WATCH ABOVE: Fort McMurray’s fire department confirms the chemical involved an accidental spill was phosphine- a toxic insecticide that can be used to treat household pests, like bed bugs. As Jessica Kent explains, one exterminator says phosphine is so poisonous, he prefers not to use it at all.
EDMONTON — Emergency officials say phosphine, a poisonous substance usually used as an insecticide, was detected in the Fort McMurray apartment from which five children were taken to hospital Sunday.
Brad Grainger, deputy chief of operations for the Fort McMurray fire department, said the family brought the insecticide, which is similar to aluminium phosphide pellets used in North America, home from Pakistan, where they were on vacation about 10 days ago.
READ MORE: What poisoned 5 children in Fort McMurray?
The pellets, when put into fumigator, emit a phosphine gas, which can be toxic.
“We’re not sure how long the family was exposed,” Grainger said. “The younger that you are, the more susceptible you can be.”
One of the children, an eight month old, died after being taken to hospital suffering from exposure to the substance.
Two other children, ages two and six, were airlifted to the Stollery Children’s Hospital in Edmonton. Two more children, ages four and seven, remain in hospital in Fort McMurray.
As of Monday morning RCMP said the children were all in critical condition. Their genders have not yet been released.
“The mother of the deceased child is also in hospital in Fort McMurray and she is under observation. The father is in Edmonton with the other children,” said Cpl. George Cameron, Wood Buffalo RCMP.
The family has requested names not be released.
A funeral for the youngest child will take place Thursday at Al Rashid mosque in Edmonton.
A hazardous materials team has been testing the air quality in the apartment unit and monitoring the conditions in the surrounding units.
Officials confirmed there was between 3.8 to 4.0 parts per million phosphine detected in the apartment at 1 p.m. Monday. They said all other units were safe.
Phosphine is a chemical regulated by the federal government. Daily exposure to the chemical at a level of 0.3 ppm is considered “acceptable.” It would pose an immediate threat to life at 50 ppm.
“These products are extremely, extremely toxic. I cannot stress that enough,” said Nicholas Holland with Peregrine General Pest Control in Calgary. “Statistically speaking, it’s always the young, the elderly and the sick that are affected first by misapplication of chemical.”
“Phosphate is a fumigant and it’s extremely toxic to all mammals.”
“These sorts of products would be used to treat insect issues say in wheat or cereal products,” Holland explained. “A typical fumigation would be done in a commercial setting… there’s a whole host of health and safety issues that have to be met.”
The incident happened at Hearthstone Manor, a four-story apartment building at 81 Fraser Ave., near downtown Fort McMurray.
Building manager Sandy Mijajlovic told Global News that the family had just returned from a month-long vacation to Pakistan, and that the father is a taxi driver.
The property manager said their mother grew concerned when they started vomiting. Sandy Mijajlovic said she spoke to the mother Monday morning.
“She doesn’t know yet why it’s happened, what’s happened. It’s a difficult situation,” said Mijajlovic.
“I know the kids … I see them. It’s not easy to see someone pass away. It’s such a small baby.”
Wood Buffalo RCMP were called just after 3 p.m. Sunday to help firefighters evacuate the first floor of the apartment building.
The fire department was there after getting a call about an unknown substance that may have spilled in one of the units. RCMP believe whatever happened was an accident, however the investigation into the sudden death is ongoing.
“Like any investigation that we do, we have to look at everything involved; everything surrounding it.
“But I can say that it appears at this point in the investigation, this is not an intentional incident. It was more accidental,” said Cpl. Cameron.
Emergency services planned to evacuate the entire building, however air quality testing determined that was not necessary. Those who were evacuated were allowed back inside around 6:30 p.m.
With files from The Canadian Press
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