On 14 October 2002 in St. Vitus village church in Ursensollen, Southern Germany, a seeming routine fumigation resulted in the tragic death of a 39 year old man. A company from Munich was using a subcontractor from Frankfurt to treat woodworm in the roof.
Two families (eleven people in total) in an adjacent house were not evacuated in advance of the fumigation and had no reason to suspect anything was amiss as sulfuryl fluoride, the highly toxic gas used, is odourless and colourless.
The only person to have remained at home throughout the duration of the fumigation started to feel ill by the evening, experiencing nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, and itchiness. The 39 year old father of three was admitted to hospital the following day but after three hours stopped breathing and died of heart failure shortly after. The remaining ten people who had been in the adjacent building all experienced poisoning symptoms.
The company responsible was charged with involuntary manslaughter and bodily harm and received a high fine.
Methyl bromide, an ozone depleter, is being phased out under the Montreal Protocol. Unfortunately many of the replacements being introduced are at least as toxic to humans and wildlife when not applied under strict protocols. Sulfuryl fluoride is one such introduction.
Umweltmedizinischer Informationdienst 1/2004
www.binker.de/Ursensollen.htm
www.taz.de/pt/2002/10/22/a0082.nf/text
www.bistum-eichstaett.de/termine/8441/mehrdazu.htm[This article first appeared in Pesticides News No. 68, June 2005, page 23]