A large number of institutes throughout Spain could contain in their laboratories an explosive substance that is much more powerful and unstable than dynamite. It is about the picric acid, a compound also known as trinitrophenol and which was distributed precisely through secondary schools about 30 years ago.
Faced with this scenario, agents from the Tedax unit of the National Police, as well as explosives deactivation technicians from the Civil Guard, have had to remove this material from hundreds of schools In recent months, an alarm that occurred after the Gedex of the Civil Guard of Pontevedra gave the notice on November 5 that up to 26 incidents had been carried out in the province, as well as another 13 in Orense, of pyric acid collection during the last year.
These events motivated the authorities to make a public call to all institutes to review your laboratories and report the presence of this compound through an email sent for this purpose. This has led to canisters containing this substance also being eliminated in provinces such as Ávila, León, Palencia, Guadalajara, Santander, Tenerife and Cáceres.
The presence of picric acid has also been confirmed in Madrid, where agents specializing in explosives have also had to go to several secondary schools that housed this explosive in their laboratories. The Ministry of Education, after this, has sent a communication to all centers to review their facilities. Furthermore, this Saturday, without going any further, a new intervention was reported at an institute in Artá, in Mallorca due to an alert from the centre’s own workers.
Compound kits from 30 years ago
Apparently, all the centers that have warned of picric acid in their facilities they would have received this material 30 years ago due to the distribution of a kit of chemical compounds as part of supplies for their laboratories. The delivery was made coinciding with the end of the use of this substance in the weapons industry, which stopped using this compound in favor of TNT, a less sensitive explosive.
Picric acid is specifically a yellow substance whose danger also increases over time. It is extremely sensitive to heat, friction and impactwhich represents a great risk for the facilities and people nearby.
Furthermore, manufacturers always distribute it packaged in containers containing 20% water so that it does not explode when shaken. Over time, this compound has lost that water and has crystallized in many laboratories, which is why its presence is now much more dangerous than before. According to the authorities, the Tedax, in fact, are not even opening the containers to avoid any problem and they are proceeding directly to their disposal.
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