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AntZ
06-15-2011, 11:09 PM
Mud Triggers Security Alert At Logan Airport

June 14, 2011 9:27 PM



BOSTON (AP) – State police say nitrates detected in a piece of checked luggage at Boston’s Logan International Airport were traced to a sample of mud brought back from a river in Hong Kong.

Two gates at the American Airlines terminal were closed as a precaution on Tuesday afternoon after the nitrates were detected. The gates were reopened about an hour later after it was determined there was no danger.

State police said the mud sample was brought to Boston by a doctoral student at Hong Kong University who was participating in a research program at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.

Certain nitrates can be ingredients in explosives.

Police said Tuesday’s incident demonstrated the ability of security equipment at the Boston airport to detect even minute levels of potentially dangerous substances.

deebakes
06-15-2011, 11:22 PM
I thought muddy gut was the culprit :lol:

Deepsepia
06-15-2011, 11:51 PM
Oh, they should not have revealed that.

Of course, you're looking for off-gassing nitrates-- explosives (for example TNT, tri-nitro-toluene, or nitroglycerine) give off nitrates.

But it does suggest some obvious ways to set off alarms so often as to make the system painful to use.