The Mother Who Used Pesticide To Kill Bed Bugs, Poisoned Her Five Children

A mother killed an infant and critically poisoned her four other children in an effort to kill the bed bugs, using an imported pesticide. The incident happened in a four-storey apartment building at 81 Fraser Avenue in Fort McMurray on Tuesday, Feb 17, 2015.

The substance used by the woman in fumigating the apartment is a pellet of phosphine, an agricultural pesticide which is strictly controlled in use in Canada, says the province. James Kehrer, a toxicologist at the University of Alberta, said that the pellet, when exposed to air, react with moisture to release phosphine gas which is often used in fumigating large batches of grains.

Kehrer said that though it kills bed bugs, it is a nasty stuff and should be done only by the professionals. He also added that children are more susceptible to phosphine gas. Though the pellets were mainly spread in one room, a few were seen scattered throughout the house said Brad Grainger, deputy chief of operations for the Fort McMurray Fire Department.

The airborne substance was found at the ground level, imagine the susceptibility of the crawling children, said Grainger. There was a significant exposure. He also explained that room showed a reading of 4 parts per million wherein exposure to 1 part per million for about 15 minutes is lethal. Exposure to phosphine gas of 50 parts per million is immediately lethal.

The children were taken by their mother to Northern Lights Regional Health Centre on Sunday and the eight-month-old infant reportedly died that afternoon. Two children, aged 2 and 6, were taken to the Stollery Children’s Hospital in Edmonton by air ambulance on the same day and two others, aged 4 and 7, remains at Northern Lights Regional Health Centre. The woman’s sister, Shazia Yarkhan, said that her sister is too upset to talk.

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