American Notes POISON GAS

In an ironic reversal of roles, two chemical makers -- Mobay Corp. of Pittsburgh and Dallas-based Occidental Chemical Corp. -- are taking the high moral ground against the U.S. Government by refusing to sell an ingredient necessary to produce a poison gas. The chemical is thionyl chloride, which is used in pesticides and plastics, but is also needed by the Army to make sarin, a lethal nerve agent.

% The two firms say company policy prohibits sales that contribute to the proliferation of chemical weaponry. "It's not ethical to get involved in things that could end up in chemical weapons," said Mobay spokesman Gerd Wilcke. The Pentagon is in a bit of a quandary since the two companies are the only domestic suppliers. Chemical-weapons opponents are discreetly gleeful. Said Congressman Dante Fascell, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee: "This incident should give the Pentagon a chance to rethink its posi-tion and support the President's own policy of chemical non- proliferation. "