A letter sent to a US senator tested positive for ricin, a highly toxic compound found in castor beans, federal authorities revealed on Tuesday.
The letter was addressed to Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi. It bore a Memphis postmark and had no other suspicious markings or return address.
According to a 2008 U.S. Government Accountability Office report, mail destined for the White House, Congress or federal agencies is delivered to a mail transfer centre in Maryland where postal staff categorize whether it needs to be irradiated. The mail is then transferred to an irradiation facility in New Jersey where it is scanned by a high-energy beam or X-rays to kill potentially harmful biological agents. The U.S. Postal Service reportedly spends around $12 million on irradiation.
Reuters reported that "the ricin test came one day after the explosions at the Boston Marathon that killed three people and injured 176.
"I don't know if it's a coincidence. It's too early to tell. We don't know enough about Boston," said Senator Richard Durbin, the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate.
All mail to the US Senate had been stopped, and post offices at the Capitol had been closed as a precaution, the senators said. They were getting in touch with their state offices, where mail is not subject to the same extensive screening, to ensure that precautions were being put in place.
A law enforcement source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said initial field tests on the letter produced mixed results, prompting authorities to order further analysis at an accredited laboratory."
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