The scariest poisons

Hi,% username%

Yes, I know, the title is beaten and there are over 9000 links in Google that describe scary poisons and tell horror stories.

But I do not want to list the same thing. I do not want to be measured in doses of LD ₅₀ and claim to be original.

I want to write about those poisons that you,% username%, have a great risk of encountering every day. And which are not as simple as their closest brothers.

The enemy must be known in person. And I hope it will be interesting. And if it turns out to be interesting, then it is possible that you will master the second part .

So - my death ten!

Tenth place

Thallium is a soft silver-white metal with a bluish tint. In the photo he is in an ampoule - and for good reason. 600 mg of thallium will surely dump any healthy person - in this regard, thallium is abruptly abrupt than all these your other heavy metals. Moreover, like all heavy metals, thallium is classified as cumulative poisons - accumulating pathological symptoms in chronic poisoning.

Unlike classical heavy metals, which essentially cling to the cysteine ​​thiol group in proteins and prevent them from living, thallium is more sophisticated: monovalent thallium ions coincide in size and chemical properties with potassium, and therefore replace potassium ions in biochemical processes. Thallium is concentrated in the hair, bones, kidneys and muscles, affects the peripheral nervous system, gastrointestinal tract and kidneys.

A characteristic symptom of poisoning with thallium compounds is partial hair loss, with a significant dose - total alopecia. At a high dose, alopecia is uncharacteristic, as a person dies from poisoning before the onset of hair loss. That is, in principle, if you like to shave bald - you can try to play with the dose, but there is a risk not to guess.

When poisoning with thallium or its compounds, Prussian blue is used as an antidote, first aid for thallium administration is gastric lavage with a solution of 0.3% sodium thiosulfate with shaken powder of activated carbon. They say it helps, but it's inaccurate.

In general, thallium is classified as a strategic poison, so why is it even on my list? The fact is that in most laboratories that perform water and food analysis usewonderful calibration solution IV . I witnessed how this solution was taken with a pipette, and since there was no rubber bulb, they dragged the solution by mouth . Well what can I say ... Not the best way to get a Darwin Award.

Ninth place

Phosgene, simple to disgrace, is actually magnificent: mankind has been familiar with it since 1812, but this “light-born” (namely, the name is translated from the bourgeois) gas is by no means kind: it causes toxic pulmonary edema, which some good people used unceasingly when poisoned other good people in the First World War. The contact of phosgene with lung tissue causes a violation of the permeability of the alveoli and rapidly progressive pulmonary edema. Good people took advantage of this, but to this day they have not come up with an antidote to phosgene .

The beauty and simplicity lies in the fact that the first distinct signs of poisoning appear after a latent period of 4 to 8 hours, even periods of 15 hours were observed. After this comes a strong cough, shortness of breath, cyanosis of the face and lips. Progressive pulmonary edema leads to severe suffocation, painful pressure in the chest, respiratory rate increases, sometimes up to 60-70 per minute. Convulsive breath. A little detail: the protein-containing edematous foamy and viscous fluid is sprayed from the alveoli and bronchioles of the lungs into the wider airways, leading to difficulty and impossibility of breathing. What does the unfortunate man do at this moment and what does he look like - do you remember the pictures of horror films? Exactly. With toxic pulmonary edema, up to about half of the total amount of blood in the body passes into the lungs, which as a result of this swell and increase in mass.

In the end, blood pressure drops sharply, the poisoned one is in great excitement, breathes with noise, gasps for air, then death occurs.

There are also cases when the poisoned person avoids any unnecessary movement and chooses some most convenient position to facilitate breathing. The lips of such poisoned gray, sweat cold and clammy. Despite suffocation, their sputum does not separate. A few days later, the poisoned dies. Rarely, after 2-3 days, an improvement can occur, which in 2-3 weeks may result in recovery, but complications as a result of secondary infectious diseases are frequent, which leads to death.

