April 8, 2010
When you call an exterminator, you expect them to help you get rid of pests. You don’t expect that your children will be exterminated in the process.

That is precisely what happened to 15-month-old Rachel Toone and her 4-year-old sister, Rebecca. The two siblings died three days apart after battling for their life in the intensive care unit of a hospital. Both were poisoned after breathing in high levels of phosphorus at their home in February.

They inhaled the toxic chemical after an exterminator dropped Fumitoxin Aluminum Phosphide pellets in burrow holes on the Toone Family’s lawn on February 5th, in order to kill some small rodents known as voles. A medical examiner’s report found that the girls had elevated levels of phosphorus in their systems and
damaged lungs that would be consistent with inhaling a harmful substance.

Everyone in the Toone family had gotten sick after the exterminator’s treatment. This included the girl’s father, Nathan, mother Brena, 9-year-old sister Cassidy and 7-year-old brother Braden. Perhaps because of the two younger children’s size and stature, it was just too much to overcome. Younger children have more sensitive organs and breathe in more toxins relative to body weight, both because of their size and respiration rates, which makes younger ones more vulnerable to toxins than older children or adults.

Ray Wilson, the owner of the pest control company, said that if he had known his employee used Fumitoxin so close to the house, he would have told the family to get out. Prosecutors were trying to decide whether or not to bring charges in the case, which could range from misdemeanor negligent homicide to felony homicide. (About a month later they did file charges.)

Following the girls’ deaths, the EPA issued new regulations which ban the use of aluminum and magnesium phosphide fumigants at residential areas and schools, with the exception of athletic fields, where they can still be used. Previous regulations only banned their use within 15 feet of a home. The chemicals will also no longer be available to the public, and sales issued only to licensed exterminators.

-About PhosphateI.
Phosphine is a colorless gas. It emits a fishy or garlicky odor when aluminum phosphide pellets come into contact with moisture. Inhalation is the primary method of exposure, though it can also occur during handling.

Exposure to phosphine will cause abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting. At high levels, it can cause weakness, bronchitis, excess fluid buildup in the lungs, shortness of breath, convulsions, and ultimately death.