The most toxic substances in the world. Household poisons - reference book

Toxic substances lie in wait for us everywhere. Some of them have an almost immediate effect, while others can act slowly. The degree of intoxication in each specific case is different. It depends on the characteristics of the body and the amount of poison that has entered the body. Therefore, determining the most powerful poison in the world is problematic. Nevertheless, we can highlight a list of toxic substances that pose the greatest danger.

The most powerful poisonous chemicals

Potent poisons have been synthesized by scientists for military purposes. But sometimes toxic substances can be found in everyday conditions. Among the most dangerous of them are:

1. Mercury. It is contained in ordinary thermometers. If the integrity of the flask is not compromised, then mercury does not pose any health hazard. Mercury vapor from broken thermometer. The evaporation process begins even when room temperature. It is prohibited to collect spilled mercury yourself. You must immediately seek help from a specialized service.
2. Methanol. This substance is often confused with food grade ethyl alcohol, which leads to serious poisoning. Methanol is colorless and odorless, so it is impossible to identify it without laboratory testing. Consumption of even a small amount of this substance can be fatal. a person loses his sight.
3. Potassium cyanide. This is the most powerful poison for humans. It is widely used in plastic products, photography, gold mining industry and some other areas. Poisoning occurs even from inhaling cyanide vapor. IN shortest time develops respiratory failure, convulsions appear. In case of severe intoxication, death occurs.
4. Sarin. This is a substance that was synthesized by German scientists. They pursued the goal of creating the world's strongest pesticide. The resulting gas has gained fame as a poison that causes a long and painful death. Today, the deadly poison sarin is officially banned, but terrorists are trying to use it as chemical weapons.
5. Arsenic. This element of the periodic table has long been used as a poison. Many political figures were poisoned with it. Symptoms of poisoning are similar to cholera. First of all, convulsions and severe painful sensations in the abdominal area. After large amounts of arsenic enter the body, heart disease, diabetes or cancer develop.

These substances are extremely dangerous for humans. Therefore, their features must be remembered.

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The most dangerous poisons for humans are also found in plants. Such poisonings often await inexperienced mushroom pickers and other flora lovers. The following substances deserve special attention:

1. Amatoxin is the most powerful protein poison. It is found in some mushrooms, including toadstool. Once in the human body, the toxin immediately begins to destroy internal organs. The first signs of intoxication may appear only after a few days. In this case, valuable time to save a person is lost, and doctors cannot guarantee a favorable prognosis. Even if the patient’s life can be saved, his health will be severely compromised. Most likely, a person will suffer from kidney or liver failure and problems with the respiratory system all his life. People often wonder what is more toxic death cap or potassium cyanide. In fact, these poisons can be placed on the same level in terms of toxicity.
2. Strychnine. This poison is found in the nuts of the chilibuha tree. In microscopic dosages it is used for medical purposes. If the permissible amount is exceeded, death occurs, but before this the person experiences severe suffering.
3. Ricin. Contained in castor beans. Inhalation of small grains of this substance is dangerous. Its poisoning ability is several times greater than that of potassium cyanide. Human death occurs if ricin is injected directly into the blood.
4. Curare. It is a poison that is produced from a mixture of plants South America. Its main component is an alkaloid, which, when ingested, leads to paralysis and cardiac arrest. Death from curare is painful.

To avoid poisoning from such poisons, never eat unknown plants. Teach children about safety precautions when traveling outdoors.

If you notice the first symptoms of poisoning, consult a doctor immediately. Chances of salvation remain only if the problem is identified in a timely manner.

Animal poisons

Poison can kill a person instantly. Such toxic substances are often carried by animals. Among them are:

1. Toads chirp. The skin of these amphibians secretes chiriquitotoxin. This neurotoxin has a toxic effect on the human nervous system. After intoxication, a person experiences severe convulsions, coordination of movements is impaired, and complete paralysis of the limbs may develop. The poison has strong impact if administered intramuscularly.
2. Puffer fish. The milk, caviar and liver of this fish contain tetrodotoxin. This substance causes severe poisoning, which is accompanied by severe itching, drooling, convulsions, and difficulty swallowing. The poison is fast, so paralysis develops in the shortest possible time respiratory system and the death of a person occurs.
3. Australian Taipan. The venom of this snake contains thaipotoxin. Its entry into the human blood leads to paralysis of the respiratory muscles and impaired blood clotting. This kind of snake venom is the most poisonous. In terms of poisoning ability, it is several times greater than cobra venom.
4. Karakurt. During the bite, the spider injects alpha-latrotoxin into the victim's blood. It leads to severe pain that spreads throughout the body in a matter of minutes. At the same time, severe shortness of breath, dizziness, increased heart rate, and bouts of vomiting occur.
5. Central Asian cobra. This snake's saliva contains a powerful neurotoxin. Its entry into the human blood provokes convulsions, breathing problems, and paralysis. If left untreated, death occurs. Such poisonings are rare, since the cobra attacks a person only in exceptional cases.

Poison can be contained in the biological material of any animal. Therefore, it is best to minimize contact with it, especially for wild fauna.

If you were bitten poisonous snake or a spider, try to immediately suck the poison out of the wound. Remember that this can only be done if there is no damage to the oral cavity. Contact us as soon as possible medical care.