So how do you feel the phosgene and run awaynot to be poisoned, given the long latent period and the fact that this gas has no taste and smells like ripe fruit or hay - is not the sharpest, unlike what it smells like in the minibus in which you go? Oddly enough, smoking: smoking in phosgene-containing air is unpleasant or completely impossible.

Phosgene is actively used in organic synthesis: in the manufacture of dyes, as well as in the production of polycarbonate thermoplastics. But you,% username%, remember: phosgene is formed during the combustion of chlorine-containing freons. Interestingly, as a result of this, smoking is prohibited when servicing refrigerators and installations. In light of the fact that the smoker is more likely to feel something is wrong, it is difficult to say which is more important.

Eighth place

and
Well, about the toxicity of lead and how it looks, everyone knows. Nevertheless, no one is steamed to hold it in his hands, and sometimes there are then sandwiches with those same hands. No one is steamed to smelting lead ingots and breathing fumes. Meanwhile, lead is highly toxic and, like all heavy metals, has an excellent ability to accumulate. Lead can accumulate in the bones, causing their gradual destruction, concentrated in the liver and kidneys. So, by accumulating the coveted dose, you,% username%, will naturally feel a little bad: there will be pains in the abdomen, joints, cramps, fainting. With the continuation, it is possible to see the light at the end of the tunnel with all the consequences.

Especially dangerous is the effect of lead on children: with prolonged exposure, it causes mental retardation and chronic brain diseases.

By the way, lead acetate tastes sweet! Didn't you know% username%? Yes, that's why it is called lead sugar. Saltykov-Shchedrin even mentioned it when making fake wines:

A bucket of alcohol is poured onto the barrel, and then, looking at the property of the wine being made: so much molasses on madeira, tar on malaga, sugar on the rhine, etc. This mixture is stirred until it becomes homogeneous and then clog ...

By the way, there is an opinion that the Russian word “lead” is associated with the word “wine”, among the ancient Romans (and in the Caucasus) wine was stored in lead vessels, giving it a peculiar taste. This taste was valued so highly that they did not pay attention to the possibility of poisoning with toxic substances. Well yes, live fast - die young ...

But tetraethyl lead, a colorless oily volatile liquid that has long been used as an antiknock additive to gasoline (the same Leaded Petrol), deserves special attention. In the USSR, dye was added to the gasoline containing tetraethyl lead for marking purposes: until 1979, the AI93, A-76, and A-66 gasoline containing tetraethyl lead were painted in blue, green, and orange, respectively; since 1979, leaded gasoline began to be painted in orange-red ( AI-93), yellow (A-76), blue (AI-98), green (A-66) or pink (A-72) colors.

This was not done at all for beauty and attracting buyers - in addition to the fact that the exhaust polluted everything around with lead, tetraethyl lead itself has a number of pleasant properties, ranging from carcinogenicity and ending with extremely high toxicity. In this case, penetration is possible both with vapors (this rubbish is volatile, do not forget), and through the skin. This substance selectively affects the nervous system, causing acute, subacute and chronic poisoning (yes, like lead, this thing likes to accumulate).

Most poisoning is acute and subacute. First of all, the cerebral cortex is affected. In the area of ​​the autonomic centers of the diencephalon, a focus of stagnant excitation arises, which leads to gross violations of the cortical-subcortical interconnections.

In the initial stage of acute poisoning, pronounced vegetative disorders are noted: body temperature and blood pressure drop, sleep is disturbed, there is a persistent fear of death at night, an anxious, depressed mood. The feeling of a ball of hair or threads on the tongue is characteristic.

In the pre-culminating stage, pronounced mental disorders are manifested: the fear of death begins to bother not only at night, but also during the day, auditory, visual, tactile hallucinations of a frightening nature appear, delusions of persecution. Under the influence of delirium, psychomotor agitation develops, the patient becomes aggressive, there are frequent cases when, trying to save their lives from supposedly persecuting people, people were thrown out of windows.

At the culmination stage, psychomotor agitation reaches maximum tension. Consciousness is confused. It seems unfortunate that he is cut into pieces, that snakes encircle his body, etc. Epileptic seizures may develop. At the height of psychomotor agitation, the temperature rises (up to 40 ° C), the pressure and heart rate increase. The final is understandable: collapse, death.

