Chemical Agents of Opportunity for Terrorism: TICs & TIMs

Chemical Agents of Opportunity for Terrorism
Training Support Package
Participant Guide
Slide 41
Chemical Agents of Opportunity for Terrorism:
TICs & TIMs
Fumigants
Applications
• Insect or rodent control in grain storage
• Insect or rodent control in structures
• Eradication of soil pests in farming
Module Four – Cyanide & Fumigants
41
Fumigants are agents used in the home and numerous agricultural and industrial
industries for the extermination and control of a variety of pests (termites, fungi,
nematodes, etc.). A substantial number of exposures to fumigants reported to Poison
Centers are due to the fact that civilians reenter a dwelling before it is safe to do so. A
substantial number of exposures to fumigants reported to Poison Centers are due to the
fact that civilians reenter a dwelling before it is safe to do so.
Structural fumigating techniques differ from building to building, but in houses a rubber
tent is often placed over the entire house while the pesticides are being released into the
residence. This concentrates the gases and prevents them from escaping and doing
harm to people in the neighborhood. During this time the residents of the house must
find an alternate residence for up to a week depending on the fumigant used, which in
turn depend on the severity of infestation and size of the house.
The picture on the left is of a grain storage silo on a farm (potential site for phosphine
use)
The middle photograph shows a house that has been completely tented in preparation
for injection of a fumigant (typically sulfuryl fluoride with a tearing agent, such as
chloropicrin)
The photograph on the right shows a pressurized cylinder and injection apparatus for
soil application in farming (previously usually using methyl bromide).
December 2008 Version 2.0 Page 228