Kittitas Valley Hay: Phosphine Fumigant Case Study and Worker Health

This case study examines the health hazards faced by workers in a Kittitas Valley hay processing facility, focusing on the environmental stressors of dust exposure and phosphine fumigation. The study details the potential health impacts, including Farmer's lung and phosphine toxicity, and explores methods for quantifying these stressors, such as gravimetric sampling and phosphine monitoring equipment. The assignment emphasizes control measures, particularly the use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) like CBRN SCBA, chemical-resistant gloves, and totally-encapsulating suits. It also highlights the importance of airtight fumigation conditions, worker training, hazard audits, and compliance with environmental thresholds. The case study references several sources to support its findings, including the CDC, FAO, and WHO guidelines.

Running head: PHOSPHINE FUMIGANT
PHOSPHINE FUMIGANT
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author note:

1PHOSPHINE FUMIGANT
Question 1
The key environmental stressors which can be identified for the workers employed in
the hay factory include dust from the hay as well as the usage of phosphine fumigation.
The environment stress of hay exposure can be categorized as a physical based
environmental stress. The workers of the specified hay factor, when collecting hay from the
environmental, are exposed to the dust from the hay. Such dust particles are often abundant in
minute impurities as well as contains spores of pathogenic air borne microbial strains or fungal
strains such as moulds (Schultz, 2016). Such prolonged dust exposure can result chronic
inhalation by the lungs and result in the acquisition of ‘Farmer’s lung’ – a lung disease
characterized by allergic and pneumonia like symptoms upon inhalation of contaminated dust
from hay, such as arrhythmia, shortness of breath, malaise, dry coughing, rapid breathing and
fever (Cano-Jiménez et al., 2016).
Likewise, the workers lungs are also exposed to chemical based environmental stress
associated with the inhalation of the phosphine fumigant. The phosphine so inhaled undergoes
reaction with mitochondrial enzymes associated with protein formulation resulting in cardiac
muscle disturbances, tremors, cough, restlessness, pulmonary discomfort, drowsiness,
abdominal pain, vomiting, pulmonary edema, vascular collapse and possible cardiac arrest
(Alzahrani & Ebert, 2018).
Question 2
For the purpose of quantifying the prevalent environmental stressors, there is need to
adopt measurement and assessment techniques to calculate the amount of dust and phoshphine

2PHOSPHINE FUMIGANT
fumigants in the air surrounding the hay factory working environment. In order to measure dust,
the technique of gravimetric sampling can be used which involves drawing of a specified volume
of air using a substrate for collection and forwarding the sample for future laboratory analysis
(Basinas et al., 2015). Alternatively, equipment like Dust Meters can be employed which can
measure dust particles ranging in size from 2.5 to 10 micrometers. According to the World
Health Organization (WHO), work environments must aim to maintain negligible dust
concentration less than 10μg/m3 (Xu et al., 2016).
Phosphine monitoring equipment can be used to measure the concentration of phosphine
in the surrounding air. As postulated by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) the
concentration of phosphine fumigation in the environment must not exceed the threshold limit of
0.3 parts per million (Food and Agricultural Organization, 2019).
Question 3
One of the key measures of control which must be considered for implementation for the
purpose of protecting the health and safety of workers in the usage of Personal Protective
Equipment (PPE). In accordance to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),
workers of the hay factory must used PPE certified by the National Institute for Occupational
Safety and Health (NIOSH), which will include Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear
(CBRN) Self Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA), gloves which are resistant to chemicals
and incorporation of a Totally-Encapsulating Chemical Protective Suit (TECP) (Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, 2019). Additionally, the workplace must conduct precautionary
steps and ensure that the fumigation is undertaken within airtight conditions in order to prevent
any leakages. In addition to training personnel on correct usage of PPE and effects of phosphine

3PHOSPHINE FUMIGANT
fumigation, a special workforce can be allocated who will ensure maintenance of precautions and
warn others during fumigation. Further, a timely hazard audit may be conducted to measure
threshold limit compliance and assess air quality measurement monitoring (Glennon et al.,
2018).

4PHOSPHINE FUMIGANT
References
Alzahrani, S. M., & Ebert, P. R. (2018). Stress pre-conditioning with temperature, UV and
gamma radiation induces tolerance against phosphine toxicity. PloS one, 13(4),
e0195349. doi: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0195349.
Basinas, I., Sigsgaard, T., Kromhout, H., Heederik, D., Wouters, I. M., & Schlünssen, V. (2015).
A comprehensive review of levels and determinants of personal exposure to dust and
endotoxin in livestock farming. Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental
Epidemiology, 25(2), 123. doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/jes.2013.83.
Cano-Jiménez, E., Acuña, A., Botana, M. I., Hermida, T., González, M. G., Leiro, V., ... &
Sanjuán, P. (2016). Farmer's lung disease. A review. Archivos de Bronconeumología
(English Edition), 52(6), 321-328. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.arbr.2016.03.018.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2019). CDC - The Emergency Response Safety and
Health Database: Lung Damaging Agent: PHOSPHINE - NIOSH. Retrieved from
https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/ershdb/emergencyresponsecard_29750035.html.
Food and Agricultural Organization. (2019). Manual of fumigation for insect control - Chemicals
used as fumigants (cont.) - Phosphine. Retrieved from
http://www.fao.org/3/x5042e/x5042E0a.htm.
Glennon, D., Caravello, A., Ottmar, S., & Sweet, C. (2018). Web-based phosphine fumigation
monitoring with active sensor validation confirms lethality in stored grains. Julius-Kühn-
Archiv, (463), 975-978. doi: https://ojs.openagrar.de/index.php/JKA/article/view/10913.

5PHOSPHINE FUMIGANT
Schultz, C. (2016). Comparing silo filler disease with farmer’s lung disease. Gen Int Med Clin
Innov, 1(5), 76-8. doi: 10.15761/GIMCI.1000123.
Xu, F., Giovanoulis, G., van Waes, S., Padilla-Sanchez, J. A., Papadopoulou, E., Magnér, J., ...
& Covaci, A. (2016). Comprehensive study of human external exposure to
organophosphate flame retardants via air, dust, and hand wipes: the importance of
sampling and assessment strategy. Environmental science & technology, 50(14), 7752-
7760. doi: 10.1021/acs.est.6b00246.