THE ARMY has warned people to continue to be on the alert for canisters containing a potentially lethal chemical, some of which have been washed ashore along the south and south east coasts.
Gardai began a search of the coastline at Rush, Co Dublin, last night after a report that more canisters had been spotted. A member of the public contacted the gardai at Rush to say a number of objects had been washed ashore.
An Army bomb disposal team went to the scene, about 15 miles north of Dublin, but found the canisters washed up there contained carbon dioxide. The lethal canisters, which are the subject of an Army warning, contain traces of calcium phosphide, a chemical used to make smoke, but which can also form a lethal gas if mixed with water. They may have been used to mark a location at sea.
A number of these canisters have been washed up on shores in Cork and Wexford in recent days. They are silver in colour with a light green band around the middle. The words "calcium fosfide" are written in red on the exterior. The Army has warned that no one should touch the canisters and says gardai should be alerted immediately if any are spotted.
The phosphene gas which can be produced is lethal if inhaled at a density of 10 parts per million over a number of hours, an Army ordnance officer said yesterday.
The canisters' origin is unknown, but they appear to be relatively new and are unlikely to have come from known munitions dumps on the seabed. The Department of the Marine is investigating.
While the canisters retrieved so far are used ones, the Army says' members of the public would have no way of knowing whether canisters they encountered were empty or full of the deadly chemical.