Radio Workshop

Masked in Fear (Transcript)

by Collin Campbell

NARRATION

Dan Gallo is the type of gas mask salesman you just have to trust. Ask him if the products he sells protect against nuclear, biological or chemical attack, and here is his answer you'll get.

ACTUALITY - Dan Gallo

"Yeah, hopefully."

NARRATION

The Counter Spy Shop, where Gallo has worked for nine years, sells five different kinds of gas masks. The Madison Avenue store is filled with plastic heads wearing the black and green colored items. Alongside each is a list of beneifts, like "allows for cell phone conversation" and "fits easily in your purse." During a good month, the store sells nearly one thousand gas masks, which range in price between $299 and $499 dollars.

All of the masks Gallo sells are made outside of the U.S. Some carry claims like "based on Israeli military design." Others carry safety seals and logos in foreign languages. Gallo's word is all customers have to go on for what a product will protect the wearer from.

ACTUALITY - Dan Gallo

"Is it a range of biological agents?"

"Right."

"So, it's anything we know is out there?"

"Yeah."

"Anything that we know. You can only go by what you know."

NARRATION

What the American government knows about gas masks is very little. There is no central clearinghouse for information about them and no single repository to report defects. No government testing programs currently ensure that equipment meets any standard. There are more controls on hot dogs than there are on these pricey items advertised to save lives. And at the Counter Spy shop, no returns or refunds are allowed.

NARRATION

Marissa, a 20-year-old woman, is peering through the window outside. Last month, her mother sent her a gas mask. It came in burlap bag with no instructions and no information on when it would expire. She has no idea what it will protect her from, so she's shopping for a new one.

ACTUALITY - Marissa

"I don't want to see the day when I walk out and everyone's wearing one."

NARRATION

That's not likely to happen, says New York's Office of Emergency Management. Spokesman Steve Sanders says residents should keep a "go" bag, with things like a flashlight and water in it by the door, but that's it.

ACTUALITY - OEM Spokesman

"New York City does not recommend buying gas masks."

NARRATION

In spite of these recommendations, stores like the Counter Spy Shop and Safer America, which opened blocks from the World Trade Center last year, are attracting scores of scared shoppers. Elin Gursky, a civilian biodefense expert, says this is big, bad business.

ACTUALITY - Gursky

"I think it's profiteering at the expense of people who have concerns who are worried about protecting themselves and protecting their families."

NARRATION

NIOSH, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health may begin gathering consumer safety information on gas masks this year. For Columbia Radio News, I'm Collin Campbell.