Past Forward: Anthrax by Mail

Abstract

Summary form only given, as follows. Twenty years ago this month, fear gripped Americans as the threat of bioterrorism became real. Five people died and 18 more became seriously ill when anthrax spores were sent in letters to high-profile targets in politics and the media. The technological solution: Irradiate all mail destined for certain regions. Passing letters and packages through a high-energy beam of ionizing radiation did kill the harmful bacteria, but not without consequences. It made envelopes brittle and discolored, warped plastics, exposed film, fogged glass products, weakened the potency of pharmaceuticals, and destroyed biological samples from doctors’ offices and scientific labs. Today the U.S. Postal Service continues to sanitize mail bound for federal buildings. To avoid any damage to incoming artifacts intended for its collections, the Smithsonian Institution—a quasi-government entity—uses alternative addresses.