Bacteriological poisoning

Not only animals and plants, but also bacteria can pose a danger to humans. Their vital activity in the human body leads to the formation of strong toxins. Among them, the following can be particularly highlighted:

1. Botulinum toxin. It is produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. Its vital activity leads to the development of botulism in humans. This is a disease that can only be treated in the earliest stages. In other cases, there is an extremely high probability fatal outcome. The bacterium multiplies quickly in the absence of oxygen, so poor quality canned food often becomes a source of poisoning.
2. Bacillus anthrax. Its entry into the body leads to the development of anthrax. This disease develops rapidly. There are cutaneous and intestinal forms. In the first case, death occurs in 20% of cases. At intestinal form No more than 5% of victims can be saved from the disease.
3. Tetanus toxin. This substance is produced by rods of the genus Clostridium. Infection most often occurs through open wounds on the body. Infection manifests itself in the form of convulsions, impaired swallowing reflex, damage to the respiratory center and cardiovascular system. The likelihood of death is extremely high.

Determining the fastest-acting poison is quite difficult. Everything will depend on a combination of many factors. Try to avoid contact with hazardous substances as little as possible. If infection does occur, do not try to cure it yourself. Only timely seeking medical help will save your life.

Rats and mice are eternal companions of humans. To combat them, it is best to use biological methods: catching or scaring away, keeping cats and other rat-catching animals in the house. However, when large numbers the population requires the use of more radical means, namely rat poisons. Their use must be carried out in compliance with safety precautions, despite the fact that human poisoning with rat poison does not happen so often.

A person who is not involved in the production of drugs and baits for rodents is much more likely to become a victim of foodborne illness in the nearest eatery. And yet there are cases of poisons entering the body to kill rodents. How does this happen, what is the lethal dose and what to do in such situations? Let's figure it out.

When is it possible for a person to be poisoned by rat poison?

In Russia, no fatal cases of poisoning with rodent baits have been recorded over the years. last decades. According to press reports, group poisonings of children occurred in 2007 and 2011. In all cases, the children received timely medical care, and the young patients fully recovered. Thus, in 2007, 15 children aged 3–4 years old were poisoned in Vladimir. Left unattended, they ate peas containing rat poison. In 2011, group poisoning of schoolchildren aged 6–11 years was recorded in the Tyumen region. The children also ate pickled seeds. There are reports of children biting off or swallowing rodent repellent pills in front of their parents.

Can a person die from rat poison? In China, in 2002–2011, cases of intentional poisoning with rat poison, which is prohibited for sale, were recorded more than once. The attackers slipped it into the food. There are also known cases of poisoning from eating shish kebab (presumably from the meat of dead rats and foxes). In some cases, death occurred in about 10% of the number of people affected.

The degree of damage to the body and the possibility of death primarily depends on what substance is contained in the bait.

Types of rat poison and its effect on the human body

Rat poison is called a “rodenticide” - it is a means of killing rodents. It belongs to the group of pesticides and is widely used in agriculture and in everyday life. There are several types of rodenticides that differ in the effect of rat poison on animals, including humans.

When rat poison is ingested, the lethal dose for humans will depend on the active substance and the state of health, primarily the liver. It is the liver that synthesizes the factors necessary for normal blood clotting. And anticoagulant poisons destroy these substances. For Warfarin, the lethal dose (LD50) is 60 mg/kg body weight, and for Bromadiolone – 300 mg/kg.

Take by chance a large number of rat poison is difficult. To obtain a lethal dose, repeated exposure of anticoagulants to the body will be required. Rats must eat the bait for a week to die. In addition, the finished form of rat poison usually contains from 0.1 to 2% of the active substance. To prepare the bait, the drug is mixed with grain, minced meat or other food attractive to rodents. Rat poison, which includes zoocoumarins, in a ready-to-use mixture contains approximately 2–3% of the drug, which in terms of pure poison is an average of 0.02%. Thus, if for fatal outcome If an adult needs to eat 3-4 grams of pure poison, then in terms of commercial form this will be about 150 grams. Soft briquettes - anti-rat tablets, so popular today, contain 0.005% poison. Even a child needs to swallow quite big piece to get seriously poisoned.

It should be noted that some rat poisons can be absorbed through the skin. Those working on bait preparation should take precautions.

Symptoms of rat poisoning in humans

When a person is poisoned with rat poison, symptoms do not develop immediately, but 3-4 days after the poison enters the body. The disease is characterized by a chronic course. IN in rare cases, due to taking a large dose of a potent drug, it is possible that signs of a bleeding disorder may develop after 12–24 hours.

The victims noted:

• weakness;
• nausea, loss of appetite;
• headache;
• pallor;
• the appearance of bleeding gums, hemorrhages on the mucous membranes;
• Less commonly, symptoms of rat poison poisoning in humans include diarrhea, blood in the feces, nosebleeds, abdominal pain, and the appearance of bloody spots on the body.

First aid for human poisoning with rat poison

If poison accidentally enters the stomach, you must:

If rat poison gets on human skin, wash it off with warm water and soap; on the mucous membranes of the eyes and mouth - rinse thoroughly with running water.

