Irradiated Mail

The anthrax attacks of October 2001 targeted Federal offices but also affected mail processed in the Brentwood Postal Facility in Washington, D.C. Other Federal agencies in the Washington area may become targets for this kind of attack, or they may receive mail affected by attacks on other agencies. Irradiation protects workers against possible future releases of bacteria and viruses through the mail. It is a proven and reliable sterilization method that can handle large flows of mail that come to Federal agencies. It protects workers even before an attack is suspected.

·         USACHPPM Fact Sheet, Irradiated Mail, March 2002.  Questions and Answers on irradiated mail. 

·         Updated GSA Advisory on Irradiated Mail, 21 February 2002.  The United States Postal Service (USPS) is continuing to irradiate first class business and letter-size envelopes addressed to federal offices with ZIP Codes from 20200 through 20599. The GSA Office of Government wide Policy, in conjunction with USPS, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, and the GSA Federal Protective Service, is updating its earlier advisory for federal mail handlers to reflect the latest available information.

·         Department of Health & Human Services, Health Effects of Irradiated Mail, 5 March 2002.  Over the past several weeks we have received questions from many agencies regarding the safety of irradiated mail.  We contacted several agencies involved in investigating these concerns (the US Postal Service, CDC, and EPA) and present the following summary of what is known to date.

·        U. S. Postal Service Emergency Preparedness Plan for Protecting Postal Employees and Postal Customers From Exposure to Biohazardous Material and for Ensuring Mail Security Against Bioterror Attacks, 6 March 2002. The Postal Service looked at a variety of process changes and technology initiatives that could be applied to the threat of biohazards in the mail. Careful review and consideration was given to all processes and technologies in this report. The paramount conclusion is that no single solution exists to solve the problem of using the mail as a tool of Bioterrorism. Further, no solution or even series of solutions can totally eliminate the threat.