If you are lucky, the prognosis is favorable: a vegetative-asthenic state replaces psychomotor agitation. At the same time, there remain mental defects, emotional dullness, decreased intelligence, loss of interest in the environment, etc. - but you will live. Not sure happy.

By the way, do you remember the stories of grandmothers about the terrible drug addicts who sniff gasoline? In-in! According to the influential hypothesis proposed to explain fluctuations in crime rates in the second half of the 20th and beginning of the 21st centuries, poisoning with tetraethyl lead in childhood entailed a disruption in the development of the central nervous system, resulting in an increase in delinquent behavior in adulthood, which led to an increase crime from the 1960s to the early 1990s. The fall in crime since the 1990s, according to this hypothesis, is due to a decrease in the consumption of gasoline made using tetraethyl lead since the 1970s.

If, after all, you are not lucky, and you are poisoned with tetraethyl lead, then they will treat you like a normal psycho: sleeping pills (barbiturates), hexenal, chlorpromazine, drugs (except for morphine, which gives a paradoxical effect, enhancing arousal). Intravenous glucose with B vitamins and ascorbic acid, dehydrating agents (glucose, magnesium sulfate), as well as cardiac and vascular agents (with collapse) are also prescribed. Perhaps they will make you a man back. If you're lucky - then reasonable.

By the way, tetraethyl lead is banned everywhere, yes. In Russia - since November 15, 2002, but sometimes, looking at others, I have doubts ...

Seventh place

In general, a mixture of various polychlorinated derivatives of dibenzodioxin is taken under dioxins. The name comes from the abbreviated name of the tetrachloride derivative - 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo [b, e] -1,4-dioxin - this is the beauty presented in the form of a formula, however, compounds with other substituents - halides - also apply to dioxins.

All dioxins are cumulative poisons and belong to the group of dangerous xenobiotics - that is, there are no such substances in nature, and their author is a man. Dioxins are formed as a by-product in the production of chlorphenol series herbicides. And what does a person do with all the by-products? Right!

Dioxins also form as undesirable impurities as a result of various chemical reactions at high temperatures and in the presence of chlorine. The main reasons for the emission of dioxins into the biosphere are, first of all, the use of high-temperature technologies for the chlorination and processing of organochlorine substances and, especially, the burning of industrial waste. The presence of ubiquitous polyvinyl chloride and other polymers and various chlorine compounds in the waste being destroyed contributes to the formation of dioxins in the flue gases. Another source of danger is the pulp and paper industry. Chlorine bleaching of pulp is accompanied by the formation of dioxins and a number of other hazardous organochlorines.

The first acquaintance of grateful humanity with dioxins occurred during the Vietnam War from 1961 to 1971 as part of the Ranch Hand vegetation destruction program. Then Agent Orange was used as a defoliant - a mixture of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) and 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4,5-T) containing impurities of polychlorobenzodioxins. As a result, exposure to dioxins affected a significant number of both Vietnamese and soldiers in contact with Agent Orange. Nobody thought about the Vietnamese then, and the soldiers — well, they are soldiers, right?

A closer acquaintance took place on July 11, 1976 in the Italian city of Seveso, when an explosion at a chemical plant in the Swiss company ICMESA led to the release of a cloud of dioxin into the atmosphere. A cloud hung over an industrial suburb, and then the poison began to settle on houses and gardens. Thousands of people started having nausea, eyesight weakened, and eye disease developed, in which the outlines of objects seemed vague and unsteady. The tragic consequences of what happened began to appear in 3-4 days. By July 14, sick people were overwhelmed by Seveso dispensaries. Among them were many children suffering from rash and festering abscesses. They complained of back pain, weakness and dull headaches. Patients told doctors that animals and birds in their yards and gardens began to die suddenly. For several years after the accident, in the areas around the factory, a sharp increase in congenital anomalies was observed in newborns, including spina bifida (spina bifida, open spinal cord). The sight is not for the faint of heart, to be honest.