Depending on the dose the victim received and how rat poison affects humans, hospitalization may be necessary. Treatment in a hospital is based on the administration of an antidote - vitamin K1 (Phytomenadione) for 15-30 days and maintenance therapy: hepatoprotectors, forced diuresis. In severe cases, blood plasma transfusions may be required to quickly replenish clotting factors. Recovery is monitored by studying the prothrombin index - a laboratory indicator for assessing blood clotting.

Consequences of human poisoning with rat poison

If a person is poisoned by rat poison, the consequences can be long-term. Therefore, timely seeking medical help is mandatory. The doctor will conduct the necessary laboratory tests and prescribe treatment. Even with a mild degree of damage, long-term intake of vitamin K will be required. Otherwise, it will be difficult for the liver to restore normal blood clotting, and various manifestations of hemophilia syndrome are possible:

• bleeding gums;
• heavy bleeding from wound injuries;
• internal hemorrhages.

Let's summarize what to do if a person is poisoned by rat poison. If rat poison accidentally gets into the stomach, you must induce vomiting, drink a large amount of liquid and take activated charcoal. If the poisoning is chronic, there is no point in inducing vomiting and rinsing the stomach.

In all cases of poisoning, you should consult a doctor for medical treatment.

From arrows poisoned by the juice of poisonous plants to secret substances used military intelligence- so, step by step, step by step, the “career” of toxic substances developed in the human world. Poisons have been described by many writers. From childhood we knew about the injection of a poisoned spindle and the dream of oblivion from a poisoned apple, and in adolescence read with enthusiasm the novels of Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle, in which poisons play a significant role.

Modern poisons surround us everywhere: in household chemicals, in a letter envelope, in the subway. It turns out that our world is very toxic. The same substances, depending on the dose, can be medicines, fertilizers, raw materials for industry, or become deadly poisons. Humanity knows great amount poisons, but there are among them...

The fastest poison

Potassium cyanide, a poison that smells like almonds, has been used since ancient times. This “spy” poison can be poisoned by touching, inhaling and, of course, by ingestion. This poison has a deadly effect due to the fact that it binds iron in red blood cells, preventing them from supplying oxygen to internal organs and the brain.

They poisoned Rasputin with potassium cyanide, but they could not kill him. In those distant centuries, poisoners did not know that glucose is an antidote for cyanide, and the poison was added to the sweet pie.

Potassium cyanide is used in the United States to carry out capital punishment.

The most powerful poison

Tetanus is a wound infection. Tetanus bacillus penetrates through damaged skin or mucous membranes and multiplies in the tissues of wounds, forming the most powerful of poisons - tetanus toxin. Once in the blood, the poison spreads throughout the body and affects the nervous system, causing the muscles to contract continuously. Due to painful muscle spasms, the body takes bizarre positions, breathing is impaired and the patient dies from suffocation.

Tetanus bacillus lives in the soil. Infection can occur even after minor damage to the skin or a prick with a sharp object while working in the garden. It’s not for nothing that tetanus is called the “bare foot” disease.

Vaccination will help protect a person from tetanus.

The deadliest poison

Botulism toxin is rightfully considered the deadliest poison on the planet. The botulism bacillus “hides” its toxin in “bombs” tin cans, dried and salted fish, meat and sausages that have not undergone proper heat treatment.

Infection occurs after consuming products contaminated with clostridium botulism. In the stomach, the toxin is not destroyed, but is absorbed into the blood and affects the nervous system. The main signs of such poisoning are: visual disturbances (double vision), swallowing, abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea.

Death from poisoning with botulism toxin occurs in 50 cases out of 100. A person can be saved from a terrible disease by administering anti-botulism serum.

The most common poison

Remember the gloomy Professor Moriarty, created by the brilliant Arthur Conan Doyle? This villain had a sharp mind and knew many sophisticated ways to take the lives of his victims using arsenic.

Arsenic is rightfully considered the most common poison. He caused the death of many emperors and pharaohs in the struggle for the throne. Arsenic was the poison of choice for Caligula and European nobility in the Middle Ages. "Water of Tofana" - a popular poison for eliminating heirs and unloved husbands, was nothing more than a solution of arsenic with the addition of herbs.

Ivan the Terrible, Napoleon Bonaparte, Alexander the Great and Yasser Arafat were poisoned with arsenic. The list of arsenic victims is quite extensive and clearly not complete.

Arsenic poisoning begins as an intestinal disorder and ends with seizures and death. In case of chronic arsenic infection, when small doses of arsenic regularly enter the body (contaminated water, for example), the risk of developing cancer increases, diabetes mellitus and heart disease.

The easiest poison

Carbon monoxide is odorless and colorless. This substance is formed during the combustion of fuel and is found, for example, in car exhaust gases. Carbon monoxide poisoning most often occurs at home due to problems with stove heating or poor ventilation. Suicides and murders often occur, the weapon of which is a poison that is lighter than air - carbon monoxide.

Carbon monoxide, entering the lungs with air, is absorbed into the blood and captured by red blood cells. In these blood cells, carbon monoxide reacts with hemoglobin, forming a new strong compound - carboxyhemoglobin. This substance “does not know how” to carry oxygen, so oxygen starvation of tissues develops. If carbon monoxide “takes out” more than 60% of hemoglobin, this inevitably leads to death.

