Poison
In the context of biology, poisons are substances that cause injury, illness, or death to organisms, usually by chemical reaction or other activity on the molecular scale. Some poisons are also toxins, and a distinction between the two terms is not always observed, even among scientists. The derivative forms "toxic" and "poisonous" are synonomous. Within chemistry and physics, a poison is a substance that obstructs or inhibits a reaction, for example by binding to a catalyst.
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2 Famous poisonings 3 Poisons in crime fiction |
Biological poisoning
Contact or absorption of poisons can cause rapid death or impairment. Agents that act on the nervous system can paralyze in seconds or less, and include both biologically derived neurotoxins and so-called nerve gases, which may be synthesized for warfare or industry. Inhaled or ingested cyanide almost instantly starves the body of energy by poisoning mitochondria and the synthesis of ATP. Intravenous injection of an unnaturally high concentration of potassium chloride, such as in the execution of prisoners in parts of the United States, quickly stops the heart by eliminating the cell potential necessary for muscle contraction. Such rapid reactions are often called acute poisoning.
A poison may also act slowly. This is known as chronic poisoning and is most common for poisons that bioaccumulate. Examples of these types of poisons are mercury, lead, and asbestos.
Many substances regarded as poisons are toxic only indirectly. An example is "wood alcohol" or methanol, which is not poisonous itself, but is chemically converted to toxic formaldehyde in the liver. Many drug molecules are made toxic in the liver, and the genetic variability of certain liver enzymes makes the toxicity of many compounds differ between one individual and the next.
Milkweeds (Asclepias sp.) produce glycosides which are toxic to most organisms. (It is unlikely that any organism will eat much because of the extremely bitter taste.) Monarch butterfly larvae, however, are not susceptible to the toxin; in fact they accumulate it in their bodies as they eat the leaves of their host plant. Any predator who wishes to make a meal of an adult monarch will tend to be dissuaded by the bitter taste, and learn to leave the brightly colored insects alone. This gives considerable protection for monarchs from birds and other predators.
The study of the symptoms, mechanisms, treatment and diagnosis of biological poisoning is known as toxicology.
Exposure to radioactive substances can produce radiation poisoning, an unrelated phenomenon.
Examples of biological poisons
Non-radioactive inorganic poisons
- Elemental metals
- Elemental metalloids
- Elemental nonmetals
- Arsenic compounds
- arsenic trioxide
- Fowler's solution
- ammonia
- cyanides
- potassium cyanide
- hydrogen cyanide (prussic acid)
- carbon monoxide
- ethanol
- methanol
- formaldehyde
- Microorganisms
- botulin toxin
- Tetrodotoxin
- alkaloids
- solanine
- atropine
- hyoscyamine
- aconite
- strychnine
- snake and spider venoms
- curare
- digitoxin
- digoxin
- domoic acid (or Amnesic Shellfish Poison, ASP)
- Mushroom toxins
- amanita toxin, see Amanita phalloides
- muscarine
- ricin
- Ciguatera poisoning
- Shellfish toxins (PSP, DSP, NSP, ASP )
- Scombroid poisoning
- Aflatoxins
- oubain
- Pyrrolizidine alkaloids
- Phytohaemagglutinin (Red kidney bean poisoning)
- Grayanotoxin (Honey intoxication)
Famous poisonings
- Charles Darwin (Claimed only by rumor: self-medication with Fowler's solution, one percent potassium arsenite)
- Jamestown colonists Standard historical accounts claim deaths by starvation, but the possibility of arsenic poisoning by rat poison (or of death by Bubonic plague) has also been reported (see http://www.pbs.org/wnet/secrets2/case3_clues.html).
- Jonestown inhabitants died from a poisoned drink in a mass suicide/murder: see Jonestown mass suicide
- Clare Boothe Luce (Did not die of her poisoning) See Arsenic
- Georgi Markov (Assassinated in London by KGB agents with ricin)
- Napoleon Bonaparte (Claimed only by rumor: killed by someone on his staff; however, arsenic was measured but not found in his hair after his death)
- Socrates According to Plato, killed by drinking Hemlock (water hemlock, not hemlock the evergreen tree)
- Alan Turing Apparently committed suicide by painting apple with Cyanide and taking a bite.
Poisons in crime fiction
This is of course an inexhaustive list. You may wish to add other novels and/or specify the poisons used.
- Anthony Berkeley: The Poisoned Chocolates Case
- Francis Iles: Before the Fact (filmed as Suspicion)
- Francis Iles: Malice Aforethought
- Agatha Christie: Three Act Tragedy
- Agatha Christie: A Pocket Full of Rye
- Agatha Christie: Crooked House
- Dorothy Sayers: The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club
- Dorothy Sayers: Strong Poison
- Cornell Woolrich: Waltz into Darkness (filmed as Mississippi Mermaid and Original Sin)
- Joseph Kesselring: Arsenic and Old Lace (play)
Poison is also the name of a US rock band active in the 1980s and 1990s. For more information, see Poison.
