JFK Scare: Analytical Chemistry at the Airport

Please see below for updates as I receive further information...

As reported by multiple news outlets (CNN, Daily Mail, The Atlantic), a 'suspicious package' leaked an unknown substance* onto two customs inspectors at JFK International Airport Sunday afternoon. When the workers fell ill, the FBI quarantined two facilities - one customs, one mail sorting - and tested the material.

Initial assays indicated potential organophosphate chemical weapons. Later tests, however, confirmed that the substance was actually phosphoric acid, leaking from a faulty cosmetics package. The two inspectors, after receiving on-scene treatment, declined further medical attention.

A few points about this story (emphasis mine):

• Most news agencies reported hesitantly, but not the Daily Mail, which declared: "The package from China tentatively tested positive for VX nerve gas, which can be used as a weapon of mass destruction..." (They even included a strangely-rotated space-filling model of VX in the article!)

I'd be quite interested to know how the FBI field tests for organophosphate nerve agents (Sorry, Daily Mail, but VX, due to its high boiling point and viscosity, is actually not a gas but a thick liquid much like phosphoric acid). I'm aware of certain colorimetric pesticide test strips, and certainly blood chemistry assays for exposed individuals would tell the tale.

But could phosphoric acid give a false positive here? Its chemical properties aren't overall very similar to nerve agent. Unlike VX, phosphoric acid has acidic protons, rendering a much different reactivity and solubility profile. VX soaks deep into skin due to its carbon appendages - hence, organophosphate - which wouldn't really occur with the acid. Perhaps JFK sent a sample out for 31P NMR? This analytical technique would show a resonance close to that of VX, which might incite a high-threat response. Perhaps an LC-MS might also ring warning bells: both compounds should show a fragment around 94 m/z.

• The Atlantic cheerfully summarized: "It turns out what made the two men sick was actually organophosphate, an ingredient in soda pop."

If I ever find organophosphate in my Coke can, I'm suing. That is, if I survive the encounter...

Organophosphates, to which VX, sarin, soman, and several potent insecticides belong, have alkylated (carbon-functionalized) bonds on their oxygen atoms. Once ingested or absorbed, they tend to interfere with acetylcholinesterase, an enzyme involved in neural signaling. The reporter perhaps meant to say "phosphorus compound" or even "acid," but unfortunately chose the wrong word.

One more thing: I completely understand the highly cautious nature of the law enforcement response. Organophosphates can sicken or kill at remarkably low doses, thus their unfortunate appeal as terror weapons. If any of my readers have experience with airport chemical detection, please write in to set me straight on your detection methods of choice.

Update, 8/12/13 - Changed "parent peak" to "fragment"

*Update 2, 8/12/13 - Chemjobber points out, via Twitter, that the NY Post reported ordinary nail polish remover (usually acetone, or ethyl acetate / iPA) as the culprit. Now I'm even more confused as to how this triggered a nerve agent analytical read!

Update 3, 8/12/13 - Commenters on Reddit and JLC (thanks!) remark that airports have at their disposal DART-based benchtop MS, or perhaps Barringer IONTRAP ion mobility spectrometers. Another commenter suggests M8-M9 detection paper. Vibrational spectroscopy (Raman, IR, etc) has been bandied about as well.

Are You Scared Yet?**

Sensationalist journalism pervades our society. Usually, investigators focus their attention on stores, local government, unions, and the like. But chemistry labs...are they terrorist plots waiting to happen? Lucky for us, ChemBark to the rescue! His post Friday (click over there to see the video in all its scandal-filled and melodramatic musical glory) alerts the chemical community to a pressing National Security emergency: unlocked research labs in otherwise nondescript academic buildings.

To reiterate Paul's main point: yes, the labs in question should not have been so easy to access. Most of the academic labs I've worked in have had key card / ID fob access built into the doors, and critical facilities (storerooms, NMR, clean rooms) behind keypad-locked doors, or good old-fashioned metal lock and key.

Cogent arguments aside, the piece fails on just about every level for meaningful chemistry communication. Here's a random sampling of quotes from the story:

0:10 "...just the right chemicals to make a bomb?"
Well, most bombs require high explosives, like nitroglycerin or TNT. As most readers of this blog realize, materials such as iodine or hydrazine - unlike the dilute HCl or ethyl ether featured in the news spot - can actually be used to make bombs, and are under strict DOT and DHS purchase regulations.

0:53 - What's with the gunshots? Since when did that have anything to do with organic chemistry labs?

1:16 - "Compounds that could potentially be used in terrorist attacks"
While (potentially) true, you're more likely to find allyl alcohol in drug leads, and acrylonitrile in superglue!

A real-live chemical storeroom (not caught on tape, sadly)
Credit: University of Delaware / Fisher Scientific

1:20 - Oh no, duck and cover, that scientist is using a Karl Fischer apparatus!

1:35 - "...inside this glass case..."  Did you mean a fume hood, perchance? ...which improves lab safety?

2:43 - "...chemistry lab and storeroom." Have these people ever seen a chemical storeroom?

2:50 - "...cabinets, some unlocked, labeled ACIDS and FLAMMABLES."
Were the researchers supposed to just store them in plain gray cabinets? I would argue that the labels increase safety. Also, if they were allegedly "unlocked," why is there no camera shot of a cabinet door hanging open?

3:05 - "...large nitrogen tanks..." If the announcer knew that he was referring to liquid nitrogen, he'd be doubly afraid!

3:54 - "...hydrochloric acid, a highly corrosive chemical that can burn skin to the bone"
This bottle reminds me of the 1.0N HCl shown earlier (1:29).  If anyone's wondering, the pH of 1N HCl is 0.1, which, while enough to give you some decent skin irritation, won't char you on contact. I see no concentrated HCl anywhere, and even that's no TFA or triflic acid.

4:07 - "...ethyl ether, a highly flammable solvent that could cause respiratory problems!"
Or knock you out for surgery, like in the olden days at the MGH Ether Dome.

6:01 - "schools must list their chemicals of interest, but only if those chemicals exceed a certain amount"
This sounds an awful lot like "the dose makes the poison." (i.e., it's terribly tough to mount a terrorist attack with 25 g of magnesium sulfate...)

**Just for those keeping score at home, I counted 26 mentions of the word "chemical" (or once every 14.4 seconds). Always preceded by a sensationalist adjective like "dangerous," "deadly," "interest," "maim," or "flammable."