Pesticides for fumigation with relevance for animal feed

Fumigation is the process of pest control using gaseous pesticides in closed areas. Such pesticides are referred to as fumigants. Pesticides such as fumigants or its residues might have an impact on animal feed safety. In the case of fumigants the gas disperses through out the animal feed, hence the questions:• Which fumigants are likely to be present in containers used for shipment, or other means of transport or storage, of feed and feed materials?• Which of these should be prioritised in the light of animal feed safety? Apart from looking for authorised or approved fumigants in official databases, also a search for relevant fumigants was performed in scientific literature. Presence of a fumigant in either source was considered as an indication of potential use, and as a result, of a potential presence of residues in feed. A total of 34 active ingredients was found in pesticides used as fumigants. Eleven of those were found in the Ctgb database (the Dutch Board for the Authorisation of Plant Protection Products), and 23 in scientific literature using specific search criteria. A shortlist was made of 13 fumigants based on considerations such as presence of an EU maximum residue level (which considers both toxicology and good agricultural practice), feed relevance, information on historical or intended use. This shortlist consists of the following substances: aluminium phosphide, magnesium phosphide, sulfurylfluoride, hydrogen cyanide, ethylene oxidemethylbromide, 1,3-dichloropropene, metam-sodium, 1,2-dichloroethane (ethylene dichloride), carbon tetrachloride, 1,2-dichloropropane (trimethylene dichloride), 1,2-dibromoethane (ethylene dibromide), andchloropicrin. It is recommended to use this shortlist with high priority regarding animal feed safety, and hence for inclusion in monitoring, after method development where needed.