By the way, here they say that an extraordinary increase in the liking of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko is also associated with dioxins. However, maybe not. No one, including Viktor Yushchenko himself, knows.

The reason for the toxicity of dioxins is the ability of these substances to fit exactly into the receptors of living organisms and suppress or alter their vital functions. Dioxins, suppressing the immune system and intensively influencing the processes of cell division and specialization, provoke the development of cancer. Dioxins also invade the complex, smooth functioning of the endocrine glands. Interfere with reproductive function, dramatically slowing puberty and often leading to female and male infertility. They cause deep disturbances in almost all metabolic processes, suppress and disrupt the functioning of the immune system, leading to the state of the so-called “chemical AIDS”.

Recent studies have confirmed that dioxins cause malformations and problem development in children.

Dioxins enter the human body in several ways: 90 percent - with water and food through the gastrointestinal tract, the remaining 10 percent - with air and dust through the lungs and skin. These substances circulate in the blood, deposited in adipose tissue and lipids of all cells of the body, without exception. Through the placenta and with breast milk, they are transmitted to the fetus and child.

Here is another set of some skills that strengthen this hero.

• Virtually insoluble in water.
• Up to a temperature of 900 ° C, dioxins are not affected by heat treatment.
• Their half-life in the environment is approximately 10 years.
• Once in the human or animal body, they accumulate in adipose tissue and decompose very slowly and excreted from the body (the half-life in the human body is 7-11 years).
• LD ₅₀ - 70 mcg / kg for monkeys, orally. This is lower than most military chemical warfare agents. Well, we descended from monkeys, right?
• Due to its extremely high toxicity, chromatography-mass spectrometry and bioassays (CALUX) are used to determine dioxins in the environment and, in particular, in water. These are very expensive methods, and not every laboratory is equipped with them, especially in this country.
• At the moment, there are no ways to completely remove dioxins from the body, nor effective antidotes.

In general,% username%, as you might have guessed - it’s better to spoof yourself than the person himself, no one can. Currently, a search is underway for the genetic modification of certain types of bacteria in order to improve their ability to absorb dioxins. But taking into account how everyone is afraid of GMOs, and how well mankind is doing with self-cutting, I’m afraid that some of these types of bacteria will only make things worse.

We will see.

Fortunately, there are not so many dioxins around yet, bacteria are only in development, and therefore - only seventh place, but with a serious backlog for the future.

Sixth place

Protein-like complex neurotoxin produced by the bacteria Clostridium botulinum. The strongest known neurotoxin is a semi-lethal dose of the order of 0.000001 mg / kg of your frail body.

By the way, botulinum toxin is one of the most complex proteins synthesized in nature. It works exquisitely: the molecule is a two-domain globule. Domains A and B are linear polypeptides linked by one cystine bridge. Domain B is responsible for the transport of toxin in the body, the reception on the presynaptic membrane of a neuron, and the structural rearrangement of the near-receptor portion of this membrane with the formation of a transmembrane channel in it. Further, the disulfide bond is restored, domain A is released and penetrates through this channel into the cytoplasm of the nerve cell, where it prevents the release of a mediator - acetylcholine. It is very similar to the action of organophosphates such as sarin, soman and VX - but much more effective. I have already said that mother nature is more inventive than man?

What will you feel when this peak of natural synthesis enters your stomach? Well, firstly - there is always a hidden period, sometimes up to 2-3 days. Then suddenly you will feel unwell: the poison causes disturbances in the functioning of the cranial nerves, skeletal muscles, and the nerve centers of the heart. The pupils dilate, fog appears before the eyes, flies, many begin to squint (and not from the fact that you drank too much at the party). Later, speech and swallowing disorders, a mask-like face, join. Death occurs from hypoxia caused by a violation of the metabolic processes of oxygen, asphyxia of the respiratory tract, paralysis of the respiratory muscles and heart muscle. In short - you will die, and quite painfully. If you are lucky, you will be limited to paralysis of the facial muscles and strabismus, which, if they pass, is not very soon. Not everyone is lucky.

