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Aluminium phosphide poisoning

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Aluminium Phosphide tablets.

Aluminium phosphide poisoning is poisoning that occurs as a result of excessive exposure to aluminium phosphide (AlP), which is readily available as a fumigant for stored cereal grains and sold under various brand names such as QuickPhos, Salphos and Celphos. Aluminium phosphide is highly toxic, especially when consumed from a freshly opened container.[1][2] Acute aluminium phosphide poisoning (AAlPP) is a large though under-reported problem throughout the world, particularly in the Indian subcontinent.

Signs, symptoms, and diagnosis

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After ingestion, toxic features usually develop within a few minutes. The major lethal consequence of aluminium phosphide ingestion is profound circulatory collapse, and is reportedly secondary to these toxins generated, which lead due to direct effects on cardiomyocytes,[3] fluid loss, and adrenal gland damage.[4] The signs and symptoms are non-specific, dose dependent and evolve with time passing. The dominant clinical feature is severe hypotension refractory to dopamine therapy.[5] Other features may include dizziness, fatigue, tightness in the chest, headache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, ataxia, numbness, paraesthesia, tremor, muscle weakness, diplopia and jaundice.[6][7][8][9] If severe inhalation occurs, the patient may develop acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), heart failure, arrhythmias, convulsion and coma. Late manifestation include liver and kidney toxicities.[6][7][8][9] Death can result from profound shock, myocarditis and multi-organ failure.[10]

The diagnosis of AAlP usually depends on the clinical suspicion or history (self-report or by attendants). In some nations, tablets of AlP are also referred to as "rice tablets" and, if there is a history of rice tablet ingestion, then it should be treated differently from other types of rice tablets that are made up of herbal products.[11] For a silver nitrate test on gastric aspirate, diluted gastric content can be positive.[4]

Mechanism of toxicity

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The toxicity of aluminium phosphide is attributed to the liberation of phosphine gas, a cytotoxic compound that causes free radical mediated injury, inhibits vital cellular enzymes and is directly corrosive to tissues. The following reaction releases phosphine when AlP reacts with water in the body:

AlP + 3 H2O → Al(OH)3 + PH3, and
AlP + 3 HCl → AlCl3 + PH3 (stomach)

Management and outcome

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The management of AAlPP remains purely supportive because no specific cure exists.[12] Mortality rates approach 60%. Correction of metabolic acidosis is a cornerstone of treatment.[13] The role of magnesium sulfate as a potential therapy in AlP poisoning may decrease the likelihood of a fatal outcome, and has been described in many studies.[10][9]

Prognosis

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Aluminium phosphide has a fatal dose of between 0.15 and 0.5 grams (0.0053 and 0.0176 oz).[14] The mortality rates from AAlPP vary from 35 to 85 percent.[15] The actual numbers of cases may be much larger, as less than five percent of those with AAlPP eventually reach a tertiary care center.[10] Since 1992, when aluminium phosphide became freely available in the market, it had, reportedly, overtaken all other forms of deliberate poisoning, such as organophosphorus and barbiturate poisoning, in North India.[16] In a 25-year-long study on 5,933 unnatural deaths in northwest India, aluminium phosphide poisoning was found to be the major cause of death among all cases of poisonings.[17]

Incidents

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It has been reported to be the most common method of suicidal death in North India.[18][19]

Deaths have also been reported in Iran.[20]

In January 2017, four children died at a trailer park in Amarillo, Texas, after the pesticide was used under the home to kill rats.[21]

Several incidents of death in travelers in Thailand and other parts of Southeast Asia may have been caused by aluminum phosphide or chlorpyrifos, an organophosphate insecticide, used in an attempt to kill bedbugs in hotels.[22][23]

On November 16 2019, 2 children and an adult were killed in Timișoara, Romania, after the residential complex they were living in had been improperly vented after fumigation with AlP. It was later found there were other cases in the country that could have been linked to the misuse of this chemical.[24]

