Irradiated Mail Making Capitol Hill Staffers Ill
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Capitol Hill staffers say mail treated for anthrax contamination is making them sick. Jeanne Meserve now with a look from Washington at this story.</s>JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Because of letters like this, mail to the Capitol now looks like this: irradiated.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can see how the label is kind of crumbly. It melted away partially from the plastic.</s>MESERVE: Irradiation, zapping the mail with electron beams, kills anthrax spores. But the question now is does it make people sick? Some Capitol Hill staffers who open mail have reported a variety of symptoms.</s>HOWARD GANTMAN, COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR FOR SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN: The illnesses go from burning eyes to nausea to headaches to kind of a choking sensation like in the back of the throat -- it gets dry -- to feeling like there is something on their hands, and sometimes, actually a burning sensation on their fingers.</s>DEBORAH WILLHITE, U.S. POSTAL SERVICE: So far, we've found no medical or scientific reasons why irradiated mail would make someone feel sick.</s>MESERVE: The postal service says irradiation produces more paper dust and an odor, but that the mail is aired out before it is delivered to get rid of byproduct gases.</s>WILLHITE: There are no toxics being put off by the mail and there is no carbon monoxide or ozone being put off by the mail at levels that would make anyone ill.</s>MESERVE: But, Senator Dianne Feinstein is urging a proactive approach. And the Senate sergeant at arms, Alphonso Lenhardt, has formed a task force, including representatives from the Environmental Protection Agency and the Centers for Disease Control. Lenhardt says it will move expeditiously to gain an understanding of any impact the irradiation process has on offices and their staff. (on camera): the answers are of importance far beyond Washington. The postal service still has plans to irradiate much of the mail it delivers nationwide. Jeanne Meserve, CNN, Washington.