Fisherman Exposed to Mustard Gas
June 9th, 2010Via: WBZTV:
A doctor treating a commercial fisherman who was sickened after his clamming boat pulled up munitions tainted with chemicals says tests show he was exposed to mustard gas.
Dr. Edward Boyer, a toxicologist at UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester, said blood and urine tests that confirmed mustard gas exposure came back Monday night.
Boyer said the man, whom he declined to identify, had painful blisters on an arm and leg.
He said the patient was “handling it very well.”
The U.S. Coast Guard said the New Bedford-based vessel, the ESS Pursuit, dredged up two shells Sunday about 45 miles south of Long Island. One of the shells opened up and spilled the nerve agent on the deck. “It caused some blisters on one crew member and eye and nose irritation on three others,” said National Guard hazmat expert Capt. Christina Sampsonis.
Crew member Kevin O’Sullivan told WBZ the canisters had the date “1914” or “1918” on it.
The Coast Guard is now making sure the shellfish caught along with the canisters are not contaminated. “We’ve isolated the catch,” said Coast Guard Capt. Vern Gifford. “We’ll make sure none of the clams were contaminated before we release them.”
The U.S. military used the ocean as a dumping ground for munitions, including a mustard agent, from after World War II through the 1960’s.
The ship’s captain and first mate are still on the ship and show no signs of exposure to the mustard gas.
The boat remains isolated off the coast of New Bedford and hazmat teams are looking into ways to sanitize the ship before it is allowed to move.
God forbid this vile substance ever makes a comeback in crowd control or military operations. Because of the name I used to think this stuff was similar to an overdose of hot English mustard or Wasabi. Not so:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poison_gas_in_World_War_I