Posted on 10/25/2009 3:53:18 PM PDT by JoeProBono
BOSTON (AP) -- Six Harvard University medical researchers were poisoned in August after drinking coffee that was laced with a chemical preservative, according to university officials.
In an internal memo first reported in the Boston Herald's Sunday editions, the school said the coffee came from a machine near their lab that later tested positive for sodium azide, a common preservative used in labs.
(Excerpt) Read more at hosted.ap.org ...
Hmmm, this may or may not be connected to the growing list of scientists being killed.
Yes, I’ve been watching this incident online.
Waiting for more details.
THANKS for the ping rdl6989 and starting this thread.
“The coffee came from a machine near their lab that later tested positive for sodium azide, a common preservative used in labs.”
IIRC, sodium azide is also the stuff that makes airbags go “POOF” in a crash.
Sodium Azide, NaN3, mol wt 65.02, CAS Number 26628-22-8, is a colorless, odorless, crystalline solid (salt-like) or solution. It is soluble in water or liquid ammonia, slightly soluble in alcohols, and insoluble in ether. It is highly toxic and presents a severe explosion risk when shocked or heated. When heated from 275 to 330°C in dry air, the solid crystals decompose with the evolution of nitrogen gas, leaving a residue of sodium oxide. Sodium hydroxide then forms in moist air. Synonyms and Trade Names are Azide, Azium, and Sodium salt of hydrazoic acid.
http://www.ehs.neu.edu/hazardous_waste/fact_sheets/sodium_azide/
?
I think he means the two British nuclear scientists who fell to their deaths in the past few months....at the UN
Off Thread Topic...
It’s a key word:
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/deadscientists/index?tab=articles
Another freeper has a longer list of scientists over the last few years who’s deaths may be considered suspicious. I’m not sure who it is but Cindy may know.
Thanks Cindy!
Obama thought he had tainted coffee during his golf round this morning.....but it was only one of his pals putting some cognac in it while he wasn’t looking. Those golf buddies can be real jokers, huh?
You’re welcome.
#
OFF THREAD TOPIC
Trivia Note: The “dead scientists” topic is found to be a subject of interest which is not unique to FreeRepublic.com.
http://www.keywordspy.com/organic/keyword.aspx?q=dead%20scientist
Just don’t put bacon into his quiche — that would be unthinkable.
Send him a bag of pork rinds...
I wonder which Haarvaardvark put the sodium azide into the coffee maker?
What would be funny is if after doing it, he forgot about it and had some of his own coffee.
Could be a lack of backflow prevention assembly back in the lab (or somewhere else in the system). These things are usually connected to the building plumbing system.
I doubt it. Lab buildings are equipped with 2 water supplies; one is labeled something like "Non-potable" and distributed within the labs (in case someone causes a back-flow problem in a lab). The other is run to bathrooms, drinking fountains, break room sinks, etc.
This sounds like an inside job. That wouldn't be the first time such an incident has occurred. I read about an incident several years ago in La Jolla, where a researcher got mad at his colleagues and put monomeric acrylamide into the coffee maker. Acrylamide in the monomeric form is a potent neurotoxin. Several scientists who drank the coffee suffered permanent brain damage.
Somewhere along the line, all the bldg water supply plumbing connects to the domestic (public, potable) water supply coming in from the purveying utility. Lines designated as ‘non-potable’ for lab use need an appropriate BFPA at the connection to the potable system. which could be as simple as an air gap.
Or it could be someone injected this stuff on the intake line feeding the coffee machine...
As long as babies aren’t getting sick from tainted holy water.
Looks to me like some whacked out “animal rights” activist.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jVABXtFXWReqUgbmnqa2mkpb5eqAD9BI8V9O0
The researchers all work in Harvard Medical School’s pathology department, using mice to investigate how diseases interact with the immune system.
Victim: Harvard coffee poisoning no accident
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33484904/ns/us_news-life/
Thanks for the update rdl6989.
I appreciate it.
I’ll add another link below.
“Harvard finds toxic java jolting
Profs, students drink with caution”
By Adam Smith
Tuesday, October 27, 2009 - Updated 6h ago
SNIPPET: “The apparent effort to poison Harvard Medical School researchers has spooked faculty and students, who say they are now avoiding the school’s coffee machines.
“I’m drinking coffee right now, but it’s from an outside vendor,” said Matteo Iannacone, an immunology researcher who learned last Friday that the mysterious illness he suffered two months ago was caused by sodium azide, a toxin someone apparently put in his department’s coffee machine. He was one of six pathology researchers sent to the emergency room Aug. 26.”
SNIPPET: “But some experts questioned the time lapse. Harvard police, who are handling the case, failed to list the incident on an online police log, though Boston police say Harvard cops responded on Aug. 26 to the incident. Harvard police declined to comment yesterday.
“I’m almost certain that they knew within 48 hours,” clinical toxicology consultant David Benjamin said, saying detection should not have taken so long.”
Or maybe he had some coffee to poison himself to deflect scrutiny from himself.
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