In February 2020, aluminum phosphide poisoning resulted in one death and three serious injuries aboard a cargo ship traveling near France,[25] as the result of a botched fumigation procedure.[26]

In December 2021, an 11-year old girl died in London and another child was seriously injured by phosphine inhalation after a neighbour used illegally imported aluminum phosphide tablets in an attempt to remove a bedbug infestation in an apartment building. [27]

The CDC has classified phosphine as immediately dangerous to life at 50 parts per million.[28] In a study from Saudi Arabia, poisoning was most common during fumigation of households.[29]

References

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  1. ^ Chugh, SN; Dushyant; Ram, S; Arora, B; Malhotra, KC (1991). "Incidence & outcome of aluminium phosphide poisoning in a hospital study". The Indian Journal of Medical Research. 94: 232–5. PMID 1937606.
  2. ^ Singh S, Singh D, Wig N, Jit I, Sharma BK (1996). "Aluminum phosphide ingestion—a clinico-pathologic study". J Toxicol Clin Toxicol. 34 (6): 703–6. doi:10.3109/15563659609013832. PMID 8941200.
  3. ^ Chugh, SN; Pal, R; Singh, V; Seth, S (1996). "Serial blood phosphine levels in acute aluminium phosphide poisoning". The Journal of the Association of Physicians of India. 44 (3): 184–5. PMID 9251315.
  4. ^ a b Gurjar, Mohan; Baronia, Arvind K; Azim, Afzal; Sharma, Kalpana (2011). "Managing aluminum phosphide poisonings". J Emerg Trauma Shock. 4 (3): 378–384. doi:10.4103/0974-2700.83868. PMC 3162709. PMID 21887030.
  5. ^ Chugh SN, Kumar P, Aggarwal HK, Sharma A, Mahajan SK, Malhotra KC (1994). "Efficacy of magnesium sulphate in aluminium phosphide poisoning--comparison of two different dose schedules". J Assoc Physicians India. 42 (5): 373–5. PMID 7829435.
  6. ^ a b Goel, A; Aggarwal, P (2007). "Pesticide poisoning". The National Medical Journal of India. 20 (4): 182–91. PMID 18085124.
  7. ^ a b Sudakin, DL (2005). "Occupational exposure to aluminium phosphide and phosphine gas? A suspected case report and review of the literature". Human & Experimental Toxicology. 24 (1): 27–33. Bibcode:2005HETox..24...27S. doi:10.1191/0960327105ht496oa. PMID 15727053. S2CID 35539870.
  8. ^ a b Gupta, S; Ahlawat, SK (1995). "Aluminum phosphide poisoning—a review". Journal of Toxicology. Clinical Toxicology. 33 (1): 19–24. doi:10.3109/15563659509020211. PMID 7837309.
  9. ^ a b c Gurjar, Mohan; Azim, Afzal; Baronia, Arvindk; Sharma, Kalpana (2011). "Managing aluminum phosphide poisonings". Journal of Emergencies, Trauma, and Shock. 4 (3): 378–84. doi:10.4103/0974-2700.83868. PMC 3162709. PMID 21887030.
  10. ^ a b c Mathai, Ashu; Bhanu, Madhuritasingh (2010). "Acute aluminium phosphide poisoning: Can we predict mortality?". Indian Journal of Anaesthesia. 54 (4): 302–7. doi:10.4103/0019-5049.68372. PMC 2943698. PMID 20882171.
  11. ^ Mehrpour, O; Singh, S (2010). "Rice tablet poisoning: A major concern in Iranian population". Human & Experimental Toxicology. 29 (8): 701–2. Bibcode:2010HETox..29..701M. doi:10.1177/0960327109359643. PMID 20097728. S2CID 37380994.
  12. ^ Gurjar, Mohan; Azim, Afzal; Baronia, ArvindK; Sharma, Kalpana (2011). "Managing aluminum phosphide poisonings". Journal of Emergencies, Trauma, and Shock. 4 (3): 378–84. doi:10.4103/0974-2700.83868. PMC 3162709. PMID 21887030.
