Fumigation is a method of pest control that completely fills an area with gaseous pesticides to suffocate or poison the pests within. It is utilized for control of pests in buildings (structural fumigation), soil, grain, and produce, and is also used during processing of goods to be imported or exported to prevent transfer of exotic organisms. Pest control refers to the regulation or management of another species defined as a pest, usually because it is detrimental to a persons health, the ecology or the economy. ... A cropduster spreading pesticide. ... Suffocation can mean two things: Suffocation, or Asphyxia, is a medical condition where the body is depraved of oxygen. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Sweet clover (), introduced and naturalized to the U.S. from Eurasia as a forage and cover crop, supports insect biodiversity. ...

Structural fumigating techniques differ from building to building, but in houses a rubber tent is often placed over the entire house while the pesticides are being released into the residence. This concentrates the gases as well as keeps them from escaping and doing harm to people in the neighbourhood. During this time the residents of the house must find an alternate residence for up to a week depending on the fumigmant used, which in turn depend on the severity of infestation and size of the house. Building is either the act of creating an object assembled from more than one element, or the object itself; see also construction. ... Rubber is an elastic hydrocarbon polymer which occurs as a milky emulsion (known as latex) in the sap of several varieties of plants though can be produced synthetically. ... A tent is a shelter, consisting of sheets of fabric or other material draped over or attached to a frame of poles and/or ropes. ... In chemistry, concentration is the measure of how much of a given substance there is mixed with another substance. ... A gas is one of the four main phases of matter (after solid and liquid, and followed by plasma), that subsequently appear as a solid material is subjected to increasingly higher temperatures. ...

Most fumigants are highly toxic to people, and there are many deaths each year.

Methyl bromide was among the most widely used fumigants until its production and use was restricted by the Montreal Protocol due to its role in ozone depletion. The chemical compound bromomethane is an organic halogen compound with formula BrCH3. ... The Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer is an international treaty designed to protect the ozone layer by phasing out the production of a number of substances believed to be responsible for ozone depletion. ... Global monthly average total ozone amount The term Ozone depletion is used to describe two distinct, but related, observations: a slow, steady decline, of about 3% per decade, in the total amount of ozone in the earths stratosphere during the past twenty years, and a much larger, but seasonal...

Widely used fumigants include:

• phosphine
• 1,3-dichloropropene
• chloropicrin
• methyl isothiocyanate
• hydrogen cyanide
• sulfuryl fluoride

Fumigation is a hazardous operation, and generally it is a legal requirement that the operator carrying out the fumigation operation holds official certifcation to perform the fumigation. Fumigation usually involves the follwing phases. First the area to be fumigated is usually covered to create a sealed environment; next the fumigant is released into the "space" to be fumigated; then, the "space" is held for a "set" period while the fumigant gas percolates through the space and acts on and kills any infestation in the product, next the "space" is ventilated so that the poison gasses are allowed to escape from the space, and render the "space" safe for humans to enter. The correct ventilation of the area is a critical safey aspect of ventilation. It is important to distinguish between the pack or source of the fumigant gas and the environment which has been fumigated. While the fumigant pack may be safe and spent, the "space" will still hold the fumigant gas until it has been ventilated. R-phrases , , , , S-phrases , , , , , Flash point flammable gas Autoignition temperature 38 °C (see text) Explosive limits 1. ... Chloropicrin is a slightly oily, colorless liquid of the formula CCl3NO2. ... Flash point −17. ... Sulfuryl fluoride (F2O2S)is a toxic inorganic gas developed by the Dow Chemical Company and sold under the trade name Vikane. ...

Early publication

• W. G. Johnson, Fumigation Methods (New York, 1902)