Gas pills… a common means of suicide in northern Syria
The survival rate in case of taking “gas pills” does not exceed five percent, which made it the most common means of suicide in the regions of northern Syria, which recorded dozens of suicides over the past four years, the majority of which relied on taking these pills.
And “gas grains” or “yield grains,” as they are popularly called in northern Syria, are tablets that are used as an insecticide in order to preserve different crops from decay, but they are now being used as a means of suicide. The veterinarian, Ahmed Haj Youssef, says that these pills are used to sterilize agricultural products, and they consist of aluminum phosphide, from which the highly toxic phosphine gas comes out, for which no antidote or antidote is available.
Hajj Youssef indicates that one tablet contains between a quarter of a gram and one gram of phosphine, and the survival rate after taking it does not exceed 5 percent. In the event of escape from death, the survivor suffers from one of the types of permanent disability. Once exposed to moist air or interaction with gastric juices, the effect of the grain begins, leads to cell damage, and causes the breakdown of mitochondria (which are the energy generators in most cells), which affects blood circulation, in addition to kidney and liver poisoning and heart failure.
Poisoning with this substance occurs either through ingestion or inhalation, and the gas directly affects the bacilli responsible for energy production, which leads to the stopping of the work of many enzymes. It also affects the process of oxidative phosphorylation, which is a metabolic pathway that uses the energy resulting from oxidation of nutrients to produce triple adenosine. ATP phosphate.
Haj Yousef explains, “The symptoms that he feels from ingesting or inhaling the substance include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headache, and stomach cramps, which then develop into shortness of breath, a feeling of heaviness in the chest, coughing, general fatigue, muscle weakness, and an inability to concentrate, with the possibility of Nervous convulsions occur, and doctors must quickly take all measures and first aid, including gastric lavage, conducting analyzes and pictures, and monitoring the patient’s condition, but if he succeeds in saving his life, the person will suffer from encephalitis that may lead to paralysis, loss of speech, or injury renal insufficiency, and disruption of the functioning of part of the liver.
And due to its availability in the market at cheap prices, it has recently been widely used for the purpose of suicide, and it is available in two types, the first is small in size imported from China and has a caliber of 56 grams. It is packed in tubes, and each tube contains 20 pills, and each pill weighs 3 grams. Its size is large and comes in a caliber of 57 grams, but its concentration is higher and stronger. As for the source of these types, it is either Chinese or Indian, and the prices of Chinese are usually more expensive than Indian and are desired by customers because of its quality. These pills enter northern Syria through Bab al-Hawa by local companies, and are sold in pharmacies and food stores.
Haj Youssef states that the de facto authorities prevented the sale of gas pills in shops and food stores, and restricted it to pharmacies only, adding that they conduct supply control patrols to inspect the stores, and they have caught several violations, and the perpetrators have been referred to a specialized committee. He says, “We issued a decision to prevent the circulation of gas pills so that they are not used in a wrong place, and we developed a plan for this matter, and we are now implementing it, and we have achieved good results.”
Tablets are used to sterilize agricultural crops (Loay Bishara/AFP)
The Syrian veterinarian stresses the importance of limiting the circulation of these pills through the imposition by the local authorities of strict control over their sale in non-pharmacies, and restricting them to farmers after writing down their names and numbers according to an approved sale receipt, pointing out that their cheap price makes them easy to trade, as the price of a pack that weighs kilograms and contains 350 tablets, about $10.
In turn, agricultural engineer Alaa Al-Khalil told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that this type of pesticide is prohibited from being manufactured in many countries of the world, especially European countries, but its manufacture is common in China and India, pointing out that it is available in most countries, and is used to combat the spread of pesticides. Insect pests in grain crops such as wheat, barley and corn, in addition to sterilizing grain warehouses to eliminate insects, such as small grain borers (storage insects), grain leaf beetles, and grain and flour moths. It is also used to eliminate rodents.
He adds that “this pesticide is only used by specialized people who know how to use it,” pointing out that certain procedures are followed during the warehouse sterilization process, including wearing gloves, masks, glasses, and wearing insulating clothing. We also close the warehouses completely. When the tablets are thrown on the ground, they interact with the relatively humid air, and this interaction generates phosphine gas, which poisons humans, insects and other mammals.”
The tablets must be kept out of the reach of children (Rami El-Sayed / Getty)
Al-Khalil continues, “This pesticide is available in agricultural and veterinary pharmacies, because farmers and grain merchants need it and use it to sterilize their crops. It is also required by owners of bakeries and flour warehouses.” He points out that some housewives use it to keep mortar in homes, despite the danger of using it in homes, especially since many people do not know what this pesticide is and how to use it. This randomness is related to its availability at a cheap price in the shops. Its use should be limited to agricultural technicians or agricultural extension units,” indicating that it is prohibited in form only.
On the other hand, a specialist in psychotherapy, Majed Fahim, tells Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that the imbalance in family and marital relations, the absence of social support, unemployment, poor economic conditions, alcohol and drug addiction, sudden psychological crises and stresses, and the frequent use of social media and the Internet All of these are factors that encourage suicide, in addition to the circumstances of war, displacement, and scenes of killing, torture, and destruction. In the absence of supervision of children, it is easy to obtain narcotic substances and thus addiction, which may lead to suicide.
Among the suicide incidents that were recently recorded in the countryside of Idlib by using gas pills, activist Muhammad al-Maarawi told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed about the suicide of a displaced woman residing in the city of Maarat Misrin in the northern countryside of Idlib, after she took a gas pill. He adds, “Many cases of suicide using gas pills have been recorded in northwestern Syria,” pointing out that it is an easy-to-access method that anyone thinking of committing suicide can use without the people around him noticing. He adds: “There must be strict control or prevention.” Importing this type of pesticide, given that the chances of survival for those who attempt to use it by suicide are almost non-existent, unlike other methods that may draw attention.
It is noteworthy that the “Syrian Response Coordinators” team recorded 88 suicide attempts in northern Syria in 2022, of which 33 failed, compared to only 25 suicide attempts in 2021.
Statistics indicate that the number of deaths around the world due to the use of pesticides ranges between 250 and 370 thousand people, and that it was the first responsible for a third of suicides around the world in 2018. Doctors and pesticide specialists warn of the presence of grain crops in homes, especially in the event that The presence of children in the house, as children can accidentally swallow it, and it may lead to their death instantly.
In 2021, Save the Children International expressed its deep concern about the sharp rise in the number of suicide attempts in northwestern Syria, especially among children, explaining that one out of every five recorded suicide attempts is for children.
2023-08-25 23:06:05
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