  13. ^ Wiwanitkit, Viroj (2009). "Aluminum phosphide poisoning". Indian Journal of Critical Care Medicine. 13 (3): 171. doi:10.4103/0972-5229.58547. PMC 2823103. PMID 20040819.
  14. ^ A Wahab; MS Zaheer; S Wahab; RA Khan. "Acute aluminium phosphide poisoning: an update" (PDF). Hong Kong Journal of Emergency Medicine: 152.
  15. ^ Chugh, SN; Dushyant; Ram, S; Arora, B; Malhotra, KC (June 1991). "Incidence & outcome of aluminium phosphide poisoning in a hospital study". The Indian Journal of Medical Research. 94: 232–5. PMID 1937606.
  16. ^ Singh, D; Jit, I; Tyagi, S (1999). "Changing trends in acute poisoning in Chandigarh zone: A 22-year autopsy experience from a tertiary care hospital in northern India". The American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology. 20 (2): 203–10. doi:10.1097/00000433-199906000-00019. PMID 10414665.
  17. ^ Singh, D; Dewan, I; Pandey, AN; Tyagi, S (2003). "Spectrum of unnatural fatalities in the Chandigarh zone of north-west India—a 25 year autopsy study from a tertiary care hospital". Journal of Clinical Forensic Medicine. 10 (3): 145–52. doi:10.1016/S1353-1131(03)00073-7. PMID 15275009.
  18. ^ Bogle, RG; Theron, P; Brooks, P; Dargan, PI; Redhead, J (2006). "Aluminium phosphide poisoning". Emerg Med J. 23 (1): e3. doi:10.1136/emj.2004.015941. PMC 2564148. PMID 16373788.
  19. ^ Siwach, SB; Gupta, A (1995). "The profile of acute poisonings in Harayana-Rohtak Study". The Journal of the Association of Physicians of India. 43 (11): 756–9. PMID 8773034.
  20. ^ Etemadi-Aleagha, Afshar; Akhgari, Maryam; Iravani, Fariba Sardari (September 2015). "Aluminum Phosphide Poisoning-Related Deaths in Tehran, Iran, 2006 to 2013". Medicine. 94 (38): e1637. doi:10.1097/MD.0000000000001637. PMC 4635777. PMID 26402837.
  21. ^ "4 children killed after pesticide released toxic gas underneath their home, police say". Washington Post. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
  22. ^ "Pesticide in Alberta deaths may have killed Quebec sisters in Thailand in 2012". theglobeandmail.com/. 2 March 2015. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
  23. ^ "Potent bed bug poison may have killed Canadian tourist, friend in Vietnam". news.nationalpost.com/. 19 September 2012. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
  24. ^ "Tragedia de la Timișoara, Substanța toxică ucide de 12 ani oameni în România". EvZ. 26 November 2019. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  25. ^ "PHOSPHINE GAS POISONING - FRANCE: FATAL". promed (Mailing list). ProMED-mail. 14 February 2020. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  26. ^ "4 crew poisoned by fumigation, 1 died, France". Fleetmon. 14 February 2020. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  27. ^ "Girl, 11, died on her birthday after London neighbour used bedbug poison". The Guardian. 18 July 2024. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  28. ^ "Phosphine". The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
  29. ^ Alnasser, Sulaiman; Hussain, Shalam M.; Kirdi, Tamader Saeed; Ahmed, Ali (July 2018). "Aluminum phosphide poisoning in Saudi Arabia over a nine-year period". Annals of Saudi Medicine. 38 (4): 277–283. doi:10.5144/0256-4947.2018.277. ISSN 0975-4466. PMC 6086675. PMID 30078026.
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