CHEMICALS: Preparing for The Worst

No one wants Iraq to fulfill its threat to use chemical weapons in the Middle East. But for some U.S. companies, that unwanted possibility has been an unexpected economic boon. To meet Pentagon needs, firms that make equipment and medical supplies to prevent casualties from chemical warfare are stepping up production. Last week Survival Technologies Inc., a medical-supply company in Bethesda, Md., received a $2 million order for special syringes filled with a nerve-gas antidote. Trilling Medical Technologies in Carlstadt, N.J., has its plant operating overtime to meet demand for Water-Jel, an emergency burn- care product that also reduces injuries from exposure to white phosphorus. In Oklahoma, Sac & Fox Industries has received a $30 million contract to produce 500,000 chemical-warfare suits, which may bring as many as 500 new jobs to the state.