Vials of poison found in UNMOVIC headquarters in Manhattan by Corina Ciubotaru

A lethal chemical called phosgene was found in a U.N. headquarters in Manhattan last Wednesday. The substance was used during World War I as a chemical weapon and it causes nausea, vomiting, lung collapse and even death when it is inhaled. It apparently has a nice smell of freshly cut hay when in low concentrations, but even though it's deadly, the amount contained in the two vials found last week didn't cause any health problems. Apparently, the substance had been stored in a filing cabinet in New York for 10 years by mistake, instead of being sent to a lab for analysis. UNMOVIC employees found it by accident, as they were clearing the building after their chemical warfare agency got shut down by the President. They weren't sure what the vials contained, so they followed procedure, put them in double zip-locked bags and eventually passed them along to the FBI after they realized what they were dealing with. The employees also did a quick check to see if there have any other forgotten materials they should do something about. Luckily, there wasn't anything else. The substance was carried in three containers to a base in Aberdeen, Md., to be disposed of soon. This gas was responsible for the majority of gas deaths during World War I and the vials which are the size of pens were removed from the al-Muthanna chemical weapons plant near Baghdad. They were meant to be destroyed after analysis and have posed no threat to the people of New York during transportation.

related story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070830/ap_on_re_us/un_chemical_agents;_ylt=AmBPMlnYBkhliDCd0arLePqs0NUE

by Corina Ciubotaru for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

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