[Hartwood] Fw: Warning about "antique" First Aid kits

[doerksen at island.net]

Any collectors around here? Or, you've got an old First Aid kit? Well...

Halima
-- 
http://www.island.net/~doerksen/


----- Forwarded message from darlingg at activematerials.ca -----
     Date: Mon, 18 Jul 2011 13:35:10 -0700
     From: "Dr. Carus" <darlingg at activematerials.ca>


My Lords and Ladies, speaking as a chemical professional, this is for real.

You've heard of the Halifax Explosion of 1917, that levelled much of the
city and killed thousands? Still the world's largest man-made accidental
detonation of all time – and one of the largest non-nuclear of any kind?
Picric acid (aka 2,4,6-Trinitrophenol).

Not a Period substance, but if you also collect from the early-to-mid
20th century, be warned.

On 2011-07-18 Mon 2011-07-18 Mon 11:09 , jazzquinn at juno.com wrote:

> Greetings: Below is a forwarded warning about "ANY First Aid kit
> made
between 1925 and 1945. This includes Military, Civilian, Boy Scout and
Girl Scout First Aid Kits" received from my father. My mother is the
local Girl Scout Historian, my father works with her. So, knowing that
this is a) legitimate info b) that SCAdians tend to collect items not
only from the medieval/renaissance time, but other periods as well and
c) that some of our members participate in other history-based groups, I
felt it was worth forwarding. also, I did a quick check myself,
Wikipedia states:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picric_acid

By far the
largest use has been in munitions and explosives....In the early 20th
century, picric acid was stocked in pharmacies as an antiseptic and as a
treatment for burns, malaria, herpes, and smallpox. It was most notably
used for the treatment of burns suffered by victims of the Hindenburg
disaster in 1937. Please forward as you see fit. If this helps even one
person, it is worth the effort.

Jenna

> ---------- Forwarded Message ----------

IMPORTANT WARNING! Please
> check any of the following items in your collection: ANY First
Aid kit made between 1925 and 1945. This includes Military, Civilian,
Boy Scout and Girl Scout First Aid Kits. Check the 3 x 3 and 4 x4 gauze
pad packages, usually made by Johnson & Johnson.. Look for the Word
PICRIC on the wrapper. It may appear as the words Picric Ointment or
Picric Acid. Picric Acid was used as a burn ointment in that time
period. As it dries out and becomes a powder or crystalline, it becomes
a HIGH EXPLOSIVE. Get it OUT of your house, building or museum and then
call the police department. Here is the warning and instructions from
the Girl Scout National Museum (National Historic Preservation Center) I
personally know the people who have published this warning, and it is
not some internet hoax.

Hazardous Material Warning

Some Girl Scout
councils have recently discovered they have old first aid kits from the
1930s and 1940s that contain piric acid gauze pads. In its liquid form,
piric acid was used as a treatment for burns. Crystallized piric acid,
however, is flammable and potentially explosive when handled or jarred.
(Piric acid was once widely used in munitions manufacture.) We urge you
to check your inventory, and if you encounter a substance that you
suspect may be piric acid, call 911 or your local fire department or
HAZMAT team so that they can dispose of it safely. Here are some links
to a few museums who discovered this material in their
collections:

http://okhistory.org/community/fic/artifacts/acid-bomb-squads-and-first-aid-kits-all-in-a-day%E2%80%99s-work-with-museum-collections/

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/28219344/detail.html

http://www.newsfirst5.com/news/picric-acid-sparks-bomb-squad-into-action/ ]

In addition, I have received this note from a collector I know:

" Well,
I found 4 packages of picric acid (gauze pads) in my first aid kits.
Called the Fire Dept - they sent out 4 firemen who looked at them (I had
put them out in the garage in a box) and told me to go in the house and
stay there. They called the police who came and escorted me four houses
down the street. They taped off the sidewalks, blocked both ends of the
street, and the ends of both alleys. Evacuated the apartments next to
the alley and I don't even know what else. The police called the Los
Angeles County Health & Safety who called the bomb squad. They had 5
police cars, a large fire truck, a 40 ft personnel carrier, a bomb squad
truck and others I could not see. Four hours later there was a huge
blast - louder than a big fireworks display blast. Then they escorted me
home where I found clumps of dirt all over the alley and my backyard and
a hole in my cement block wall. They had buried the pads in my backyard
and set them off which blew the hole in the wall and scattered dirt all
over. Will have to find someone to repair the wall - guess the gardener
will clean up the dirt. "
>

--

Dr. Carus of Burn Abbey
Award of Arms (Kingdom of An Tir), AS XLIV-07
Champion of Arts & Science (Shire of Lionsdale), AS XLIII-02 to AS XLIV-01
Baroness' Champion of Science (Barony of Lions Gate), AS XLIII-05 to -11

mka...

Mr. Graham Darling, PhD
1007-D Gilmore Ave.
Burnaby, BC   V5C 4S4
Canada

Phone 604-205-7123, mobile 778-836-7122
Email darlingg at activematerials.ca
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----- End forwarded message -----