American Notes White House

Two Cincinnati women visiting the White House separately last spring were startled to be pulled out of the tourist line and quizzed by Secret Service agents. Reason: they were radioactive. Three Ohio doctors explained in a letter to the New England Journal of Medicine last week that the women had taken a test for heart disease in which each had been injected with a radioisotope before exercising on a treadmill.

The Secret Service would not confirm the account, but the White House apparently is equipped with secret sensors that can detect tiny amounts of radioactivity. The high technology has a good purpose. A nuclear device in this era of refined mischief could be as small as a fountain pen.