E-Mail Is Looking Better Than Ever

By Sora Song

An e-mail currently in wide circulation suggests ironing or microwaving one's mail may help make it safe from anthrax and other biological contaminants. These methods, however, are likely to do little but destroy perfectly good mail. The U.S. Postal Service recommends that the best way to avoid opening anthrax-tainted letters and packages is to be aware and exercise common sense. To help that process, the USPS will deliver a postcard to every residence in the country with guidelines on how to spot and dispose of suspicious mail.

For those who want expensive technology to come to the rescue, companies such as the life-sciences firm Bruker Daltonics have developed portable machines to detect biological agents. Such devices, however, can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and are targeted for government agencies, not the private sector.

Then there is the possibility of irradiating mail, in much the same way bacteria is irradiated from meat. That too may be prohibitively expensive and companies in the irradiating business say it would be some time before such technology would be viable for the post office or company mail rooms. Most biotech firms are reluctant to invest in what they believe to be a temporary, panic-induced market. It seems common sense may be the best--and cheapest--defense.

--Reported by Michele Orecklin

With reporting by Michele Orecklin