After executing the fumigation, we are issuing the fumigation certificate approved and licensed by Dubai Municipality.
Safety Precautions For Phosphine
n addition to the general precautions necessary for all fumigants, special care should be exercised with phosphine to avoid subjecting it to any condition that might produce fire or explosion. It must be stressed that this fumigant can be employed safely under normal conditions of fumigating without undue hazards; fire or explosions are not likely to be produced in conditions normally recommended in fumigation procedures. However, phosphine will react with oxygen to produce Flame or explosion at high concentrations and also over a range of low pressures.
The spontanteous flammability of phosphine is well known. Commercial formulations are designed to release the gas slowly so that the concentration remains well below the flammability level. However, manufac turers advocate caution against any practice that will cause rapid release or allow high concentrations of phosphine to build up.
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- Formulations should never be allowed to come in direct contact with any liquid, particularly water, as this may cause rapid release of the gas.
- No formulation should be used under any condition which will allow the gas concentration to reach the lower level of flammability (1.79 percent by volume). It should never be confined in small gas-proof enclosures, such as plastic bags, nor should it be packed in envelopes or dumped in piles where excessive levels of the gas could build up.
In addition to flammability at 1.79 percent, phosphine can react with oxygen to produce an explosion at lower concentrations if it is subjected to reduced pressures. In carefully controlled experiments with pure materials and very low pressures, phosphine has been found to combine with oxygen in an explosive chain reaction (Dalton and Hinshelwood, 1929). This reaction is promoted by other gases, including nitrogen and carbon dioxide, but it seems to be reduced by moisture.
The possible significance of this reaction to the use of phosphine in recirculation systems is not known at this time. Experimental evidence suggests that the reaction occurs at pressures well below those expected in commercial recirculation systems. however, until all of the conditions that will promote the reaction are known, great care should be taken in any treatment where phosphine might be exposed to pressure changes. Further research and development on all aspects of the procedures, including investigations on the conditions produced in recirculation systems (e.g. pressure changes, the presence of dust and other gases, etc.) are needed before it can be generally recommended.
Symptoms of Poisoning
According to the amount of phosphine inhaled, symptoms may occur immediately or several hours after exposure.
Slight or mild poisoning may give a feeling of fatigue, ringing in the ears, nausea, pressure in the chest and uneasiness. All of these symptoms will normally disappear in fresh air.
Greater quantities will quickly lead to general fatigue, nausea, gastrointestinal symptoms with vomiting, stomach ache, diarrhoea, disturbance of equilibrium, strong pains in the chest and dyspnoea (difficulty in breathing).
Very high concentrations rapidly result in strong dyspnoea, cyanosis (bluish-purple skin colour), agitation, ataxia (difficulty in walking or reaching), anoxia (subnormal blood oxygen content), unconsciousness and death. Death can be immediate or occur several days later due to oedema and collapse of the lungs, paralysis of the respiratory system or oedema of the brain. Disturbances of kidney and liver functions (hoematuria, proteinuria, uraemia, jaundice) and cardiac arrhythmia may occur..