Remarkable is the fact that commonly used products in everyday life can be poisonous. And often the names of the most powerful poisons appear in simple objects. They are always next to a person, and he does not even suspect about them.
Methanol
One of the most dangerous poisons for humans is called methanol. The thing is that it is often confused with wine alcohol. And you can not distinguish one from the other by taste and smell. Fake alcohol is sometimes made from a deadly poison called methanol. And to reveal this fact is possible only by conducting an appropriate laboratory study. At best, a person who has consumed such a drink will go blind.
Mercury
In the old days and still many families keep a mercury thermometer at home. But if you pour this substance at home, this is quite enough for poisoning. There is no dangerous chemical poison called mercury, it is its vapors that are dangerous. They separate already at room temperature. In addition to thermometers, the same element is part of fluorescent lamps. For this reason, safety precautions must also be observed with them.
Snake venom
At the moment there are about 2500 species of snakes in the world, and only 250 of them have poisons with clever names. The most famous reptiles of this type are cobras, vipers, rattlesnakes and sand elves. Their poison is dangerous for people if it enters the circulatory system. The first official antidote was released in 1895. At the same time, there are no universal antidotes - each type of snake has its own.
Potassium cyanide
The fastest deadly poison is called potassium cyanide. It has been used since antiquity, and is the most famous "spy" method of poisoning. It is he who is used in films by intelligence officers - there he is presented in the form of ampoules or tablets. It has the smell of bitter almonds. It is noteworthy that even simple inhalation, touching this substance poisons.
It is part of a number of herbs, products, cigarettes. It is used when extracting gold from ore. Its deadly effect is possible due to the binding of iron in the blood, therefore, the supply of oxygen to vital organs is stopped. It is noteworthy that they tried, but failed to poison Grigory Rasputin with this substance. The thing is that it was added to a sweet product, and glucose is an antidote for this poison.
Mushrooms
Poison is also contained in mushrooms, this is the most accessible type of poisonous substances. The most famous are false mushrooms, pale grebes, stitches, fly agarics. Most often, poisoning with a pale toadstool occurs due to the fact that there are many different types of this fungus. And a number of them are very similar to edible ones. One mushroom is enough tokill several people at once.
It is noteworthy that the German nation has learned to cook fly agarics in such a way that they lose their poisonous properties. However, such cooking takes at least a day. If the expiration date is violated, such a dish again becomes dangerous for humans.
Potatoes and bread
To the list of names of poisons, you can safely add potatoes and bread. If potatoes are stored incorrectly, solanine accumulates in them. It leads to poisoning up to a lethal outcome. Bread will be poisonous if made from flour with ergot-infected cereals.
The most famous poison
The name of the poison, which is one of the most famous, is curare. It is of plant origin, produced in South America. It quickly causes paralysis of the respiratory organs. Initially, it was used in hunting animals, and in the 20th century, its use in medicine began. He was extremely popular with the Indians.
In the ranking of the most famous names of poisons, one cannot fail to mention arsenic. This is the "royal" poison, which has been used since antiquity. There are known cases of its use even under Caligula. He eliminated competitors in the political arena, he was loved to know in the Middle Ages.
Poisoners in history
The most famous users of poisons were representatives of the Borgia dynasty. They actually made it a separate art form. An invitation to a feast from them made anyone shudder. The most insidious were Pope Alexander IV Borgia and hischildren - Cesare and Lucrezia. They deduced their formula and the name of a rare poison - cantarella. Presumably, the composition included arsenic, phosphorus and a copper s alt.
It is noteworthy that the father of the family himself died after drinking a bowl of poison by mistake, which was intended for another.
About the most powerful poison in the world
It is hardly possible to answer exactly which name of the poison implies the most dangerous substance. Extremely strong toxins of botulism, tetanus. Moreover, homemade preparations can become a source of botulism.
Natural Poisons
Batrachotoxin is considered the most powerful natural poison. It is this substance that produces the skin of a small, but such a dangerous dart frog. She lives in Colombia. One such amphibian contains such a concentration of dangerous substances that it can kill several elephants.
Radioactive poisons
Radioactive poisons are very dangerous. The best known of these is polonium, which is slow-acting, but one gram is enough to kill 1,500,000 people.
Polonium was found in uranium ore. When it is outside the human body, it is not a dangerous substance. It does not penetrate the skin. But as soon as it is inside the body, polonium instantly causes severe damage to internal organs. Death in this case is inevitable.
Chemical poisons
Poisons with the name of the chemical group are produced by synthesizing different substances. One of the strongest poisons of this group isacrolein. It was often used on the battlefields of the First World War as a chemical weapon.
Soman is a combat substance that smells like apples. At the same time, a minute after the defeat, they begin to expand the pupils, difficulty breathing. It began to be used in 1944.
