By Kim Chen Wiseman
Contributing Writer

Four major mail distribution and processing facilities in South Carolina, Charleston, Columbia, Florence and Greenville, are slated to receive anthrax detection systems this summer, according to U.S. Postal Service officials.

The new biohazard detection systems are part of a nationwide installation plan that began in 2003 and will conclude this year. The detection devices are designed to pick up on the presence of anthrax spores in mail, warn postal workers and prevent the delivery of packages containing dangerous matter.

Anthrax is a potentially fatal disease caused by a spore-producing bacteria most commonly found in grazing animals such as sheep, cattle and horses. The disease can sometimes infect humans when they are exposed to infected animals or to anthrax spores released into the atmosphere as a biological weapon. Anthrax can occur when the bacteria breaks the skin, is eaten in contaminated food or is inhaled. Symptoms of anthrax include flu-like symptoms such as fever, nausea, fatigue and headache.

In 2001, anthrax bacteria spores were packaged in letters and delivered through the U.S. mail, infecting 22 people and killing five, including two postal workers. The letters containing anthrax spores, some in weaponry form, were postmarked from Trenton, N.J., and mailed to five news media outlets in New York and Florida and two U.S. senators in Washington, D.C. The anthrax attacks came on the heels of Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.

In response to the attacks, several government agencies, the U.S. Army and private consultants collaborated to create a system-wide safeguard against chemical biohazards.

The new biohazard detection unit, which resembles a photocopy machine, consists of a hood and vacuum system that draws air samples as mail moves through a canceling machine.

The vacuum absorbs the particles into a sterile water base, creating a liquid sample that can be automatically tested for a DNA match. Depending on environmental factors, such as humidity and temperature, the system will detect any anthrax spores within 30 to 45 minutes. Alarms are in place to warn postal workers in the case of a positive match.

“Our employees have been drilled and trained to know where to go and what to do in the case of an emergency,” says Tad Kelley, a spokesman for the U.S. Postal Service. Since the systems have been in place at facilities across the country, no anthrax has yet been detected.

The Charleston mail sorting facility, located on Cross County Road, will receive the new detection systems on July 9. About 40,000 pieces of mail each day, or roughly 12.2 million pieces a year, will pass through the biohazard detection machines at the Charleston plant.

By the end of this year, biohazard detection systems are projected to be installed in all 283 major mail processing and distribution facilities throughout the United States. So far, about half of the facilities have received the new systems.

The current biohazard detection equipment is designed to only identify the presence of anthrax. However, the system is expandable and can be configured to detect other toxins and DNA-based materials, says U.S. Postal Service spokesman Bob Anderson.

Kim Chen Wiseman is a contributing writer to the Business Journal.

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