Why only sixth place? The fact is that Clostridia botulinum - the only masters of the production of this toxin who did not disclose the secret - do not like working in the air, and therefore you can find them mainly in canned food and sausage - especially in canned fried mushrooms and meat and fish prepared in large pieces. with damage to the surface. The second place is medicine: these are Botox, Relatox, Xeomin, BTXA, Dysport, Neuronox. So if you are poked with something similar - there is every chance to feel the indescribable complex of all the benefits described above. It’s a pity there will be no one to tell later.

By the way, humans are very philanthropic, and therefore in the USA, Great Britain and Canada they considered botulinum toxin as a chemical warfare agent already in the 60s and 70s of the last century. In total, since 1975, botulinum toxin A was adopted by the U.S. Army under the XR code. The stock of toxin was stored in the Pine Bluff arsenal in Arkansas. Perhaps it is stored now, and maybe not only there. Taking into account the fact that XR is the most toxic of all known deadly substances of natural and synthetic origin according to the test results (I wonder, on whom?) - I am not so afraid of a nuclear winter.

How to be saved? Do not eat anything. And if you eat, then after heat treatment: botulinum toxin does not like to be fried or boiled. Despite the fact that this substance is not afraid of gastric juice, it is completely destroyed by boiling for 25-30 minutes.

By the way, the soldiers found that there is a vaccine for botulinum toxin! Yes, just like measles. But do not rush to run to the pharmacy - the vaccine is not available to the masses, and in addition, the same warriors found that 10% -30% of people are unable to immunize, and for the rest, immunity occurs only after a month or more. By the way, in quantities of 1000-10000 toxic doses (and this is a little - only 0.057-0.57 mg / kg if taken by mouth), botulinum toxin spits on these vaccines of yours and cuts to death.

Fifth place

In fact, this is a group of poisons, it all depends on what to attach in place R ₁ ..R ₅ . By nature, these are cyclic octapeptides consisting of eight amino acid residues. They are found in the fruiting bodies of fungi of the genus Amanita, Galerina and Lepiot - yes, pale grebe is from here.

Amatoxins are one of the most powerful hepatotoxins in the world. So no matter how much you drink,% username%, this does not compare with this charm: amatoxins reliably block RNA polymerase II, which blocks the synthesis of messenger RNA and causes hepatocyte necrosis. And since in our world you cannot survive without a liver - in general, you understand.

A particularly pleasant nuance of this rubbish is a long latent period: 6-30 hours. That is, you do not have time to reliably come to your senses and rinse your stomach. Symptoms occur suddenly: severe vomiting (persistent), abdominal pain, diarrhea. In the products of diarrhea (well, you understand), blood is observed, since the destruction of intestinal enterocytes occurs. What happens to the liver at this moment ... I really don’t even want to think. Weakness, disturbances in the water-electrolyte balance are growing. On the 2nd - 3rd day, signs of toxic hepatopathy develop: the liver increases, your mood worsens, jaundice and hemorrhagic diathesis appear - this is when you are covered with a bloody rash. Nephropathy, hepatic-renal failure, hepatargia, anuria, coma develop. Everything is sad. Extremely severe poisoning in children, especially dangerous,

The main cause of death is acute liver failure, less commonly acute liver and kidney failure. Even if you survive, you will most likely receive irreversible changes in the structure of the liver tissue, expressed by total necrosis.

How to escape from this? Unfortunately, amatoxins are more resistant to heat than botulinum toxins. In any case, don’t make yourself a mushroom picker and if you’ve already gone to the forest - find yourself a better lesson! Do not buy mushrooms from grandmothers, even if they look very cute! Remember Snow White - and you have no gnomes, no princes you know!

Oddly enough, high doses of penicillin help with intoxication. Rumor has it that silibinin (silybin) - which is essentially a concentrate of milk thistle seed extract - is an antidote to amatoxins, but this is inaccurate. Many offer to participate in tests, but for some reason no one agrees.

