Posted on 04/06/2004 2:26:27 AM PDT by neverdem
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 Used primarily in laboratories for research, osmium tetroxide is known to attack soft human tissue and could blind or kill anyone who breathed its fumes. ABCNEWS.com |
‘Very Nasty’
Potential Bomb Plot Involved Deadly Chemical
By Brian Ross and Christopher Isham
ABCNEWS.com
April 5— British authorities believe terror suspects arrested last week were planning to make a bomb that would include a highly toxic, easily obtained chemical called osmium tetroxide, ABCNEWS has learned. |
| Used primarily in laboratories for research, osmium tetroxide is known to attack soft human tissue and could blind or kill anyone who breathed its fumes. According to the New Jersey Department of Health, it is a colorless to pale yellow solid with a strong, unpleasant odor.
"It's a nasty piece of work," said Dave Siegrist, a bioterrorism expert at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies in Arlington, Va. "It irritates the eyes, lungs, nose and throat. It leads to an asthma-like death, what we call a 'dry-land drowning.' " Scientists say if, for example, the bomb used in the 1993 World Trade Center attack had produced such fumes, they would have wiped out the first police and rescue workers on the scene. "They become overwhelmed by fumes," said Jerry Hauer, an expert on biological and chemical terrorism and director of public health preparedness at the Department of Health and Human Services, describing what could have happened. "They can go blind. This is not a benign chemical. It is very nasty." Eight British citizens of Pakistani descent were arrested and taken into custody when 700 police raided 24 locations in and around London on March 30. Investigators say British authorities moved in when they learned from electronic intercepts the dangerous chemical was involved in the plot. They had been the tracking group's activities for several months. According to sources, there was some indication the group in custody was targeting Gatwick airport, the British public transportation system and enclosed shopping areas. British authorities feared it had the potential to be one of the worst attacks ever against the United Kingdom. Even though the arrests were made in the United Kingdom, authorities say the operation was being run out of Pakistan by a suspected al Qaeda figure. "They are creative in their planning," said Hauer. "They continue to work around our systems."
New Terror Link
This is the first time osmium tetroxide has been linked to possible terror use. It's sold, with few questions asked, on Internet sites, as are many industrial chemicals that could be equally as potent. "You never see the supplier and the supplier never sees you," said Siegrist. "A package arrives on the doorstep a few days later." U.S. officials say the likelihood of a chemical bomb is much greater than a biological and radiological one. Yet the United States has still not settled how to tighten restrictions on what are known as toxic industrial chemicals, which are well-known to al Qaeda bomb-makers and still easily available. ABCNEWS' David Scott and Madeleine |
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An eye for an eye; an osmium tetroxide bomb for an osmium tetroxide bomb.
Nasty is as nasty does.
Osmium tetroxide, 6.1 (Toxic), PG I
Can be flown on cargo air transport when in conformance with
packaging instruction 608 (up to 5 kg per package)which states:
Glass, earthenware, plastic, metal or glass inner packagings are acceptable when used with outer packagings consisting of regulated drums, jerrycans or cartons.
There are lots worse things than this stuff.
Example: Osmium Tetroxide Stain
I heard a report by Brian Ross about this stuff on the 5:00 PM news report, 770 AM WABC, yesterday. I couldn't find it on ABC's website at the time, but I was sufficiently alarmed that it made me curious.
Os, a platinum metal, oxidizes to form highly toxic and strong-smelling oxide compound...
This ain't my ball-game...
(I don't have any comments on that. :)
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