Inhalational Wheat-pill Poisoning: A Household Chemical Warfare Agent

Wheat pill and its active ingredient aluminum phosphide is one of the emerging causes of poisoning. The areas mainly hit are the ones where agriculture is the leading industry. The mechanism of action involves phosphine gas, which is released when the pill comes in contact with moisture or stomach acid; the resulting free radicals damage mitochondria. The cardiovascular system is the most severely hit with various presentations, including cardiac failure, arrhythmias, and eventually shock. We discuss a case of a middle-aged woman who suffered from inhalational poisoning from wheat pill while she was working in unventilated grain storage.