Fourth place

Aflatoxins are a group of polyketides produced by microscopic fungi (micromycetes) of several species of the aspergillus genus (mainly A. flavus and A. parasiticus). These babies grow on grains, seeds and fruits of plants with a high oil content - for example, on peanut seeds. Aflatoxins form over time and when stored improperly in stale collections of tea and other herbs. Toxin is also found in the milk of animals that consumed contaminated feed.

Of all biologically produced poisons, aflatoxins are the strongest hepatocarcinogens found to date. When a high dose of poison enters the body, death occurs within a few days due to irreversible liver damage, and when a low dose enters, chronic aflatoxicosis develops, characterized by suppression of the immune system, DNA damage, and activation of oncogenes - liver cancer as a result. Yes,% username%, eating a not-so-good peanut or seed - you will die. Maybe not right away, but guaranteed and painful.

Aflatoxins are resistant to heat treatment of the product - so this also applies to roasted peanuts.

In developed countries, strict monitoring of products is carried out, where aflatoxins (peanuts, corn, pumpkin seeds, etc.) are most often found, and infected lots are destroyed. For developing countries where there is no such control, mold contamination of products remains a serious factor in mortality. For example, in Mozambique, mortality from liver cancer is 50 times higher than in France.

Which country do you relate your% username% to?

Raise bids! Third place

and especially


Everyone knows about the dangers of mercury. About the fact that breaking thermometers and playing with beautiful magic balls is not worth it - I hope too.

Mercury and all its compounds are poisonous. Exposure to mercury - even in small amounts - can cause serious health problems and pose a threat to the fetal development and development of the baby in the early stages of life. Mercury can have toxic effects on the nervous, digestive and immune systems, as well as on the lungs, kidneys, skin and eyes. WHO considers mercury to be one of ten key chemicals or groups of chemicals that pose a significant public health problem.

But actually it is now. The same doctors, until the 1970s, used mercury compounds very actively:

• mercury (I) chloride (calomel) - laxative;
• Mercusal and Promeranus - strong diuretics;
• mercury (II) chloride, mercury (II) cyanide, mercury amidochloride and yellow mercury (II) oxide are antiseptics (including as part of ointments).

There are cases when, when the intestines were twisted, the patient was poured a glass of mercury into the stomach. According to ancient healers who proposed this method of treatment, mercury, due to its severity and mobility, had to pass through the intestines and, under its own weight, straighten its twisted parts.

Mercury preparations have been used since the 16th century. (in the USSR until 1963) for the treatment of syphilis. This was due to the fact that pale treponema, which causes syphilis, is highly sensitive to organic and inorganic compounds that block sulfhydryl groups of thiol enzymes of the microbe - compounds of mercury, arsenic, bismuth and iodine. However, such treatment was not effective enough and very toxic for the patient’s body, which also has sulfhydryl groups, albeit more than the unfortunate treponema. Such treatment led to complete hair loss and a high risk of serious complications. Nevertheless, kind, philanthropic doctors went even further: the methods of general mercuryization of the body were applied, in which the patient was placed in a heating container where mercury vapor was supplied. This technique

By the way, silver amalgam was used in dentistry as a material for dental fillings until light-cured materials appeared. Remember this every time a pretty aunt-dentist with glasses leans over you!

The most toxic fumes and soluble mercury compounds. Metallic mercury itself is less dangerous, but it gradually evaporates even at room temperature, and fumes can cause severe poisoning - and by the way fumes do not smell. Mercury and its compounds (mercuric chloride, calomel, cinnabar, mercury cyanide) affect the nervous system, liver, kidneys, gastrointestinal tract, and when inhaled, the respiratory tract. Mercury is a typical representative of cumulative poisons.

Organic mercury compounds, in particular methylmercury, stand a little apart. It is formed, as a rule, as a result of the metabolism of bottom microorganisms during the release of mercury into water bodies. The substance is very toxic. Toxicity is greater than that of mercury due to a more active interaction with sulfhydryl groups of enzymes and, therefore, inactivation of these enzymes. Since the substance is a covalent compound and less polar than the cation itself of mercury, the effect on the body is similar to heavy metal poisoning (in particular, mercury), but it has a peculiarity: damage to the nervous system is more pronounced. This lesion is known as Minamata disease.

