People of Northwest Public Radio Tracing Chemical Agents Thu
December 6, 2012 Northwest Scientists Discovering New Ways To
Trace Chemical Weapons President Barack Obama has been publicly
warning Syria’s leaders not to use chemical weapons against
their own people. The news is unexpectedly relevant in southeast
Washington. Researchers at at the Pacific Northwest National
Laboratory are developing new scientific techniques to trace
chemical agents back to their sources. Carlos Fraga is a
dapperly dressed Ph.D. chemist, doing research for the U.S.
Department of Homeland Security. His lab looks normal enough --
that is until he points out a certain cabinet. "This cabinet is
a dry cabinet; it’s where we keep our cyanide samples.” Being
that close to odorless and tasteless stuff that can kill you is
a bit unsettling. But Fraga’s goal with all these locked-up
deadly chemicals is to keep people safe. He says terrorists are
much more likely to wage a chemical attack than a biological one
or a nuclear bomb. “Because it