-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Interesting, but a little more data to move beyond the hype to what we really have to worry about would be helpful. From the data below, looks like purchasing your own chlorine and learning additional water purification techniques is a small investment in time and money that might really pay off, and sure beats solely relying on someone else to do it for you. People focus so much on antibiotics and getting a mask--but it's the other little things, like DEET, flea and tick powder for the yard, citronella buckets, gatorade or other rehydration salts, etc. that will put you in a better place for dealing with a wider variety of potential bioattacks. I haven't seen a list anywhere, but if you do some reading, use common sense, and think about it for five minutes it shouldn't be too difficult to come up with your own. Coleman's Surplus would be a good place to look for equipment: they still have reasonably-priced NBC suits for sale too, last time I checked. http://www.galleria-e.com/cgi-bin/Colemans.storefront/Home ~F. Adapted from Medical Issues Information paper No. IP-31-017, "Biological Warfare Agents as Potable Water Threats," US Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD, USA, March 1998: Table 2. Threat potential of biological agents to drinking water Agent Water threat Stable in water Bacillus anthracis Yes 2 years (spores) Brucella spp. Probable 20-72 days Clostridium perfringens Probable Common in sewage Fancisella tularensis Yes Up to 90 days Burkholderia mallei Unlikely Up to 30 days Burkholderia psuedomallei Unlikely Unknown Shigella spp. Yes 2-3 days Vibrio cholerae Yes Survives well Salmonella spp. Yes 8 days, fresh water Yersina pestis Yes 16 days Coxiella burnetti Possible Unknown Rickettsia spp. Unlikely Unknown Chlamydia psittaci Possible 18-24 hrs, seawater Alphaviruses Unlikely Unknown Filoviruses, arenvaviruses, Unlikely Unknown bunyaviruses, flaviviruses Variola Possible Unknown Hepatitis A Yes Unknown Cryptosporiodium spp. Yes Stable weeks or more Botulinum toxins Yes Stable T-2 mycotoxins Yes Stable Aflatoxin Yes Probably stable Ricin Yes Unknown Staph. Enterotoxins Yes Probably stable Microcystins Yes Probably stable Anatoxin A Probable Inactivated in days Tetrodotoxin Yes Unknown Saxitoxin Yes Stable Ambient temperature, 1 ppm free available chlorine (FAC), 30 minutes, or as indicated Table 2. Threat potential of biological agents to drinking water Agent Chlorine tolerance Bacillus anthracis Spores resistant Brucella spp. Unknown Clostridium perfringens Resistant Fancisella tularensis Inactivated 1 ppm-5 min Burkholderia mallei Unknown Burkholderia psuedomallei Unknown Shigella spp. Inactivated 0.05 ppm-10 min Vibrio cholerae Easily killed Salmonella spp. Inactivated Yersina pestis Unknown Coxiella burnetti Unknown Rickettsia spp. Unknown Chlamydia psittaci Unknown Alphaviruses Unknown Filoviruses, arenvaviruses, Unknown bunyaviruses, flaviviruses Variola Unknown Hepatitis A Inactivated 0.4 ppm-30 min Cryptosporiodium spp. Oocysts resistant-killed by 720 ppm for 10 min Botulinum toxins Inactivated 0.6 ppm-20 min T-2 mycotoxins Resistant Aflatoxin Resistant Ricin Resistant at 10 ppm Staph. Enterotoxins Unknown Microcystins Resistant at 100 ppm Anatoxin A Unknown Tetrodotoxin Inactivated at 0.5 ppm Saxitoxin Resistant at 10 ppm Ambient temperature, 1 ppm free available chlorine (FAC), 30 minutes, or as indicated -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: Hush 2.0 wl8EARECAB8FAjvCK8YYHGF1dG8zMDEwOTRAaHVzaG1haWwuY29tAAoJEKadvsVlUK4P qZkAn38aF1SyPK7YPv0otWJtBIkDv1dIAKCzpD0r5YGe71nHltLGdomCbIbLPA== =AdWO -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----