The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 268 No 7198 p698
18 May 2002

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Strange encounters [more]
Censorship will not reduce fear [more]
Accidental poisoning [more]
Living with myths [more]

Strange encounters

On a recent occasion, as I was taking an idle stroll along a secluded country lane, I came across a strange phenomenon. In one hedge bounding the lane was a magnificent clump of white bluebells. Almost exactly opposite, in the other hedge, was an extensive stand of pink-purple primroses. Neither of these minor aberrations can be considered rare, but to encounter two examples simultaneously is to challenge the laws of chance, surely.

(In my part of the country it is not unusual to encounter tales of persons who have appeared from gateways and then disappeared from sight without warning, and claims to have met people who obviously belong to antiquity and are dressed accordingly are frequent; but coincidences of deviations on the part of nature are another matter.)

In the case of the flowers I came across, it is difficult to use the popular explanation of global warming as an excuse. It is possible that fertilisers or pesticides applied in the course of farming are concerned.

I can remember one location where bluebells of various colours were mingled with triquetrous leeks (three-cornered leeks) to compose a confusing mass of blue, pink and white. Some of the bluebells in my garden have turned pink in the vicinity of an anthill, and this is a simple matter of pH. And I have found that photographing a bluebell wood is apt to produce purplish blooms in place of true blue.

Close attention is needed to distinguish between white bluebells and triquetrous leeks in spring. Pink, purple or liver-coloured primroses are usually attributed to cross-pollination between wild plants and cultivars, since most are to be found in the vicinity of a churchyard or cottage garden. In my experience some of the variants are remarkably isolated away from civilisation, which suggests that pollen can travel astounding distances. Meanwhile, I continue to admire the white primroses that flourish in my own garden plots.

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Censorship will not reduce fear

As a result of the bioterrorist attacks in the United States recently, the press there has discussed the implications of possible censorship of scientific papers that might offer hints to intending terrorists on how to prepare chemical, physical and biological weapons. The suggestion of a strict censorship has been received with dismay by scientists of many disciplines.

As Abigail Salyers of the American Society for Microbiology in Washington points out in Science for 26 April, there is currently a policy in the US that no restriction may be placed on the conduct or reporting of federally funded and unclassified research. It is well understood that the communication of research methods and findings enables the authorities to respond promptly and effectively to outbreaks of infectious diseases, and that the development of life-saving and life-improving therapeutic agents, including vaccines and antibiotics, has been possible because researchers can exchange information freely through journals and other publicity channels.

If such communication were censored the sense of protection would be false. If sections of a paper were omitted from fear of misappropriation, the ability of other researchers to replicate or repudiate results would be compromised. The close scrutiny by scientific colleagues, which protects against errors, would be removed.

Salyers also states that secrecy could increase the risks faced by the public. It is known that in the case of anthrax spores and their infectious capability, lack of speedy access to data led to delay in the response to the first threat of inhalation anthrax. Unfettered ability of the scientific community to collaborate freely and openly is the best protection against future biological and chemical attacks.

Although scientists themselves are aware of the importance of an open exchange of ideas, there may be a tendency on the part of the general public to mistrust their integrity. The notion that freedom comes without responsibility in science is widespread. However, terrorism feeds on fear and fear feeds on ignorance. We need to know the potential risks associated with bioterrorist agents in order to design the appropriate countermeasures to ensure public safety. Censorship is no answer.

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Accidental poisoning

An almost incredible incident of accidental poisoning is reported from Germany in The Lancet for 4 May. It illustrates what may happen if dangerous toxic chemicals end in the hands of ignorant users and are let loose upon the world.

On a warm May morning a secretary who entered her office in a German town noticed a strong smell of garlic on the stairs and in the office. She and her colleagues opened the windows and continued to endure the odour. When the weather changed they closed the windows, with an increase in the odour. They experienced nausea, headache and sore throat, and a fig houseplant in the room suddenly lost its leaves. On the arrival of the fire brigade phosphine contamination was suspected. The seven affected were taken to hospital and treated with glucocorticoid inhalers and intravenous N-acetylcysteine to prevent pulmonary oedema and liver failure.

The source of the phosphine was found to be a tobacco store next door whose proprietor had stocked cigars that were infected with tobacco fly. He had been rashly advised to buy a remedial chemical claimed to pose no hazard to the user, and had spread 1.4kg of a German product containing 57 per cent aluminium phosphide over his floor. He had not been told that the product was licensed in Germany only for use by trained persons and with official notification.

Hydrogen phosphide is a toxic gas generated from aluminium phosphide and water, and used as a fumigant. Inhalation may cause headache, vertigo, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea and substernal pain. It may induce death from kidney and liver damage, arrhythmia and pulmonary oedema. Death has occurred after exposure to 290–600ppm for 30 minutes, and serious effects follow exposure to 7ppm for several hours. Measurements in the office indicated more than 25ppm, reduced to 0.3ppm after controlled ventilation for several hours. The compound is detectable at 0.2–3.0ppm.

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Living with myths

A human society without myth has never been known, and indeed it is doubtful whether such a society is at all possible. One measure of man’s advance from his most primitive beginnings to something we call civilisation is the way in which he controls his myths, his ability to distinguish between the areas of behaviour, the extent to which he can bring more and more of his activity under the rule of reason.
— M. I. Finley: ‘The world of Odysseus’ (1956)

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