A day after a letter addressed to Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi was confiscated for testing positive for a ricin, authorities have confirmed a letter addressed to the president was also intercepted. Both letters were discovered Tuesday at separate mail handing facilities in Washington. Preliminary field tests, which the FBI says can produce false positives, returned positive results for ricin on Tuesday. Additional tests are being performed.
"Only a full analysis performed at an accredited laboratory can determine the presence of a biological agent such as ricin," the FBI said. "Those tests are in the process of being conducted and generally take from 24 to 48 hours."
The Bureau released a statement Wednesday morning saying the suspicious letters have not been linked to Monday’s bombings at the Boston Marathon. "The investigation into these letters remains ongoing, and more letters may still be received. There is no indication of a connection to the attack in Boston. It is important to note that operations at the White House have not been affected as a result of the investigation,” the statement said. "Additionally, filters at a second government mail screening facility preliminarily tested positive for ricin this morning. Mail from that facility is being tested."
NBC news reports federal authorities have identified a suspect, but have not made an arrests.
Ricin is a lethal byproduct of waste left over from processing Castor beans. As little as 500 micrograms of the toxin can kill an adult.
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