Hazardous material teams are investigating the possible presence of the nerve agent sarin at a Facebook mailing facility in Menlo Park, California, authorities said Monday.
No employees have been exposed to the clear, colorless, tasteless and odorless man-made nerve agent , said Menlo Park Fire Marshal Jon Johnston said.
An item sent through one of the Menlo Park facility's mail scanning machines tested positive for sarin, according to Johnston, He said it could be a false positive and other testing is necessary to confirm the result.
The incident is contained to one building, which has been evacuated, Johnston said.
Sarin is an extremely volatile nerve agent because of its ability to evaporate from liquid to gas. People are exposed to sarin through skin contact, eye contact, or by breathing it in.