This syndrome was first recorded and studied in Japan, in Kumamoto Prefecture in the city of Minamata in 1956. The cause of the disease was Chisso's prolonged release of inorganic mercury into the water of Minamata Bay, which bottom microorganisms converted into methylmercury in their metabolism, and since this compound tends to accumulate in organisms, as a result, the concentration in the tissues of organisms increases with an increase in their position in the food chain . So, in fish in Minamata Bay, the content of methylmercury ranged from 8 to 36 mg / kg, in oysters - up to 85 mg / kg, while in water it contained no more than 0.68 mg / l.

Symptoms include motor impairment, burning, tingling, and goose bumps in the limbs, decreased speech intelligibility, fatigue, tinnitus, narrowing of the field of vision, hearing loss, and clumsy movements. Some of the heavy victims of the Minamata disease went crazy, lost consciousness and died within a month after the onset of the disease.

There are also victims with chronic symptoms of Minamata disease, such as headaches, frequent fatigue, loss of smell and taste, as well as forgetfulness, which are subtle but impede everyday life. In addition, there are patients with a congenital Minamata disease who were born with a pathology as a result of exposure to methylmercury, while they were still in the womb of their mothers, who had eaten infected fish.

Minamata has not yet come up with a remedy for the disease, so the treatment consists in trying to alleviate the symptoms and in the use of physical rehabilitation therapy. In addition to the physical harm caused to health, there is also social harm, which is discrimination against victims of the Minamata disease. Well,% username%, do you still want to move to the Land of Fukushima, Minamata and the Rising Sun?

By the way, in 1996, in the city of Meisey, located near the bay, the Minamata Disease Museum was built. In 2006, a Memorial was built in the museum in memory of the victims of mercury poisoning as a result of pollution of the Minamata Bay. They say that the victims of this did not feel better.

By the way, there is one more thing -


Well, this is already quite game, which is so toxic that it is almost never used and never seen. Colorless liquid is one of the strongest neurotoxins. It is claimed that it has a somewhat sweet smell, but science does not know people who would check it and manage to communicate their feelings. Although due to its relative stability, dimethylmercury was one of the first discovered organometallic compounds. Well, people like to discover what later they cough up very quickly, Oppenheimer approves.

So that you,% username%, are guaranteed to be sent to another world. just 0.05-0.1 ml of this thing is enough. The risk is further increased due to the high vapor pressure of this fluid. By the way, dimethyl mercury quickly (in seconds) penetrates through latex, PVC, polyisobutylene and neoprene, and is absorbed through the skin. Thus, most standard laboratory gloves are not reliable protection, and the only way to get away with handling dimethyl mercury is to use highly protected laminated gloves under the second, neoprene or other thick protective gloves reaching the elbow. The necessity of wearing a long face shield and working under an exhaust hood is also noted. Do you still want to get to know this sweet smell?

The toxicity of dimethylmercury was once again emphasized by the death of the inorganic chemist Karen Wetterhahn, which followed a few months after she spilled a few drops of the compound onto her arm, wearing a latex glove.

Dimethylmercury easily overcomes the blood-brain barrier, probably due to the formation of a complex compound with cysteine. It is very slowly excreted from the body, and thus tends to bioaccumulate. Symptoms of poisoning can occur months later, often too late for effective treatment. So that.

The only thing that saves the world is that dimethylmercury has practically no use (although here a certain Alexander Litvinenko is trying to say something). It is extremely rarely used in the calibration of NMR spectrographs for detecting mercury, although even here people who understand at least something usually prefer much less toxic salts of mercury for this purpose.

Second place

Everyone knows about methanol. But in my opinion it is underestimated.

