Nutritional and toxicological effects of long-term ingestion of phosphine-fumigated diet by the rat.

The fumigation of stored foodstuffs with phosphine (PH3) is likely to become widely used in the future because of its technological efficiency and the rapid desorption of the fumigant. In a long-term feeding study of a phosphine-fumigated diet, rats were monitored for weight gain, food intake, plasma chemistry, haematology and urinary changes. Histopathological studies, including organ-weight determinations, were carried out after treatment of the rats for 1 and 2 yr. The results show that ingestion of a phosphine-fumigated diet by the rat for 2 yr does not cause any marked modification of growth, food intake, nitrogen balance, body composition, functional behaviour or the incidence or type of tumours.