The next known chemical poison is called carbon disulfide. It smells nice enough and acts like a drug. A person poisoned by it loses consciousness, convulsions and a headache begin, vomiting and shortness of breath are possible.
The scientific name for a chemical poison with an ammonia smell is trimethylamine. Even in small concentrations, it irritates the eyes, the mucous membrane of the respiratory organs, its main effect is suffocating.
Chlorine is the simplest gas that has a metallic taste. It is widely used in the industrial sector, it was also used by the German troops in the First World War. It causes lung burns.
Composition of snake venom
The scientific name for snake venom is serpentotoxin. This substance is mostly made up of proteins that coagulate blood and break down proteins. Sea snakes produce poison with neurotoxins - they paralyze the nervous system. In addition, such substances cause rapid tissue necrosis, upset the functioning of internal organs, and reduce cardiac choice.
It is noteworthy that the composition of snake venoms has not been fully studied. But, processing them, a person learned to use such substances in medicine. Yes, cobra venomused for pain relief. Viper venom is used to eliminate the ability of blood to clot for 3 weeks. There is reason to believe that one day snake venom will be a treatment for thrombosis.
Classification of poisons
A separate classification of poisons is used, and it is carried out for many reasons. So, in forensics, blood poisons are isolated - they change the composition of the blood, sticking together and destroying red blood cells. This group includes arsenic hydrogen, Bertolet s alt, carbon monoxide, mushroom poison.
In addition, they release toxic substances that change the composition of hemoglobin. Death is achieved due to the fact that oxygen ceases to flow from the lungs to the tissues. This is how, for example, carbon monoxide, a s alt of nitric acid act.
Destructive poisons are a separate category. They provoke necrosis and dystrophy. For the most part, their action affects the internal organs. This category includes arsenic, lead, phosphorus.
There are also neuro-functional poisons, as the name suggests, their impact is directed primarily at the human nervous system. Excite the central nervous system strychnine, phenamine. While it is oppressed by morphine, codeine, ethyl, methyl alcohols. Cyanide compounds paralyze the nervous system.
Interesting facts
The most poisonous metal is arsenic. It is they who are impregnated with insect repellents.
Pope Clement VII died in 1534 of toadstool poisoning.
Abraham Lincoln's mother died,when she drank the milk of a cow that ate a poisonous plant, a wrinkled vine. This cause of death was typical for thousands of people in the 19th century. The leaves of this plant are very similar to nettles, and people often confused them.
It is noteworthy that some animals are very sensitive to poisonous gases. For this reason, they served as indicators for people of the presence of poison in the air. In World War II, it was cats for the Germans, and budgerigars for the British.
Cyanide was used in the gas chambers. This applies to executions in the United States, and to the destruction of Jews by the Nazis. Survivors describe its smell as "bitter almonds". When cyanide enters the body, it makes it impossible for the blood to circulate. At the moment, executions by this method are prohibited due to inhumanity.
It is noteworthy that one of the most dangerous nerve gases - VX - was originally put on sale as pesticides "Amiton". And only then did scientists find out how dangerous such a substance is for humans. During the Cold War, it was a spare weapon.
The defoliant from Dow Chemical and Monsanto was used extensively in the Vietnam War. They destroyed trees that were covers for enemies. The composition of the poison includes a substance that provokes the development of cancerous tumors. Due to the widespread use of such a composition in Vietnam, many women gave birth to dead children or with deviations - with extra fingers, without separate parts of the body, with mental retardation. And this substance is still notevaporated, it remains in Vietnam.
Lead is also considered poisonous. It was used as early as 8,000 years ago, but people became aware of its danger not so long ago. Just a couple of decades ago, a person learned that this substance affects the internal organs, provoking poisoning. End effects of lead exposure are psychiatric disorders, diarrhea.
History of Poisons
The first mention of a poisoning investigation is a document drawn up in Rome in 331 BC. Suddenly there was a series of deaths of noble patricians. Initially, a version of the epidemic was expressed, but the denunciation of one of the slaves pointed to the guilt of Cornelia and Sergius, the patricians. They possessed a whole range of poisons. In the course of convincing the Senate that they were drugs, they took the drugs and died.
During the civil strife in ancient Rome, suicide by poisoning was common. At the same time, it was permissible to give the authorities a good reason and receive a poisonous decoction. It is noteworthy that it was then that the tradition of clinking glasses appeared - during such a ritual, the wine from the glass splashed out and went to the neighbor. Thus, the man proved that there is no poison in the goblets.
In the writings that have come down to us since those times, thoughts about how difficult it is to recognize poison often appear. Poisoning over the centuries of development has acquired the features of a separate art - poisoners learned to eliminate bitterness by adding sweet, an unpleasant smell was replaced by odorous substances. Poisons were mixed with medicines intended for the sick. Salvation from this scourge was very difficult.
