Second TNT Exposure at Weapons Plant

The plant that makes 2,000-pound “bunker buster” penetration bombs has stopped production for a second time after workers developed anemia because of TNT exposure, officials said Wednesday.

Manufacture of the weapons -- heavily used in the Iraq war -- was stopped Feb. 8 after resuming weeks before following a lengthy production halt, said Mark Hughes, spokesman for the McAlester Army Ammunition Plant.

Blood tests in February found that 17 employees who make the weapons at McAlester had low blood oxygen levels caused by exposure to trinitrotoluene, or TNT, he said.

Production of the powerful bombs, designed to destroy underground structures, was stopped in August after 34 workers were found to be anemic.

It restarted Jan. 1 after a new ventilation system to filter TNT from the air was installed, Hughes said.

Initially, practice bombs filled with concrete were made on the reopened line, but when production of bombs began, blood tests showed TNT exposure again and the plant was closed, Hughes said.

He said the workers did not exhibit weakness, headaches or other symptoms of full-blown anemia, “but blood lab work indicated clinical levels” of the affliction, Hughes said.

Anemia is a condition in which the number of red blood cells falls below normal and the body gets less oxygen.

Hughes said plant officials were conducting more studies to determine what to do next.

The McAlester plant is the primary bomb maker for the U.S. military and employs 1,400 workers.