Gas Masks

September 26, 2001 by Richard S. Ehrlich

New York (EPN) -- Terrified of a chemical or biological attack, people are buying tens of thousands of the most expensive gas masks they can find, forcing sold-out shops to search the world to import fresh masks from Israel, Canada, England and elsewhere.

"It's funny, but listen to this, the first week after the disaster, everybody bought flags, but the second week, everybody only bought gas masks," said Richard Hutt, vice president of purchasing at Uncle Sam's Army Navy.

"We have not sold one flag this week. From flags to gas masks, people totally switched," Mr. Hutt said in an interview.

"We are the biggest army surplus supplier in Manhattan, and we're also in Toronto, Canada, and Buffalo, New York. Many people here in New York are buying gas masks, and its the same in Toronto. People are lining up there too to buy them.

"We've gotten orders from Florida, California, across Canada and from England. We're selling Canadian gas masks, which are a little better than Israeli gas masks.

"Normally, we would sell three or four in a week. Now, we're selling 300 to 400 a day, and that's just in Manhattan. From all our three stores, we're probably selling 1,000 gas masks a day.

"We got a request from one person in Florida for 25,000 gas masks. I think they have a website down there and they want to sell them.

"We are just up the street from the disaster," Mr. Hutt added, referring to the World Trade Center towers which were atomized by suicide pilots on Sept. 11 near the southern tip of New York City's Manhattan island.

More than 5,000 people died in the surprise attacks, either from fire and explosions when two fuel-laden planes deliberately crashed into the towers, or from concrete which crushed people when the 110-story buildings collapsed.

Newspapers, television and radio stations, along with government officials and others, are now warning Americans of a possible assault involving biological or chemical weapons or toxic gases or even radioactive waste.

"A lot of people come in scared. We pay military people to come in and advise them about the difference between anthrax and other gases. The military people explain how in an attack, a person might feel itchy, or have a rash, or be short of breath," Mr. Hutt said.

"They also advise, for example, if you are in Penn Station and if you put on your gas mask during an attack and everyone falls to the ground, the police will jump on you because they'll think you might have done it."

According to a report from the Defense Department: "Anthrax is the preferred biological warfare agent" because "it is highly lethal."

A single gram (0.035 of an ounce) of anthrax packs 100 million "lethal doses" -- capable of killing more than one-third of the entire U.S. population -- via "silent, invisible" human inhalation.

Anthrax "spores" are "extremely stable" and keep almost indefinitely, similar to powder.

If freeze-dried, anthrax can be inserted into bullets, small rockets or other munitions, or sprayed through a simple aerosol nozzle.

"British experiments with anthrax led to the contamination of the Scottish island of Gruinard, which has only recently been declared free of the organism," the British Broadcasting Corporation reported.

Gas masks do not work against anthrax and viruses, but "you can go to a hospital" and get a shot which could cure you, Mr. Hutt said.

Gas masks are designed to deter "sarin gas and nerve gas, like that subway attack in Japan" several years ago.

"I'm not a military person or anything like that, but now I carry two gas masks, in case someone needs help, and a survival kit with a poncho to protect my skin, and one of those hats women wear in the shower, and goggles."

But if you are nude while bathing, for example, "you can grab your shower curtain and wrap it around you for protection," he suggested.

Many military suppliers in New York said they were sold out of gas masks after being besieged by customers in recent days.

Shop owners said most customers asked for Israeli gas masks instead of U.S.-made units, apparently because they perceived Israel had more experience in dealing with potential terrorist gas attacks and developed a quality item.

Uncle Sam's Army Navy shop, however, insisted Canadian gas masks are better -- and worth triple in price.

"With the Israeli gas masks, you breathe in through a filter and you exhale through the same filter," Mr. Hutt said.

"The Canadian gas masks have a side filter you breathe in from, and a separate filter in the front you exhale through. The filters are carbon and nickel.

"With the Canadian gas masks you get a little bit more of a filter, and the eyes are bigger so you can see more easily."

His shop sold Israeli masks for 29.95 dollars, and the Canadian ones for 89.95.

"No one seems to care about the price. They want the best. Some women ask if they come in pink, or yellow, because they want to be fashionable. The Canadian masks only come in black. The Israelis are green."

Uncle Sam's also offers a U.S.-made "chemical warfare suit" for 30 dollars, which includes "a set of pants and a jacket," plus gloves for five dollars.

While most shops agreed foreign gas masks were best, Mr. Hutt expressed dismay over problems with American masks.

"The U.S. government demilitarizes some items for sale to the public. They take a knife and slash the cheeks of gas masks. They take a knife and slash bullet proof vests. We bought a thousand American gas masks and they all had slashed cheeks and were useless."

The Federal Aviation Administration, meanwhile, temporarily banned use of crop-dusting planes amid fears the fast little fliers were ideal for spraying chemical or biological weapons over cities or towns, or onto water and food supplies.

On Sept. 24, Dr. Gro Harlem, head of the World Health Organization, told Western Hemisphere health ministers in Washington, "we must prepare for the possibility that people are deliberately harmed with biological or chemical agents."

These include diseases which could be spread among the public such as anthrax, plague, smallpox, yellow fever, Ebola and botulism, and other forms of a toxic bacteria, fungus or virus.

Other hard-to-detect weapons are also attracting concern.

"Russian [nuclear] suitcase bombs were first disclosed in 1997 and later produced by U.S. forces," the Washington Times reported.

"They weigh about 80 pounds, fit into a duffel bag and have a 1,000-ton explosive charge capable of leveling everything within a half-mile radius.

"Terrorists also could use cheap 'dirty nukes' -- small bombs composed of inexpensive, low grade and accessible uranium wrapped around a charge of dynamite or home-made explosive. Exploded dirty nukes release invisible, lethal radiation."

In New York, meanwhile, acrid smoke from smoldering fires underneath the collapsed World Trade Center continue to foul the air across much of Manhattan, creating a continuous, nauseating, burnt-plastic stench in streets many miles away from the site.