Acid vapors likely source of SBU leak

Acid vapors from a laboratory ventilation unit likely were the source of a chemical leak Friday at a Stony Brook Southampton marine facility, a university spokeswoman said Monday.

A preliminary report by safety personnel at the university's Southampton Marine Station said vapors from a bottle inside a fume hood, a cupboard-like ventilation storage unit, sickened two university officers who responded to an early morning alarm, according to spokeswoman Lauren Sheprow.

Sheprow said the "definitive cause of this incident has not yet been determined . . . It could take a few more days to determine exactly what the cause was."

Sheprow also said the type of acid that caused the fumes has not been identified.

The two officers entered the building just off the main campus after an alarm went off about 3:40 a.m., fire officials said Friday.

Initial reports that the fumes were chlorine, were incorrect, Sheprow said. Both officers were given oxygen at the scene and then treated and released from Southampton Hospital.