Besides emitting an unpleasant, rancid odor, butyric acid can cause headaches, skin conditions and may irritate mucous membranes.

Paula Welch, associate director of student facilities at Physical Plant, said she went to the emergency room on Thursday, April 6 as a result of exposure to this chemical. She said she experienced a horrific headache, a dry throat and clogged sinuses.

Welch, who has asthma, said it also affected her lungs. She was told her health would not be back to normal for one to two weeks.

According to Welch, to her knowledge, three other people have also sought medical attention from an occupational therapy physician.

"I think that it is important that whoever did it realizes they did in fact put people in jeopardy," Welch said.

Welch said there were also people who felt ill who did not receive medical attention. 

According to Welch, Professor of Biology Fred Cohan told her that two people in his lab felt sick. Cohan, who was off-campus for the day, could not be reached for comment.

Associate Professor of Biology Michael Weir also complained of a headache, dry throat and nausea. Weir, who describes himself as very sensitive to air pollutants, said he also felt he has not been working effectively since the acid spill.

Weir cited as examples his recent tendencies to forget about meetings and be less productive in his work.

"I don’t know to the extent it was an effect of the actual exposure and the extent to which it was an effect of the disturbance," Weir said.

According to Laura Grabel, professor of biology and dean of the natural sciences and math, Associate Professor of Biology Sonia Sultan was told to relocate her office because of the harmful effects the chemical could have on her pregnancy.

Sultan, who cannot enter Hall-Atwater, could not be reached for comment.

Grabel said she is not sure how the chemical actually affects pregnancy. She said she does not know if it causes miscarriages or produces other undesired reactions.

"I would believe there haven’t been a lot of controlled studies on the issue," Grabel said.

Grabel said that part of the reason there is limited knowledge about the chemical is that while it may be tested on rats, it cannot ethically be tested on humans.

Upon looking in an encyclopedia of chemicals, Grabel found that butyric acid has an LD50, meaning that 50 percent of rats who ingested this compound would die.

Grabel said this fact really does not mean much, because nobody would conceivably eat butyric acid. She said the research done on rats tells little about the effects of human exposure to this acid.

"This tells you how limited this kind of research has been," Grabel said.

Grabel refuted the claims made by some chemistry professors that butyric acid is not harmful.

"Chemists tend to trivialize working with noxious, volatile chemicals..." Grabel said. "Because it doesn’t cause immediate harm and it’s not explosive does not mean it’s not a hazardous chemical."

Web-research shows that butyric acid is a chemical commonly associated with terrorist activity against abortion clinics.

Grabel and Weir both said the criminal history of butyric acid does not necessarily point to a particular culprit at the University.

"As far as I know there’s no substantive link to anybody," Grabel said. "I think it’s important that whoever did this understands the seriousness of the act."

According to Director of Public Safety Maryann Wiggin, Public Safety and the Middletown Police are investigating several leads at this time.

Wiggin declined comment on the specifics of the incident because the investigation is ongoing. When asked about the rumor that fingerprints had been taken from the crime scene, Wiggin declined comment.

According to Grabel, if someone dumped the acid to make an impact on the functioning of the University, it was successful because of the size and set-up of the classroom.

Welch said it is possible the classroom will not be ready for use by the end of the semester. Welch described the renovations to the room as a "process of elimination."

Welch said the carpet was ripped up because of the smell. Also, all of the chairs were removed and isolated in a storage area. Welch said the chairs were professionally cleaned, however the odor still remained. The chairs will need to be reupholstered.

According to Welch, all of the ceiling tiles were taken down. The walls also had to be washed down, sealed with a substance called Kilz and repainted.

Also the heating system was turned on to make sure the acid was not circulating there. The diffusers and air returns were also cleaned.

All of the high technology in the room, such as computers, had to be removed.

Welch said air quality tests were conducted yesterday. The pending results will determine when the recarpteting and reupholstering may begin.

"The problem with this acid is it has a very low threshold for the human nose," Welch said. "Sometimes you can’t even measure it but you can smell it."

While Welch said she is not sure of the damage costs at this time, she estimated them to be between 30,000 and 50,000 dollars.

"It’s been a horrendous inconvenience. It’s going to be a horrendous cost," Welch said. "Someone might have thought it was a prank, but it turned out to be vandalism."