Rice Pill Poisoning Claims 149 Lives in 2016

The forensic medicine department of Tehran province reported that 149 people died in 2016 due to poisoning from rice pills. The ILNA news agency reported on Sunday, June 7, citing the forensic report, that the number of victims in 2016 increased compared to the previous year. According to this report, in 2015, the number of deaths due to rice pill poisoning was reported to be 113. Of the 149 deceased in the past 12 months, 95 were men and 54 were women. In Iran, a significant number of individuals attempt suicide each year by ingesting rice pills. Aluminum phosphide, commonly known as 'rice pills' in Iran, is a toxic substance typically used for disinfecting rice in storage facilities, and consuming just 0.15 grams of it poses a fatal risk. This pill disrupts the respiratory and cardiac systems within three to four hours, leading to a painful death for the consumer. If a person ingests rice pills or inhales its fumes, they become poisoned, and if the toxin is not expelled from their body, it will lead to their death. According to ILNA, 'hanging and poisoning' from toxins and drugs are also reported as the leading causes of suicide deaths in Iran after rice pills. Previously, the head of the country's social emergency services stated that the increase in suicide-related deaths over the past five years was due to 'lack of oversight on the distribution of rice pills.' Hossein Asadbeigi stated in late September of the previous year that only 500 people in the provinces of Gilan, Mazandaran, and Tehran had lost their lives due to the use of rice pills. Researchers from the University of Queensland, Australia, published a study in 2013 indicating that Iranians are among the most depressed people in the world.