The most destructive poison

It’s not for nothing that strychnine is called “rat poison” - this substance is used as a poison for rodents. Strychnine is obtained from plant materials or created artificially in laboratories.

You can be poisoned by strychnine in different ways. For example, poison can enter the body through food or air. Just a few minutes after poisoning, a person is overcome by vomiting and muscle cramps. The poisoned person convulses until suffocation occurs. Only thirty minutes pass from the arrival of the poison to painful death. During World War II, the Nazis tortured prisoners by injecting them with strychnine.

The most “delicious” poison

Tetrodotoxin is found in puffer fish meat. Fans of this delicacy must pay an insurance premium before eating fugu, because the meal can result in death. This is Japanese roulette.

Tetradoxin always leads to the death of its victim: first, numbness appears in the oral cavity, then swallowing becomes difficult, speech and coordination of movements are impaired, and convulsions occur. Death occurs 6 hours after poisoning.

The most severe poison

Mercury belongs to the group of heavy metals. This is a very toxic substance. Inhalation or ingestion of mercury vapor can cause kidney failure, brain damage, and death. Mercury is found in thermometers, batteries, tuna meat and some other marine fish.

Several centuries ago, they tried to treat many diseases with mercury tablets, including syphilis. For example, the famous composer Mozart died from such treatment. By the way, today scientists have proven that mercury actually kills the causative agent of syphilis - Treponema pallidum, but medieval methods - swallowing mercury, injections with it or inhaling mercury vapor led to poisoning and death, and not to a cure for the “French disease”.

It turns out that the attacks of rage that the US President Abraham Lincoln suffered from were associated with taking medication for depression containing high doses of mercury. British scientists have confirmed the connection between Lincoln’s aggressive behavior and his “antidepressant.”

The most “postal” poison

Ricin is a powdered poison that is lethal if inhaled. This “melee weapon” is obtained from castor bean seeds. Due to its properties, it was adopted by the military for conducting chemical warfare, and terrorists began sending ricin to their victims in envelopes. Just a few grains of poison can kill an adult.

In one of the cities of Great Britain in 1978, the Bulgarian dissident Markov was stabbed in the leg by an umbrella and died a few days later. The medical report on death indicates the cause of “heart failure.” But in fact, death was due to ricin poisoning. Through the injection, the poison got inside and did its dirty deed.

The most "garbage" poison

Dioxin is a toxic substance that is formed when plastic and other household waste. This poison enters the environment as a result of emissions from chemical plants producing mineral fertilizers, plastic, paper and polyethylene. Dioxin particles are found in air, water, soil, and accumulate in plants and animal tissues.

Dioxin was used by the US Army during the Vietnam War. It was this poison that was used to poison Viktor Yushchenko during the presidential election campaign.

Instead of an afterword

Over the course of many centuries, Homo sapiens was able to invent a huge number of methods of self-destruction, but poisons were and remain one of the most favorite methods of eliminating undesirables - and most likely, they will not go away in the future.

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Dictionary of toxic substances

Aconite. This is the name of two plants: one of them is from the daisy family - aconite. (Aconite napellus), and the second member of the buttercup family is Buttercup aconitifolia (Ranunculus aconilifolius). The same name is used when talking about an alkaloid that is obtained from the root of a relative of the buttercup, which is also called aconite or wolfsbane (“wolf root”).

Aconitine. A medicine as well as a poison obtained from aconite.

Alkaloid. A nitrogen-containing base produced by plants. Most alkaloids are biological active substances, and since many of them are nothing more than strong poisons, then it is for this reason that herbivores do not favor them too much... Morphine, codeine, nicotine, cocaine, hyoscyamine, ephedrine, strychnine and atropine are all alkaloids.

Aniline. Also known as aminobenzene. This is a toxic industrial solvent that can enter the human body through the skin, food or inhalation.

Anticoagulants. In the strict sense of the word, these are not poisons, but they kill because they prevent the blood from clotting. Poultry farm owners use these substances against rats and mice, since anticoagulants have almost no effect on birds. They are also used in a number of medical applications.

Atropine see Belladonna

Belladonna. This plant (also called belladonna, sleeping stupor, mad cherry - or nightshade) produces atropine, and this alkaloid is also known as daturin. Atropine leads to increased contraction of the heart muscle, causing hallucinations and delirium.

Hemlock (hemlock). Similar to parsley, this plant can slowly kill a person (by paralyzing the respiratory muscles) - and without the convulsions and suffocation that another plant, which is poisonous, causes (Cicula virosa)- and although in English it is called “water hemlock”, it is not related to hemlock. Hemlock is widely known as a poison used in Ancient Greece: according to the decision of government authorities, those sentenced to death had to drink hemlock juice (as the ancient Greeks called it).

Botox. Toxic substance produced by anaerobic bacteria Closlridium botulinum. It is used for medical and cosmetic purposes.

Mushrooms. Many types of mushrooms are poisonous, and some have a stronger toxic effect in the presence of alcoholic beverages. Fly agaric is used both as a poisonous substance and (as is clear from its name) as a means against flies.

