Exposure to this chemical can be potentially fatal or debilitating, but sadly it is not recognized legally as a chemical weapon, and thus is perfectly legal for Western governments to use against the inhabitants of poor developing countries.

Documents released in 2012 by the US Federal Business Opportunities, and recently published by the website Current Events Inquiry, shows that Monsanto provided the Israeli military with 180,000 pounds of white phosphorous which was used on Palestinians in Gaza in 2008 and 2009.

According to the document:

"Over the past 20 years, the majority of the manufacturing of WP moved to China and India because of lower costs and the lack of EPA regulations in those countries. In the 1990s, there were [REDACTED] manufacturers capable of manufacturing WP in the United States; [REDACTED] Because of EPA regulations and foreign price competition, [REDACTED] closed their operations. With only one known producer of WP in the NTIB (Monsanto), the Government's support of this domestic capability is critically important as it reduces the risk to the war fighter in times of national emergency as well as avoiding a potentially dangerous dependency upon a foreign source."

The document also stated that "The Government is aware of only one source, Monsanto, who currently manufactures WP in the US."