Thanks for all your updates.
Fanfan is pinging to this post:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1764068/posts?page=358#358
To: Diddle E. Squat
From Wikipedia:
Methanethiol (also known as methyl mercaptan) is a colorless gas with a smell like rotten cabbage. It is a natural substance found in the blood, brain, and other tissues of people and animals. It is released from animal feces. It occurs naturally in certain foods, such as some nuts and cheese. It is also one of the main chemicals responsible for bad breath and the smell in flatulence. The chemical formula for methanethiol is CH3SH; it is classified as a thiol.
Methanethiol is released from decaying organic matter in marshes and is present in the natural gas of certain regions in the United States, in coal tar, and in some crude oils.
In surface seawater, methanethiol is the primary breakdown product of the algal metabolite dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP)....
Methanethiol is also manufactured for use in the plastics industry, as a precursor in the manufacture of pesticides, and as a jet fuel additive. It is also released as a decay product of wood in pulp mills.
On December 26, 2005, dozens of people at a St. Petersburg, Russia Maksidom home supplies store were sickened when gas suspected to be methanethiol was released. The store had received letters threatening to disrupt business during the holiday gift-giving season. Three other stores belonging to the same chain found boxes with glass containers and timers that also might have been rigged to release the gas.
358 posted on 01/08/2007 10:17:30 AM PST by sanchmo (If we wish to learn what was going on in Europe in 1938, just look around - V.D. Hanson)
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A few more details...
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aNV6_1lChEDI&refer=home
"NYC Seeking Source of Foul Smell; No Gas Leak Found (Update1)"
By Todd Zeranski and Henry Goldman
ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Jan. 8 (Bloomberg) -- New York City officials are looking for the origin of a noxious smell that engulfed parts of Manhattan and New Jersey this morning, sickening at least 27 people.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg said a ``small gas leak'' was reported in the downtown Greenwich Village neighborhood. Later, Consolidated Edison Inc. spokesman Chris Ohlert denied any leak in the utility's system."
ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Bloomberg said the smell resembled mercaptan, a sulphur- based chemical compounded added to natural gas.
Natural gas and propane are naturally colorless and odorless. Mercaptan gives the gasses the distinctive smell of rotting vegetables that can be detected in case of gas leaks. In natural gas, mercaptan is injected directly into distribution pipes. Only very small quantities of the potent gas are required."
Last Updated: January 8, 2007 14:55 EST