Cereal Chem 49:258 - 267.  |  VIEW ARTICLE
Phosphorus Residues in Wheat Due to Phosphine Fumigation.

R. Tkachuk. Copyright 1972 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc. 

Treatment of wheat with phosphine-32P (32PH3) under practical fumigation conditions results in the formation of non-PH3 residues. The residues cannot be removed from the wheat by aeration or application of a vacuum. The distribution of residues is 85, 12, and 4% in the bran, endosperm, and germ fractions. A portion (64%) of the residues in the bran can be extracted with water and appears to be essentially hypophosphite (88%) and pyrophosphate (12%). For wheat, residues of approximately 3.3 p.p.m. form at the recommended fumigation level of 6.6 p.p.m. PH3; somewhat higher amounts of residues form with flax and rapeseed.