Mustard gas. Its chemical name is dichlorodiethyl sulfide, but it became much better known as mustard gas after the substance was first used near the Belgian city of Ypres as a chemical warfare agent during the First World War. It is capable of depositing on surrounding objects and poisoning through contact, and therefore was considered useful for creating “forbidden zones”...

DDT. An insecticide that has been proven to harm wildlife, but has not yet been found to have any serious effects on humans.

Digitalis (digitalis). The common foxglove produces whole line toxins with similar names: digitalin, digitalalein, digitonin and digitoxin. All of them are poisonous, although some are used for medicinal purposes.

Dioxins. Class organic matter containing chlorine. They appear to be somehow capable of influencing DNA and, in any case, have an effect on the offspring of those who have had direct contact with these substances. Dioxins are also formed as pollutants during combustion, for example in the case of underground combustion of peat.

Diethylene glycol. Typically used as one of the components of antifreeze, this substance was previously considered harmless, but alcohol dehydrogenase decomposes this solvent, so that poisonous oxalic acid is released. In case of diethylene glycol poisoning, the patient can be cured by giving him... alcohol!

Datura. Scientific name Datura stramonium, and among the people they call it both “stinking dope” and “devil’s trumpet”. In seeds, fruits and leaves: this plant contains high concentration atropine and scopolamine (hyoscine).

Yellow chrome. Also known as lead chromate. Toxic substance, however, not so much that it cannot be used in doses that are sufficient to color food.

Indian berry. Latin name Cocculus indicus, used by thieves and murderers to deprive their victims of the ability to move (this drug gives complete motor paralysis). It was also used by unscrupulous English pub owners to ensure that the diluted beer still gave a certain stupefying feeling.

Calabar bean cm. Physostigma poisonous

Cantharides, or Spanish flies. This poison is believed to cause unbridled lust, but it is more accurately called dangerous toxin. It was obtained by keeping crushed, macerated (that is, soaked) beetles in chloroform. I wonder: what were they all thinking about - both those who made this product and those who took it internally?!

Oxygen. This gas is a poison for anaerobic bacteria, but it is so necessary for human life that the mechanism of action of a number of poisons is precisely to sharply impair the access of oxygen to the human body.

Colocynth or bitter gourd. It has been known since biblical times, when it was used as a rather radical medicine, but it could also lead to death.

Methyl ester of isocyanic acid. Intermediate product in the production of insecticides; in 1984, an accident in Bhopal (India) showed that this substance is both highly toxic and increases the corrosion of metals.

Carbon monoxide. Also known as carbon monoxide. Released during incomplete combustion of carbon-containing fuels and flammable substances. It is toxic because it binds to hemoglobin in the blood more strongly than oxygen, as a result of which the processes of transporting oxygen or carbon dioxide are blocked.

Arsenic. Both arsenic itself and all its compounds are poisonous. It is usually used in the form of oxides. It is used quite often in cosmetic formulations, and some people have even taken it “for the purpose of improving intestinal gases.” In the 19th century, it was easy to purchase in a pharmacy, and, apparently, in connection with this, the Marsh test was created at the same time - so that it could be easily detected.

Laudanum. Opium solution, which was popular in the 19th century as a medicine (and also as a so-called “recreational drug”); sometimes the tincture was also used for poisoning purposes.

Nerve gases. Different kinds poisons that have the same effect: by affecting the transmission of nerve impulses, these gases lead to paralysis of the victim.

Nicotine. This alkaloid is quite harmful even in the amount found in cigarette smoke, but it would also be fatal if it were ingested or if it got under the skin.

Organophosphates. A group of common insecticides that attack the nervous system of insects, blocking the transmission of nerve impulses.

Nerve agents cm. Organophosphorus compounds.

Penicillin. It is a deadly poison for bacteria, but not for people.

Lamellar mushrooms. These include the relatively harmless russula and the red fly agaric, a deadly poisonous mushroom.

PCB. Or polychlorinated biphenyls, substances that were once considered fairly harmless, but today attitudes towards them have changed greatly. This is due to the fact that they appear to accumulate in the food chain, and there is also evidence that they can cause damage to the fetus in the womb.

Ricin. A poison produced by the castor bean (the fruit of the castor plant).

"Roger". This is what workers at caustic soda producing plants in England called a cloud of chlorine gas in the 19th century.

Rotenone. A garden pesticide derived from the root of Piscidia vermilion. (Piscidia etythrina). In the past, it was used to stun fish so that they could be caught almost with bare hands.

Mercury. A toxic heavy metal that is often used in industry. Mercury can also accumulate in fish and seafood and become hazardous to humans.

Lead. A toxic heavy metal, the salts of which are also very toxic. Lead breaks down disulfide bonds in proteins, changing their appearance and blocking their action.

Cardiac glycoside. Steroids that cause maximum damage to the heart and kidneys. Found in some plants, it appears to act as a repellent for herbivores.

Hydrocyanic acid cm. Cyanide.

Alcohol (ethyl alcohol). Or, as it is also commonly called, “alcohol,” that is, drinks containing ethyl alcohol or ethanol. It is a poison even in small doses, but it is one of those poisons that makes most people sick even before they are able to inject themselves with a lethal dose. True, inveterate drunkards can sometimes overcome this reaction and, as a result, die...

