Abstract
In mid-September the State Department and unnamed members of the intelligence community unveiled compelling though preliminary evidence that unconventional but deadly mycotoxins are being used as agents of war on unprotected villages in Laos, Kampuchea, and Afghanistan. At that time, the bulk of the evidence was circumstantial—reports by refugees, reporters, and relief agency personnel of bizarre symptoms of illness and death following showers of yellow rain. But a scientific sheen was supplied by data from the chemical analysis of leaf and stem samples collected in Kampuchea near the Thai border (C&EN, Sept. 21, page 7). Since then, more samples have been collected and are being analyzed. Chester J. Mirocha, the University of Minnesota scientist who analyzed the first foliage samples and who is now analyzing additional material, is a recognized mycotoxin expert who specializes in the characterization of toxins from Fusarium fungi . Mirocha received two very small foliage samples from a colleague wh...
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