[mir]

From the blog, wakeupfromyourslumber.com

Obviously politically motivated and biased. But as a chemist, you should treat your phosphorus a little nicer, if you tend to dry your solvents...

Be warned, no nice pictures here.
http://www.wakeupfromyourslumber.com/node/3624

[constant thinker]

Most (if not all) of those pictures don't look real in my opinion. That's on bizarre article, and I definitely don't believe any of it.

[pantone159]

I remember reading several accounts of the US military using WP, basically as a chemical weapon, during the assault on Fallujah.  I can't address the specific pictures, and I didn't witness anything personally of course, but I strongly suspect that much of what is described here is basically true.

[hmx9123]

If those pictures aren't real, they look like real ones I've seen.  WP does some surprising (and surprisingly nasty) things to your skin.  It is sad that we're using it in Fallujah.  I thought it was banned by the geneva convention?

Also, I didn't read the article, just looked at the pics, so I'm not commenting on that.

[enahs]

Some of those pictures are from movies I have seen...The others are from other news story.

I am not saying everybody is getting a long great and everything is fine and everybody is behaving as saints. But that site is nothing but propaganda to try and convince people of their own political agenda.

The whole sites goal is to attack America and the notion of interest, as stated by them. Someone with a clearly defined political agenda and willingness to use pictures from movies in as documentation of a news story; why would you believe anything they say? Chances are that while some of you might want to believe what they say; it is all made up BS.

[delta bravo]

Hello to all the members of Chemistry Forum, I am an ancient engineer stumbling around the fringes of chemistry. Re; white phosphorous blog, I totally agree with Mir's comments on the subject. I find it sad that postings like that one are allowed on a forum for science, especially as the recipients of the W.P. use much worse methods, more indiscriminately, for their own selfish ends. As a total newbie to chems', other than a little dabbling as a schoolboy some 50 odd years ago and messing about of late. Its a whole new world to me that seems fascinating, if approached wisely and sensibly. My interest in chem' came about because of my part time hobby of old engines and motorcycles, I wanted to learn how to 'plate' the metal parts, however there are a lot of chem' formulas, so I am now learning to understand the various mixtures and re-actions. I have found some very interesting information on this forum, it is very easy to understand, mainly because the compounds are usually described by their common names, unlike other sites where they quote a whole string of numbers and distorted letters, a bit like a plate of spahgetti and then leave me to try and decipher the contents. Its a shame my first posting is marred by W.P.comments,but in all truthfulness, it does not help me at all, it is not relevant to the the information I am trying to find,so is really a pointless exercise to try and push their insane opinions in the wrong forum. I hope next time to be more posotive about the contents, kind regards, Bob.

[limpet chicken]

I have been burned by WP once, I think it was the second time I tried producing some, a few years ago, I managed to get a small (lentil-sized) particle of it on my arm, it hurt like hell for a few days, and made a sort of white puffy raised mark around the burn.

The worst thing, was, and I can't be sure it was related to the WP exposure, was localised muscular weakness involving the affected hand and arm for quite a while, it made it very hard to do fine motor movements, even after the burn itself healed, and made it almost impossible to write with the affected hand.

Moral of that one? treat your WP nicely

[m_hatter]

I don't know much if anything about chemistry.

So now that that is out of the way.  I have a question/concern.  Longstory short..  I work at a record store, during maintenance i moved a box of bulbs...didn't look in it just picked it up and moved it, during that 2 second process white dust from a broken bulb engulfed me.  Apparently I must have exhaled into it.  I gasped, choked, and coughed.  Longs burned like fire for a about 20 seconds...nothing else to report there.  This was ohhh a week ago or so.  However.. my right hand is peeling every where that stuff got on me.. I itched like crazy...but zero pain.  I hurriedly washed my entire right arm immediately after it got on me.  I still have no pain, or itching.. it only itched for a few hours.  The skin is peeling sort of like a sun burn not really.  nothing major.. just curious what the hell is in those bulbs?  We're talking industrial 120 watt bulbs that are white.  I believe the manufacturer is sylvania.  Any one else experience this?