The fumes of aluminium phosphide can kill silently and invisibly. There is no antidote. Accordingly the product - used to kill rodents and insects in granaries - is banned from household use in the UAE, as in many countries.
And yet, as The National reports today, the stuff is still widely available for sale here - despite a sustained chorus of warnings and a series of tragedies.
Now there has been a new case. More tests will confirm or disprove the theory that aluminium phosphide has killed again, this time in Sharjah.
On Sunday, Habiba Hisham, 2, died and her brother Adbul Rahman, 6, fighting for his life. This newspaper reported yesterday that doctors first suspected food poisoning, and it's easy to see why: vomiting is a principal symptom of both food and pesticide poisoning.
But when officials investigated, they found that the deadly chemical had been used in an adjacent apartment, whose residents were out of town, leaving their front door sealed with tape.
What can match the horror, for parents, of such an unseen, unsuspected menace? Children tucked into bed in the evening are by morning nauseated and close to death - if they awaken at all. If the pesticide is found to have killed Habiba, the horror will be all the greater because while parents are powerless against such a menace, authorities are not.
In Ajman in 2010, Suhail and Ali Bakari, two of three five-month-old triplets died when a neighbour's home was fumigated. Experts warned of an "urgent need" for tighter regulation of retail sales of pesticides.
In May this year, 10 men who shared a flat in Dubai survived in a similar case, although all needed hospital treatment. (Experts say children, with their higher respiratory rates, are at more risk than adults.) That time, too, there were calls for a crackdown.
Officials are trying. This June, after learning of more non-fatal pesticide poisonings and after reviewing a long list of unexplained deaths in which pesticides may have been responsible, Dubai officials warned the public against using any of the 400-plus banned chemical pesticides.
It's not enough. Warnings are appropriate, but far more public education, an energetic hunt for illicit suppliers, and well-publicised prosecutions will all be needed if we are to be safe from the silent killer next door.
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
The Breadwinner
Director: Nora Twomey
Starring: Saara Chaudry, Soma Chhaya, Laara Sadiq
Three stars
Biog
Mr Kandhari is legally authorised to conduct marriages in the gurdwara
He has officiated weddings of Sikhs and people of different faiths from Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Russia, the US and Canada
Father of two sons, grandfather of six
Plays golf once a week
Enjoys trying new holiday destinations with his wife and family
Walks for an hour every morning
Completed a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Loyola College, Chennai, India
2019 is a milestone because he completes 50 years in business
Managing the separation process
- Choose your nursery carefully in the first place
- Relax – and hopefully your child will follow suit
- Inform the staff in advance of your child’s likes and dislikes.
- If you need some extra time to talk to the teachers, make an appointment a few days in advance, rather than attempting to chat on your child’s first day
- The longer you stay, the more upset your child will become. As difficult as it is, walk away. Say a proper goodbye and reassure your child that you will be back
- Be patient. Your child might love it one day and hate it the next
- Stick at it. Don’t give up after the first day or week. It takes time for children to settle into a new routine.And, finally, don’t feel guilty.
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Family reunited
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was born and raised in Tehran and studied English literature before working as a translator in the relief effort for the Japanese International Co-operation Agency in 2003.
She moved to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies before moving to the World Health Organisation as a communications officer.
She came to the UK in 2007 after securing a scholarship at London Metropolitan University to study a master's in communication management and met her future husband through mutual friends a month later.
The couple were married in August 2009 in Winchester and their daughter was born in June 2014.
She was held in her native country a year later.