As assured by scientists in lands bordering with Baltic Sea, chemical weapons dunked during post-war days aren’t too bad on the health of fish. Rather, the danger is there for the fishermen hauling up the occasional bomb or shell.
The «occasional» is not too unusual: in 2003, for instance, fishermen on 25 separate occasions pulled out a total of 1.1 tonnes of chemical weapons, the gas substance in which was still active.
In 2011, fishermen had two contacts with chemical weapons, and the year after that – one; in Danish waters, mostly. Thus, in 2001 the fishing vessel Katrine Søe caught an object containing mustard gas. Back in the port, they left the chemical weapon on the deck, and placidly performed repairs on the ship for three weeks. Before setting sail, they just threw the junk away. Alarm bells only got a-ringing as a port worker came in direct contact with the stuff and the initial symptoms appeared.
In January of 1997, Polish fishermen fared much worse. Having hauled out a five to seven kilogram object like a lump of clay – that’s the shape mustard gas assumes as it polymerises, and for a novice it’s hard to tell the difference. The fishermen cast the lump in a trash container; only the next day they developed serious skin damage and a feeling of burning. Some spent weeks in hospital……………….
……………..Sinking chemical weapons was only banned in 1985. «Possibly, all kinds of stuff was cast in the Baltic Sea before that; but the nations tend not to be open about it,» says Professor Vanninen.
Sinking chemical weapons wasn’t just characteristic of the Soviet army alone. Several states used to do that, led by the USA.
Though the maps say there are no known chemical weapons in Gulf of Finland, Ms Vanninen said the public just do not know if there are any, and where. «I know that, after the war, some things have happened in the Gulf of Finland that have not been registered too well, but that might be of interest to us,» she said.
Read the whole story here:
http://news.postimees.ee/2803174/chemical-weapons-still-seeking-their-prey
Source: Postimees - Nils Niitra