Diluted sarin nerve agent spilled at the U.S. Army’s Umatilla Chemical Depot in Oregon Dec. 3 when a laboratory technician dropped several small glass vials that shattered on the floor, the Associated Press reported yesterday (see GSN, Sept. 3).

Three employees at the laboratory promptly put on gas masks and poured water and bleach on the floor to further dilute the agent, which already had been diluted 500-to-1 in rubbing alcohol, according to AP.

“It’s diluted enough that you would not normally have an exposure from it,” Army spokesman Jim Hackett said.  “We would say that’s a minor lab incident.”

No one was hurt, and medical tests indicated that there was no sarin in the workers’ blood, Hackett said.  The technician dropped 18 thumb-sized vials, breaking 13, he added.

The Army informed authorities in surrounding communities of the incident, AP reported (see GSN, April 10; Andrew Kramer, Associated Press, Dec. 12).

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