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back to Organic Consumers Assn. Stop Food Irradiation page OCA Opinion on Irradiation of the Mails November 8, 2001 updated November 19, 2001 December 15, 2001: OCA note: Nearly all the backlog of contaminated mail has been irradiated, and the Postal Service seems less than enthusiastic about actually using the expensive machines ($40 million) they hurriedly purchased. Our opinion appears to have been right on target from the first. US Postal Service policy Our opinion of mail irradiation Effective dose - not clear The US Postal Service (USPS) has now signed contracts to buy eight electron-beam irradiation machines. At this time, they are using a Lima, Ohio, facility to e-beam irradiate possibly contaminated mail from the Brentwood, NJ, post office. They also intend to use the Bridgewater, NJ e-beam/x-ray facility to irradiate a backlog of government mail. According to the USPS Headquarters media relations office, although the USPS has signed a commitment to buy the machines, they haven't decided yet how to use them. The USPS has a task force on irradiation of the mails coordinated with the FDA, the President's Office of Science, and other authorities, to do it as safely as possible. No other irradiation is planned definitely at this time. Therefore, they have not issued any public warnings or advice about how to avoid getting foods, medicines, etc. irradiated in the process. Irradiation of the mails appears to have two major purposes: public relations, and the prevention of disruption at government and corporate offices. Irradiation of the mails is NOT about protection of individuals who receive mail. Last week, the USPS announced it would irradiate thousands of letters expected to be sent to "Santa" in New York City. These letters are distributed to members of the public who want to give a poor child their Christmas wish. The goal of irradiation here is to maintain public confidence in the safety of these letters, NOT prevent any credible (or even incredible) threat. The FBI has said that a mad-bomber type mailed the anthrax letters; this type is interested in attacking powerful people and having his voice heard on an issue he cares about. He is NOT interested in random attacks on the public. We believe the USPS should have leased the machines, instead of spending tens of millions on a PR gimmick they will probably abandon. As for prevention of disruption, that is a legitimate goal, although it inconveniences people who ship products that will be damaged. Irradiation is not about protection of individuals, because the doses necessary to inactivate anthrax spores will make food, vitamins and seeds unusable. (The spore-killing dose is 20-25 kilograys. In contrast, the maximum allowed for food (except spices) by any international or national body is 10 kilograys. The maximum allowed by the FDA for frozen meat is 7.5 kilograys, and for fruits and vegetables is 1 kilogray, 1/25 the spore-killing dose). Any fresh foods will be noticeably damaged by 25 kilogray doses. They will change color, become mushy, develop off-flavors and odors. The fats in baked goods will go rancid quickly. The potency of vitamins and medicines will be affected. Seeds will not germinate, or will produce mutated plants. In addition, unexposed photographic film will be damaged. The manufacturer of the electron-beam machines (Surebeam) says that electronic media are damaged at anthrax-killing doses. However, a nuclear scientist who tested a 20 kiloGray spore-killing dose says that electronic media are NOT damaged at that dose. We await a decisive statement from the USPS. Shippers of these products will use private delivery services that don't irradiate. Because the postal/delivery system carries these products, it is impossible for EVERY package to be irradiated, and thus the system is full of holes. Terrorists will simply use a package delivery service instead of the U.S. mail. E-beam radiation only penetrates 1.5 inches on each side of a package, which means food and vitamins will usually not be affected because they are shipped in larger pakcages. However, x-ray and gamma ray (nuclear) irradiation do penetrate. People and businesses who ship food, medicines, vitamins, seeds and film, etc. will stop using the USPS. Some observers of business believe these irradiation policies will assist e-mail in making the USPS obsolete. We hope and expect that the public will be informed exactly which areas will receive irradiated mail, so that shippers can use alternative means of shipping. Otherwise, a lot of people will be deceived about the quality of the products they get in the mail. Question: What is known about the effectiveness of irradiation in killing anthrax spores? Answer: The USPS refers inquiries about the effectiveness and the amount of irradiation necessary to kill anthrax spores to Titan, the company that is providing the electron beam (e-beam) irradiation equipment. After repeated inquiries to Titan and their subsidiary SureBeam, on October 31, 2001 we were told to call their Nebraska office for assistance. A staff person in the Nebraska office said that their primary information on irradiation and anthrax came from a study done with a different irradiation technology, gamma rays. The study, "Inactivation of Bacillus Anthracis Vegetative Cells and Spores by Gamma Irradiation," was published in 1996 in the Salisbury Medical Bulletin. The study's authors concluded that a dose on the order of 41.5 kiloGray was necessary to kill two different strains of anthrax spores, including the Ames strain which has been identified in anthrax-contaminated mail. This study was also cited by the World Health Organization in its "Guidelines for the Surveillance and Control of Anthrax in Humans and Animals." For some perspective on the dose that appears necessary to kill anthrax spores, consider the doses the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) allows for the irradiation of food: 1 kiloGray for fruit and vegetables, 3 kiloGray for eggs, 3-7 kiloGray for meat, and 30 kiloGray for spices. During testimony before the House of Representatives Government Reform Committee hearing on October 30, 2001, the USPS' Vice President of Technology Tom Day cited a July 2001 study by the Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute (AFRRI) as proof that the Titan Corporation's e-beam technology would be effective to irradiate the mail. Public Citizen has obtained a copy of the study, which has not been published or widely released to the public. The study shows that strains similar to, but different from, the Ames strain can be neutralized with e-beams at approximately 20 kiloGray. In addition, Public Citizen has found an article in a Bulgarian veterinary medicine journal (at present only available in abstract form) which suggests that a 20 kiloGray dose of gamma rays is needed to kill anthrax spores in pelts and wool. One thing is clear: it will take a large amount of radiation to kill the spores. To put this in perspective, frozen hamburger patties are irradiated at 7 kiloGray, which is the equivalent of 233 million chest X-rays. Spices are irradiated at 30 kiloGray, which is the equivalent of approximately 1 billion chest X-rays. Research from Public Citizen, November 19, 2001

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