Itching Powder Prank at Brooklyn School Summons Hazmat Unit!

The city's Department of Environmental Protection dispatched a Hazmat unit to an elementary school in East New York after unidentified students sprinkled novelty itching powder on at least two teachers' chairs. Some students were also affected; everyone who reported itching had to take decontamination showers, and the two teachers were taken to the hospital as a precaution. One victim tells the Daily News, "When I sat down, I could feel it through my pants. It was very itchy. It got intense. When it became uncontrollable, I had to stop what I was doing... It stopped me in my tracks." Mission accomplished from the pranksters' point of view, but one teacher isn't savoring the gag: "Somebody could have killed me. I feel it personally, because I have so many allergies." And a fifth grader reports, "My friend Emiliano was itching a lot. He felt bad. He scratched and scratched. I was glad I did not get any on me." The powder, which looked like tiny, prickly hairs, was deemed nonhazardous by the DEP, but a potentially devastating Whoopee Cushion explosion is still under investigation.