Tests Indicate Poison In Senate Mail Room Of Majority Leader By Carl Hulse

 
ASHINGTON, Feb. 2 — A suspicious substance was found in the mailroom of the Senate office of the majority leader, Senator Bill Frist, on Monday afternoon, and officials said repeated tests indicated the presence of the poison ricin.
 
The Capitol Police said they received the report of the material in a room of the Dirksen Senate Office Building adjacent to the Capitol about 3 p.m. and conducted initial tests that came back positive for ricin. About 16 workers, who were on the fourth floor, were evacuated, and aides said the material was sent away for testing. Two of these three tests were positive, Police Chief Terrance Gainer said.
 
Officials said that the ventilation system had been shut down and that the mail room workers had been moved elsewhere in the building for medical supervision and decontamination. Dr. Frist, a heart-lung transplant surgeon who wrote a book advising the public on how to prepare for a bioterror attack, said no one had shown signs of sickness.
 
"Most importantly, nobody has been hurt," Dr. Frist said.
 
An official with the Federal Bureau of Investigation said Monday night that if the case appeared to be a criminal or terrorist act against a member of Congress, the bureau was prepared to begin an investigation.
 
Ricin (pronounced RICE-in) could cause illness or death if enough was ingested, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
 
Envelopes containing anthrax were mailed to the offices of Senators Tom Daschle of South Dakota, the Democratic leader, and Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont, shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks. Two postal workers at an office that processed the envelopes died.
 
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