Ann Gabriel | Negosentro.com
Fumigation is the process where the fumigant which is a chemical is released inside the space which can kill the pests. Fumigants are in gaseous state and are released at a particular temperature and pressure. These are highly lethal for pests that destroys goods and spread diseases. Ships and aircrafts that carry goods from one country to another in cargo containers can be the home of many pests. It is thus very important to take up quality container fumigation services for keeping away the pests from spreading diseases in the country.
How infestation occurs in cargoes:
The cargo containers can be the home of various pests which can cause health hazards. Many containers might look clean but have hidden infestation of pests. It is therefore very vital to get the container fumigation services before the cargo enters the country. The reasons why such infestation occurs are:
- The cargo remains closed and therefore the presence of moisture is a possibility. The high moisture can always lead to some serious infestation of pests and diseases.
- The container if not cleared and cleaned properly might still contain previous residues. These residues can provide grim impact to the present items in the cargo. These can lead to transit infestation.
- The place where the container was kept previously before being used now can lead to infestations as well.
Need for fumigation:
Various goods are transported from one country to another over air or water in the containers. The containers are inexpensive and easy way of transporting the goods. But these containers might be infested with terrible pests and diseases. Fumigation is the only way to avoid the pests and diseases from entering the country. With good container fumigation services, it is possible to quarantine the risks of various diseases from entering the country.
Most of the time when the wooden goods or good in wooden packages are exported, fumigation is done. The buyer asks for fumigation and gets a fumigation certificate from the supplier. The supplier hires people to carry out the fumigation and submits the fumigation certificates along with other export documents to the buyer. The fumigation certificate issued by the fumigator is only provided after approval from licensed authority. It is important to fumigate the container before leaving for the journey to other countries. It is not possible to enter many countries without proper fumigation certificate. Infestation can occur on the way and the cargo may need to be re-fumigated by the buyer once it reaches the destination.
Benefits of fumigation:
- Like they say “prevention is better than cure”. It is always good to prevent things from getting worse. Fumigation removes the risk of spreading the illness from pests by elimination them before entering the country.
- Wooden items can have insects which can be dangerous. Hence not only the cargo after transport of timber must be fumigated but also care must be taken with wooden packing materials. These materials must also be treated before exporting in containers.
- It is always better to use fumigation process to kill pests than any other pest control methods. The other options require spraying which might not be effective whereas in fumigation, the gas spreads in all the corners of the container killing all infestations.
Two kinds of fumigants are used basically to carry out fumigation in containers. Methyl Bromide and Phosphine are the two fumigants used commonly. Apart from these two Chloropicrin, Dichloropropene, Methyl Isocynate, Hydrogen Cyanide, Sulfuryl Fluoride, Phosphate, Formaldehyde etc. are also used as fumigants for this process. Because of good infiltrating and fast action feature as well for its toxic nature, Methyl Bromide is preferred over other chemicals as fumigants.
