OK to eat the yellow snow?

NOVOSIBIRSK, February 2 - The yellow-orange snow that fell in West Siberian regions Wednesday contained no toxic substances and its color was the result of a sand storm in neighboring Kazakhstan, experts said Friday.

"Experts have established that the substances in the snow are not toxic, but the iron content in the snow samples was four times above the norm," the press service of the local emergencies situations department said.

A public warning was issued in West Siberia's Omsk Region Thursday after polluted snow, yellowed and oil-stained, fell over an area of about 1,500 square kilometers (1,000 square miles), affecting some 49 communities with a population of at least 27,000.