initial malathion 
was present after 30 days(110) Degradation by light 
may compete with hydrolysis in certain waters.(4) 
Microbial activity and interaction with sediments 
may increase degradation and are important in 
estuarine environments,(4,111) but high 
concentrations of malathion are toxic to 
microbes.(112) Soil: Malathion is degraded faster 
in soil than in water.(113) Reported half-lives in 
soil range from 24 hours to an average of 6 days,4 
and rates increase with increased moisture and 
decreasing acidity.(113) Hydrolysis and microbial 
activity are both important degradation mechanisms, 
with microbial activity predominating.(114) 
Malaoxon has a half-life of five days in neutral 
soils, but persists several days longer under 
slightly acidic conditions.(115) 

*GROUND AND SURFACE WATER CONTAMINATION*

Malathion does not have the chemical 
characteristics that make it likely to contaminate 
ground water, but it has been detected in wells in 
Ontario (Canada),(116) California,(117) 
Mississippi, and Idaho.(118). Unfortunately few 
comprehensive ground water studies exist, so 
information on the extent of malathion 
contamination of ground water is sketchy. NCAP has 
no reports indicating that testing for malathion's 
metabolites and contaminants has been done. 
Malathion has also been detected in surface waters. 
In California, five of 28 county water systems 
tested were contaminated with malathion(4) and 
storm drains in Santa Clara County (where aerial 
sprays of malathion had been used for eradication 
programs) concentrated malathion and malaoxon, 
eventually draining into San Francisco Bay.(119)

*CONTAMINATION OF AIR AND FOG*

Malathion was detected in 27 percent of the air 
samples from 14 states in 1970, and in 21 percent 
of air samples from 16 states in 1972.(4) In 1987, 
researchers found that fog droplets in California's 
Central Valley and in Maryland were concentrating, 
moving, and depositing pesticides away from their 
original source. Malathion and other 
organophosphates were the most numerous 
contaminants.(120,121) Malaoxon concentrations were 
10 times higher than malathion in non-agricultural 
areas and increased with increasing distance from 
pesticide application sites.(120) 

*SUMMARY*


Symptoms of acute malathion poisoning in humans 
include dizziness, muscle twitching, excessive 
salivation, and urination. Malaoxon,a metabolite, 
has much greater acute toxicity than malathion 
itself. Other contaminants and secret 'inert' 
ingredients can increaseits toxicity. At least one 
'inert,' xylene, is both acutely and chronically 
toxic. Exposure of farmers and flour mill workers 
to malathion is associated with increased risks of 
one type of cancer, and both malathion and malaoxon 
have caused benign and malignant tumors in 
laboratory animals. Birth defects, reproductive 
problems, and genetic damage have been associated 
with malathion exposure in humans and animals. 
Visual disorders, behavioral changes, learning 
impairment, and skin sensitization may also be 
triggered by malathion exposure. Low protein diets 
increased malathion's toxicity in laboratory 
animals, and may be a concern where malnourished 
human populations are subjected to malathion 
exposure. Immune system disruptions due to exposure 
to malathion or contaminants may increase 
susceptibility of mammalian systems to bacterial, 
viral, or parasitic infection,and increased tumor 
formation. Combinations of malathion with other 
pesticides can increase toxic effects.

Malathion is the most commonly detected pesticide 
in food products in the U.S. Over seven million 
malathion products are used in homes, gardens, and 
yards in the U.S. annually. Drift and aerial spray 
eradication programs can expose children to levels 
of malathion that can cause illness.Malathion has 
been detected in ground and surface water, air, and 
fog. Malathion is lethal to beneficial insects, 
snails, microcrustaceans, fish, birds, amphibians, 
and soil microorganisms. Sublethal exposure of 
these species can cause a variety of behavioral and 
physiological abnormalities. 

*REFERENCES*

1. U.S. EPA. Office of Pesticides and Toxic 
Substances. 1988. Guidance for the reregistration 
of pesticide products containing malathion as the 
active ingredient. Washington, D.C.
2. U. S. EPA. Office of Pesticides and Toxic 
Substances. 1992. Pesticide industry sales and 
usage: 1990 and 1991 market estimates. Washington, 
D.C.

<snip>

120. Glotfelty, D.E., J.N. Seiber and L.A. 
Liljedahl. 1987. Pesticides in fog. Nature. 
325(12):602-605.
121. Schomburg, C.J., D.E. Glotfelty and J.N. 
Seibur. 1991. Pesticide occurrence and distribution 
in fog collected near Monterey, California. 
Environ. Sci. Tech. 25(1): 155-160.


========================================================
This article was originally published in the 
"Journal of Pesticide Reform", a quarterly magazine 
published by the Northwest Coalition for 
Alternatives to Pesticides (NCAP). NCAP is a 
nonprofit, regional organization working in the 
Pacific Northwest to provide information about 
pesticide hazards and to promote alternatives to 
pesticides. For information about becoming a member 
of NCAP, or about NCAP's publications and 
information services, please contact NCAP. 

========================================================
| Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides   |
| P.O. Box 1393 Eugene, OR  97440                      |
| Phone: (503) 344-5044                                |
| email: ncap@igc.apc.org                              |
========================================================