JEDDAH — The Commerce Ministry has started a massive campaign to control the spread of aluminum phosphate, commonly known as phosphane, through raids against shops selling pesticides in all parts of the Kingdom, Al-Watan reported on Tuesday. Phosphane is a colorless, spontaneously flammable, poisonous gas. The campaign was launched following a tweet by Commerce Minister Tawfiq Al-Rabiah, earlier this week asking people to report any shop selling phosphane as an insecticide. The ministry, in a statement it made on Monday, said it had asked all pesticide shops to sign an undertaking that they would not sell phosphane and threatened them with punishment if they did. The ministry said it would continue its inspection campaigns against insecticide shops to make sure they are not selling these harmful chemicals. When subjected to humidity, aluminum phosphate emits a deadly poisonous gas known as phosphane. A documentary film titled "Phosphane" was extensively played on social media to warn people against this deadly chemical, which is originally used to kill rodents and insects. The film, directed by young Saudi director Abdul Rahman Sundoqgi, warns viewers that phosphane may kill them without knowing it. The film tells the story of Omar Attiyah who lost his two daughters, Masarah and Maysarah, after they inhaled the gas used by his neighbor to kill insects. The man almost lost his wife who was saved at the last moment. A medical doctor appears in the film to explain the danger of the gas which changes the red blood corpuscles into a solid matter which is unable to transfuse the oxygen to other parts of the body. He says one gram of phosphane is enough to kill a young child. Lawyer and legal consultant Bassim Alim, who also appeared in the film, describes those who sell the deadly gas as “psychologically ill and criminals.” He says these people are secretly selling phosphane to make more money. Dr. Waleed Fitaihi, a chest consultant, warned against the poisonous nature of the gas and asks people to vacate the house, inform the Civil Defense and go to the nearest hospital when they smell it. "The gas smells like rotten eggs," he explained.
