[Kirkwood]

"It is, apparently, flammable.I was speculating about that; my bad. But it sure ain't explosive."

Actually in can be explosive. The ERG says: "Powders, dusts, shavings, borings, turnings, or cuttings may explode or burn with explosive violence."

It also says responders must wear SCBA (breathing gear) and that structural firefighter clothing is inadequate.

If spilled, you need to evacuate 100 meters downwind.

If on fire (as in a tank car spill), you need to evacuate 1/2 mile in all directions due to explosive capability.

I used to be an emergency manager, so I have access to an ERG, but you can find one on-line; probably at FEMA or the Fire Institute.

[Ramius]

Actually in can be explosive. The ERG says: "Powders, dusts, shavings, borings, turnings, or cuttings may explode or burn with explosive violence."

You can say the same thing about flour, coal dust or grain silos. The operative question here is whether looters from the insurgent groups in Iraq have a mechanism to process this stuff into a useful high explosive. The answer would appear to be no, they don't.

[Right Wing Professor]

Yeah, well, i'm a working chemist, and know how much to believe the kind of material you quoted. i've handled the stuff, grown crystals of it, pulsed it with kilowatt r.f.. It's not an explosive under any sane definition of the term. I was surprised it was particularly flammable.

My guess is the safety concerns arise when you heat it, it releases formaldehyde, and the formaldehyde makes a flammable gaseous mixture. So does gasoline. They have a lot of gasoline in Iraq.