To: Frederick Langford who wrote (55209 ) 10/18/2001 3:06:57 PM From: Rande Is Read Replies (1) | Respond to Thanks Fred. What I said was that the extremely small powdery spores like those found in Washington, etc. were likely to hang in the air for up to a few hours. . . . that would depend on the efficiency of the ventilation unit of course. . . and as you know. . . certain parts of a room/building receive better ventilation than others.Government investigators quickly shut down the Hart Building's ventilation system to eliminate any chance that the disease could be spread farther... To become infected with inhalational anthrax, the deadliest form of the disease, a person would have to inhale 8,000 to 10,000 spores no larger than about five microns. The filters in the systems of newer office buildings should remove about 90 percent of particles of that size in a single pass, said Mr. Woods... Experts cautioned that a ventilation system could be used to spread lethal quantities of anthrax. An attack with the potential to cause much larger numbers of casualties would involve infusing huge amounts of anthrax into one of the building's intake vents. The best solution, Mr. Spertzel said, is to "guard it so nobody has access to it."
