Amber Listserv / "Fake amber" in Latvia.

[JOHN FUDALA]

I could not find this news release in English so here goes brief
translation:

"A German couple was hurt on the beach of Liepai (Lipawa) region in Latvia
by "false amber"- white phosphorus.
The tourists found a shiny white stone on a beach near town of Bernati- what
they thought was amber- that burst in flames when they picked it up. They
probabely did not notice the posters displayed through out the town warning
about the "false amber". None were posted on the beach.
Last year a Belgian tourist was also burnt by this "false amber", and a year
before that a small boy.
According to local DNR official, Leonidas Zelenskis, pieces of white
phosphorus started to show up on the beach in the '80s, after the Russians
detonated a phosphorus bomb at the nearby town of Rucava resulting in about
three tons of white phosphorus contaminating the Baltic sea. The southerly
see currents bring it to the Lipawy region and its beaches."

Wikipedia says this about white phosphorus burns:
" Phosphorus burns carry a greater risk of mortality than other forms of
burns due to the absorption of phosphorus into the body through the burned
area, resulting in liver, heart and kidney damage, and in some cases
multi-organ failure. [1]
<http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/tp103-c2.pdf>These weapons are
particularly dangerous to exposed people because white
phosphorus continues to burn unless deprived of oxygen or until it is
completely consumed, in some cases burning right down to the
bone.Whitephosphorus results in painful chemical burn injuries"
And a nice photo of such a bomb exploding over USS Alabama.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_phosphorus
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