Pesticide databaseFumigants and soil disinfectantsChecked 2026-10-01
Aluminium phosphide / Phosphine リン化アルミニウム（ホスフィン）
Fumigants for warehouses and import quarantineRegistered in JapanActive ingredient: specified poisonWHO FMApproved in the EU
Fumigants for warehouses and import quarantine: Control pests in stored grain and imported farm products.
In Japan
- Registration
- Registered as a pesticide (first registered December 25, 1959). 11 formulated products contain it.
- Main registered crops
- cereals, legumes, feed, seeds, barley, wheat and other small grains, corn kernels (maize grain), edible sorghum, coffee beans, cacao beans, sesame and others (9 crop names in the registered uses)
- Toxicity class
- Active ingredient: Specified poisonClasses of the 11 formulated products (diluted products sold): specified poison 11Classes under Japan's Poisonous and Deleterious Substances Control Act.
- ADI (acceptable daily intake)
- No risk assessment report by the Food Safety Commission of Japan was found
ADI: the amount considered to have no effect on health even if eaten every day for a lifetime. ARfD: the amount considered to have no effect on health when eaten at one time (within 24 hours). Both are set by the Food Safety Commission of Japan, mainly from animal studies.
Evaluations abroad
- WHO acute toxicity class
- FM (Fumigant (not classified))Aluminium phosphide=FM / Phosphine=FMBased on the toxicity of the undiluted active ingredient given once, mainly to rats by mouth (LD50 = the dose that kills half; the smaller, the stronger the acute toxicity). It is not an assessment of the safety of residues in food.
- EU
- Approved in the EU (approval expires November 2026)EU ADI: 0.019 mg/kg bw/day; ARfD: 0.032 mg/kg bw
- IARC (carcinogenicity)
- No matching entry in the IARC list (not evaluated or out of scope, including Group 3)
Related explainers
Sources
- FAMIC (Food and Agricultural Materials Inspection Center), pesticide registration information (as of Sept. 30, 2026) (Japanese)
- WHO Recommended Classification of Pesticides by Hazard 2019
- EU Pesticides Database (Aluminium phosphide)
Last checked 2026-10-01. Registrations and evaluations change over time. This page is a translation of our Japanese page; if they differ, the Japanese page is the reference.
Pesticides registered in Japan are approved by the government with set crops, amounts, numbers of applications and days before harvest. This page lists facts stated in laws and in evaluations by public bodies; it does not judge whether anything is good or bad.