Yellow rain, a substance that causes debilitating symptoms and was initially thought to be a chemical or biological weapon, is actually bee faeces. Investigations found evidence of predigested pollen and toxins produced by fungi that feed on bee droppings. While it is not a weapon, the toxins could potentially be used as one.
Yellow rain is an airborne substance that adheres to exposed exterior surfaces. Human exposure can result in a variety of debilitating symptoms and sometimes death. First noticed in Southeast Asia in the 1970s, it was initially thought to be caused by a chemical or biological weapon. The preponderance of the evidence now suggests it was bee faeces.
In 1975, members of the Hmong tribe were attacked by military forces from Laos and Vietnam. Members of the refugee tribe reported an oily, yellow aerosol being dispersed from low-flying aircraft. Those exposed reported life-threatening physical and neurological symptoms. This unknown substance was commonly called yellow rain. Reports of similar incidents followed the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia in 1978.
In 1981, US Secretary of State Alexander Haig accused the Soviet Union of supplying client states with chemical weapons and biological agents, including T-2 mycotoxins, for use in counterinsurgency warfare. These allegations were consistent with a report by the US Army Medical Department that attributed thousands of deaths in Vietnam, Cambodia and Afghanistan to toxins released from multiple systems. The Soviet Union has denied the allegations.
A 1982 investigation by CJ Mirocha of the University of Minnesota into alleged chemical attacks in Southeast Asia claimed to have found T-2 and other mycotoxins in the blood, urine and tissue samples of victims. Dr. Mirocha also said the toxins in question are rarely found in nature and rarely together, because different processes produce them. This was seen as compelling evidence that the toxins were being artificially produced and used in yellow rain as a chemical warfare agent.
Subsequent investigations began to question the hypothesis that yellow rain was a chemical weapon. Follow-up investigations by US government agencies have yielded no evidence to verify any earlier claims. It was asked how the Mirocha study could find evidence of toxins in samples taken weeks after exposure when these toxins are eliminated from the human body within hours. This would appear to indicate a natural source of the contamination.
A 1983 investigation by biologist Matthew Meselson found that evidence considered authentic consisted largely of pollen previously digested by bees. This confirmed an earlier analysis by the Australian Ministry of Defence. Traces of each significant toxin were detected, albeit at levels far below those needed to suggest weapon use. Further research has shown that fungi that feed on bee droppings naturally produce toxins.
Studies by Canadian and Malaysian biologists have shown that Asian bees undertake mass defecation flights to lower their body temperature. This is done to lower the temperature of the colony and protect the developing larvae. It also provides a natural delivery mechanism for the widespread deposition of predigested pollen. Yellow rain, it turns out, is nothing but the faeces of Asian bees.
The same conclusion was reported in Chinese scientific journals as early as 1977. Investigation of a yellow rain incident in Jiangsu Province in September 1976 found that the contamination consisted mainly of pollen. Chinese scientists concluded at the time that it was bee droppings.
The fungi that produce the toxins in question infest not only yellow rain but also the region’s food supply. Adverse reactions appear to be a natural consequence of this fact. However, there is a possibility that these toxins could be used as a weapon. As long as that potential exists, it cannot be said with absolute certainty that they were never used as a weapon.
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