Phosphine gas and the importance of personal protective equipment (PPE)

> Fumigators exposed to highly toxic phosphine gas, at concentrations exceeding the accepted standard (0.3 ppm), were shown to have more than two times higher frequencies of gaps, breaks, deletions and total CA [chromosome aberrations] than control subjects or grain workers who may be only incidentally exposed to phosphine and other pesticides.

> A more recent study evaluating MN [micronuclei] frequency in phosphine fumigators after the improvement in technology of storage and fumigation did not show any significant increase in chromosomal damage associated with occupational exposure at concentrations very close to the time weighted accepted standard. The *improvement in practices of use* of a genotoxic compound keeps exposure at levels that do not present detectable genotoxic health risks. 

Genotoxicity of pesticides: a review of human biomonitoring studies
Mutation Research/Reviews in Mutation Research
Volume 543, Issue 3, June 2003, Pages 251-272

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