Ergot. Fungal disease herbs, which produces up to 20 different toxins.

Strychnine. Alkaloid obtained from ripened, dried seeds of the plant Strychnos fir vomica(chilibukha, or emetic nut). It was widely used as a rat repellent, but also as... a tonic! This substance can accumulate in the body, and it is believed that this is why the famous Australian horse Phar Lap died.

Antimony. A heavy metal that is toxic both in itself and in the form of various chemical compounds.

Thallium. Another heavy metal that, when exposed to humans, leads to a curious side effect - the victim’s hair falls out. Therefore, its compounds are sometimes used for cosmetic hair removal. The toxic properties of thallium are such that they began to successfully use it as rat poison: it acts very slowly, so rats manage to eat a lethal dose before they feel the first symptoms of poisoning.

Tetrodoxin. Also known by the abbreviation TTX. This toxin is found in many living organisms. It is apparently produced by a certain single cell organism, perhaps a bacterium, and it then moves up the food chain.

bitter gourd, cm. Colocynthus

Heavy metal. Member of a group of elements with similar chemical properties(this includes lead, arsenic, antimony, mercury and cadmium). They are all toxic, both in the form of metals and especially in the form of compounds. These metals typically accumulate in tissues and as they move up the food chain.

Carbon dioxide. Also known as carbon dioxide and carbon dioxide. It is more likely not a poison, but a suffocating agent: this gas kills without allowing the victim to inhale oxygen.

Physostigma is poisonous. In the fruit of a plant Physostigma venenosum, from the legume family, it contains a very strong poison - physostigmine. The lethal dose is apparently small - about a quarter of one bean, but in West Africa, where these beans were used, wanting to find out whether the person was telling the truth, the test was simple: eat half the bean and survive!

Phosgene. A mixture of chlorine and carbon monoxide (carbon monoxide) that was used as a poisonous gas during the First World War. Phosgene caused so much fluid to accumulate in the lungs that its victims could not breathe, as if they had drowned...

Phosphorus. White phosphorus is a highly toxic substance that affects many human organs. It was used in rat poison, but apparently was hardly used against people.

Sodium fluoroacetate. Also known under the code “1080” - this poison is used when baiting baits to get rid of rabbits and foxes.

Chlorine. A lethal gas that was used during the First World War. It causes aggressive corrosion, is toxic, and has a suffocating effect on people.

Cyanide. It is also hydrogen cyanide, or hydrocyanic acid. How detective writers adored this substance! True, this is indeed a deadly poison, since it blocks the mechanism in the blood for transmitting oxygen to cells. Sodium cyanide and potassium cyanide are also extremely dangerous poisons.

Cyanide cacodile. Dimethylarsine cyanide, a substance that produces toxic fumes when exposed to air. As a result of the explosion of this substance, Robert Bunsen lost an eye. And in the years Crimean War it was proposed to use it for military purposes, but the prevailing opinion in the then British Ministry of Defense was that this was barbaric...

Cycad plants. Also: cycads. Primitive, palm-like plants in which the carpels are collected in cones - their seeds are poisonous.

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When Europeans first met the Nambikwara Indians in the 16th century, the latter, frankly speaking, did not amaze the newcomers with their level of development. The Nambikwara managed not to invent almost everything that man could not invent. Cowards, say, doors or arithmetic. It was about these that the unforgettable Terry Pratchett wrote that there are tribes so unspoiled by civilization that they did not manage to discover not only fire, but even water.

At the same time, the Nambikwara were excellent at navigating poisons. They hunted with poisoned darts, knew how to extract poisonous substances from animals and plants, and even skillfully handled curare, a poison very difficult to produce and handle. This seemed strange to European newcomers, and in their letters to their homeland they explained this state of affairs by saying that these tribes were under the direct control of the devil, so he taught them these things.

Today's anthropologists have not been surprised by anything for a long time. Even in monographs of the 19th century (for example, in the works of ethnographer Edward Tyler), it was noted that the active use of toxic substances by primitive cultures was characteristic of the entire planet, from the Far North to the southern coast of Africa. Archaeological research confirms that even six thousand years ago our ancestors knew how to apply poisons to arrowheads.

Poison executions

Killing with poisons was mastered much faster than killing with, for example, hanging, cutting the enemy into small pieces, or even stoning.

Which, in general, is not surprising: a person is constructed in such an interesting way that it is difficult for him to kill another person without serious achievements of civilization. To hang, you need a strong rope; to cut, you need a reliable knife; to stone, you need a shovel, which you need to dig a hole to fix what you are hammering into it. Therefore, according to the statements of the ethnographer and historian R. Graves, who studied Mediterranean culture, most of the most ancient human sacrifices and ritual executions were carried out in two ways - throwing from cliffs and lethal injections.

The second method was much more common. First of all, there is no need to look for a rock. Secondly, the victim’s body remains intact, which is quite important, since the gods to whom this valuable gift is presented usually prefer that the victim come to them fully assembled, with the required number of whole arms, legs and heads.

According to Graves, the ancient inhabitants of mainland Greece, for example, sacrificed the strongest, healthiest men to the mother goddess Hera, who were called “hero dedicated to Hera.” A popular way of delivering an offering was to poke the guy in the heel (the most inconspicuous place on the body, maybe the goddess wouldn’t notice) with a well-poisoned spear.

