User:Bbayliss2020/Evaluate an Article

Which article are you evaluating?
Malachite green

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?
(Briefly explain why you chose it, why it matters, and what your preliminary impression of it was.)

As a pond owner in Florida, I am interested in educating myself about anti-parasitic, anti-fungal, and antibacterial agents. Through researching treatments for ichthyophthirius, malachite green was referenced several times, as well as caution in using the product. When looking to purchase malachite green, several products (malachite green based therapeutics intended to treat freshwater fish) were identified. However, when the directions for use are compared to one another, the dosages and concentrations vary considerably. This topic is important to the community of aqua culturists because they may be more inclined to use the chemical without full disclosure. Simply stating, "controversial use", is not enough of a deterrent for fish farmers in developing nations. The chemical is an inexpensive cure-all and has been detected in European fish markets through advanced testing.

Evaluate the article
(Compose a detailed evaluation of the article here, considering each of the key aspects listed above. Consider the guiding questions, and check out the examples of what a useful Wikipedia article evaluation looks like.)

The article is short, but very informative. I did not know malachite green was used as dyepacks in bank robberies. For the most part, the article concerns detailed information on the chemical properties of malachite green and its illegal use in fish intended for human consumption. Because fish metabolize malachite green into leucomalachite green, leucomalachite green is the lipophilic molecule that gets absorbed. Although the article does reference several instances of malachite green being present in human grade fishes, the article does not state how much and how quickly the chemical is absorbed, or why the chemical is dangerous in its leuco form. The article needs more information on how the chemical interacts with the fish tissue(s), and how malachite green travels up the food chain.