Images of heroes dying with a poisonous tip in their legs were so popular that later, when alien peoples absorbed this civilization, the image remained in the cultural memory, and since then Greek mythology teeming with all sorts of Achilles and Philoctetes wounded in the heel.

Why are people so toxic?

And yet, why did man, at the very dawn of his development, so quickly learn to fight with chemical weapons? Take, for example, a resident of our time - a highly educated representative of a super-progressive era, like you.

If you are taken out into nature and forced to prepare an effective, fast-acting poison from scrap materials, then you, even if you got an A in chemistry, will most likely pick up a basket of sad fly agarics and bring the victim to severe indigestion. Moreover, the victim will still have to be tied up and hit on the head so that she agrees to eat these suspicious mushrooms.

And this despite the fact that on our planet there are no non-poisonous organisms. Any plant or animal, even before acquiring flagella, was forced to turn its body into a chemical plant for the production of various toxins. Otherwise they will eat you.

True, the toxins were usually specialized, designed for natural enemies of this type. This is why we can now smell chamomile or eat a chop without turning into bubbling goo. Although this chamomile is loaded with toxins, like any other herb. Do you remember how wonderful freshly cut grass and young hay smell? They smell like that because when the grass is cut, it thinks it is being viciously eaten and defends itself by releasing clouds of poisonous gases at the attacker*.

Unfortunately for grass, lawnmowers are mostly immune to poisons designed to target herbivorous insects and microorganisms. True, some begin to sneeze and sniffle. It's called “hay fever”, or “allergic rhinitis”, to put it in a boring way.

But there were also organisms that chose the most universal and powerful toxicity as the guarantor of their evolutionary well-being. Plants, mushrooms, snakes, spiders, insects, fish and amphibians - many of them contain huge quantities of poisons that are fatal even for such a large omnivorous scavenger as a person. There are even deadly poisonous birds - pitohu, also known as blackbird flycatchers.

So, no matter what, there are tons of poisons around. But the fact is that between a city dweller (or even a villager) and a savage there is a very a big difference. It’s one thing when you live in a house, go to discos and bakeries, and see all kinds of nature mainly on TV. And it’s completely different when you live under a bush and are forced every minute to contemplate this nature in all its merciless splendor. Very soon you begin to notice that there are plants that insects do not eat. Or they eat, but not much, and then lie around like corpses.

You find in the digestive tract of a bird that has died for some unknown reason, but appears to be a nutritious bird, the shells of striped beetles familiar to you and you remember that after eating the bird you felt so unwell for some time that now it’s awkward to return to your bush. Do you remember what happened to Uncle Yyk’s foot when he stepped on a spotted lizard. It was a good leg, tasty. Maybe we could find the same lizard and somehow carefully slip it under my uncle’s remaining leg? Or put grated striped bugs in his nose while he sleeps?

Secret knowledge

The more developed a person is, the more he moves towards the artifactual environment*, the less familiar he is, naturally, with the habits of animals and the properties of plants. He leaves this knowledge to specialists. With the development of civilization, knowledge of poisons has turned into special, sacred knowledge, largely forbidden.

That is, created artificially. Your mobile phone, for example, is an artifact environment. Your girlfriend almost certainly doesn't.

The ability to kill silently, secretly and remotely now turned out to be magic and became disgusting. Panic fear before poisoners in antiquity and the Middle Ages largely provoked witch hunts.

Scientists or healers did not have to hide their knowledge of poisons, but they were obliged to swear to the gods that this knowledge would not leak to the uninitiated. “I will not give anyone the lethal means they ask from me and I will not show the way for such a plan” - a line from the Hippocratic oath.

Village healers or simply smart housewives who knew how to expel worms from children, mice from the barn, bugs from cabbage, and fetuses from the womb, if anything, preferred to hide their knowledge, passing it on in a whisper to their daughters.

And it was they who were the first to be dealt with when rumors began to spread in the area about poisoned cows, damage to brides and strange deaths. To be fair, we note that these rumors were often unfounded. After all, when the father-in-law has already eaten all the livers, and such a nice castor bean bush grows under the window...

As you study history, you constantly wonder: why did so many rulers, politicians, rich people and unwanted children die at a young age for no apparent reason? Rumors about poisoning began to circulate only in very sudden deaths (“I drank a glass of water, foam flowed from his mouth, and he died”). But mass deaths of young people 25-30 years old without prior chronic illness, without pestilence and childbirth fever, look so impressive that they give researchers reason to claim: poison was an extremely common method of murder.

Sometimes the poisoners were caught. Most famous case- the case of aqua tofana. At the end of the 17th century, young (and not so young) men began to actively die in Rome. They all gave their souls to God from typhoid fever in a matter of days.

The strange thing was that the terrible epidemic practically did not affect women and, what is especially surprising, children, who are usually the first to become victims of such diseases. When the male population had thinned out considerably, Pope Alexander VII ordered an investigation to begin. It turned out that Roman matrons and courtesans, dissatisfied with their husbands and lovers, turned to Mrs. Tofana (Theophany) di Adamo, who sold them holy water in bottles. The bottles had an image of St. Nicholas pasted on them, and inside contained a clear, tasteless, odorless liquid mixed from all sorts of pretty ingredients, including arsenic acid and belladonna extract. It was enough to drop it into the plate of the source of your problems, and holy water immediately helped to cope with these problems.

It is interesting that some clients did not even realize that they were poisoning their husbands, and accepted their death as a simple answer from heaven to prayer. This is holy water! What harm could it do?!

To avoid a huge scandal and serious shocks Only Mrs. Tofana and her assistants were executed. It was decided not to touch any of the six hundred murderous clients discovered, especially since many of them belonged to the nobility and had the most influential family connections.

Society is now more than ever committed to maximum amount people knew as little as possible about poisons. Therefore, according to school programs, it is easier to make explosives than the most common poison. We were going to publish here a list of 10-12 of the most common plants, from which you can easily concoct an exceptionally deadly abomination, and then we decided that, well, that’s it. You never know...

Because, despite the success of toxicology laboratories and the brilliant skills of detectives in television series, poisoning still remains one of the most difficult types of murder to solve and prove. And this is one of the reasons why the intelligence services loved him so much, especially the intelligence services of dictatorial and authoritarian regimes.

The famous Toxicology Laboratory of the NKVD-NKGB-MGB, which examined poisons on prisoners and poisoned several political, religious and public figures around the world was not something unique. The Japanese, say, during World War II had Detachment 731. True, it mainly experimented with biological weapons, but it also had a unit that relied heavily on poisons of plant and animal origin. There is no need to talk about the Germans: several parallel toxicological programs were going on in Auschwitz, fortunately there was no shortage of test subjects (and the surplus test subjects were poisoned with “Zyklon B”). Among the crimes that Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was accused of was the poisoning by intelligence agents of his opponents who fled the country.

This is if we talk about secret operations. The open poisoning of their enemy, which debuted so gloriously in 1915 and 1917 in the Ypres Valley, allowed themselves to completely democratic societies. Suffice it to recall, for example, how the Spaniards and the French dropped bombs with mustard gas on the Moroccans during the Rif War, and the Americans treated Vietnam with psychotropic substances. The use of chemical weapons of mass destruction is now prohibited by the 1993 convention. Keyword- “massive”. Cans of toxic gases, although not lethal, are freely sold in many countries around the world for self-defense.

Because it is human nature to be poisonous, as the example of Nambikwara proves.

Famous and Poisoned

Socrates (470/469 BC)
Sentenced by the court of Athens to death for insulting the gods and corrupting youth. According to the court verdict, he drank a cup with an infusion of poisonous hemlock (hemlock).

Cleopatra (30 BC)
She got poisoned by letting a snake bite her hand.

Rasputin (1916)
Was fed cakes with cyanide. He didn’t die, we had to finish shooting him, and then finish him off with a weight. Mighty little man.

Emperor Claudius (41)
I ate mushrooms served by my wife Agrippina. The throne was inherited by Agrippina's son, Nero, who was Claudius's great-nephew.

Charles IX (1574)
The King of France, who once received a book as a gift from his mother. The mother's name was Catherine de Medici, and she and her son had had conflicts for a long time. Three days after reading the book, the king died because he had forgotten how to breathe. There were rumors that the pages of the book were saturated with poison.

Georgy Markov (1978)
Bulgarian dissident writer who fled to London and slandered the socialist system from there. One day he had the misfortune of accidentally bumping into a passerby who accidentally pricked him with an umbrella. At the hospital, where Markov was soon taken, a small metal ball filled with ricin was found at the injection site. There was no time to save the writer.

Alexander Litvinenko (2006)
A fugitive state security lieutenant colonel who tried to hide from his former friends in London. But one day I drank tea in the company of Russian State Duma deputy Andrei Lugovoy.

Stalin (1953)
The unexpected death in painful agony happened just a few days before the signing of documents on the mass deportation of Jews - doctors, scientists and other rootless cosmopolitans. Of course, the leader was already old, but his death still raises a lot of questions.

Marilyn Monroe (1962)
The official version is suicide due to depression. The unofficial one admits the possibility that the actress could have been helped to swallow pills by people concerned about her too close ties with the Kennedy presidential family.

Ivan the Terrible (1584)
The king was ill and died for a long time; for the last few years he could not walk, he experienced severe pain(which did not improve his character). In general, all his life he was sure that he was being slowly poisoned. In the 20th century, the remains of the king were examined and a huge amount of arsenic and mercury was found in them. True, this circumstance in itself proves little, since both at that time were treated for syphilis, which the king most likely suffered from.

Napoleon (1821)
He died at the age of 51 from a disease that was never recognized by doctors. Living, of course, he was dangerous for most regimes in Europe, but to suspect the British who were guarding former emperor, its poisoning is difficult. Hudson Lowe, the general in charge of the emperor's imprisonment, was a difficult and limited man (the Duke of Wellington, who knew Lowe well, called him a “cretin”), but at the same time stubbornly law-abiding. And the abundance of arsenic found in the emperor’s hair by experts of subsequent generations does not in itself necessarily mean poisoning: in those days arsenic was used, for example, in finishing work and in the manufacture of medicines.

PHOTO BY GETTY IMAGES. SHUTTERSTOCK