The methanol problem is actually not his problem, but the problem of our body. After all, it contains the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase (or ADH I), which mother nature awarded us for the breakdown of alcohols. And if in the case of ordinary ethanol it breaks it down to acetaldehyde (hi, a hangover!), And if you get lucky, it turns into a generally harmless and nutritious acetic acid in the form of acetyl coenzyme A, then crap happened with methanol: toxic formaldehyde and formate are obtained . Apparently, Mother Nature has a very specific sense of humor.

The problem is aggravated by the fact that, as daredevils say (there are few of them), methanol in taste and smell is no different from ordinary alcohol, and even more so when mixed with it. By the way, the iodoform reaction, when yellow iodoform falls out with ethyl alcohol and nothing falls out with methanol, does not work to determine the methanol content in the ethanol solution.

1-2 milliliters of methanol per kilogram of carcass (that is, about 100 ml) usually guaranteed to send daredevils to other interesting people with wings behind their backs, and in view of the special predisposition of this substance to the optic nerve - only 10-20 ml makes a person blind. Forever and ever.

Fortunately, the toxic effect of methanol develops over several hours, and effective antidotes can reduce the harm done. Therefore, if you,% username%, after abuse for some reason feel a headache, general weakness, malaise, chills, nausea and vomiting - drink more. I'm not joking: as indicated in the manual for an emergency doctor, in case of methanol poisoning, the antidote is ethanol, which is administered intravenously in the form of a 10% solution dropwise or 30-40% solution orally at the rate of 1-2 grams of solution per 1 kg of weight per day . A useful effect in this case is provided by the diversion of the enzyme ADH I to the oxidation of exogenous ethanol. It should be noted that if the diagnosis is not accurate enough, methanol poisoning can be taken as simple alcohol intoxication (as you already noted above) or poisoning 1, 2-dichloroethane or carbon tetrachloride (organic solvents, which are still a present, but not so bright) - in this case, the introduction of additional ethyl alcohol is dangerous. In general, you're out of luck,% username%. Be strong.

Methanol poisoning is quite common. So, in the USA during 2013, 1747 cases were recorded (and yes, the USA). Many mass methanol poisonings are known:

• Mass methanol poisoning in Spain in early 1963; the official death toll is 51, but estimates exist in the range of 1,000 to 5,000.
• Mass methanol poisoning in Bangalore (India) in July 1981. The death toll is 308 people.
• Mass poisoning with wine with the addition of methanol in Italy in the spring of 1986; 23 people were killed.
• Mass methanol poisoning in El Salvador in October 2000 caused the death of 122 people. The authorities suspected a terrorist attack, since methanol was not detected in the investigation of the incident in alcoholic beverages at manufacturing plants.
• Mass methanol poisoning September 9-10, 2001 in the city of Pärnu (Estonia); 68 people died.
• Mass methanol poisoning in the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia in September 2012; 51 people died.
• Mass methanol poisoning December 17-20, 2016 in Irkutsk (Russia). The death toll is 78 people.

For this reason, methanol took second place in our ranking. And this is not at all funny.

Ta Dam! Fanfare! We have the first place!

In the first place we will not have some terribly toxic substance that can be found somewhere in some tropical animals or fish. So let's forget about tetrodotoxin and batrachotoxin.

It will not be some kind of inorganic that can only be found in special industries - such as beryllium nitrate, which, incidentally, is also sweet in taste, or arsenic chloride, so beloved in the Middle Ages.

It will not be some kind of organics that also cannot be found with fire during the day - such as ricin, or which has long been studied and lies in a medicine cabinet - such as strychnine or digitoxin.

This will not be the battered cyanide and hydrocyanic acid that epic fail happened in the case of Rasputin.

It will not be polonium-210 or VX, which is guaranteed to send to the other world even in tiny doses - but it is by no means accessible to the general public.

No, the leader will be the real killer, who has millions of lives on his account.


In fact, it was carbon monoxide that sent a bunch of people to the next world. This colorless, odorless and tasteless gas enters atmospheric air for any type of combustion. Carbon monoxide actively binds to hemoglobin, forming carboxyhemoglobin, and blocks the transfer of oxygen to tissue cells, which leads to hemic type hypoxia. Carbon monoxide is also involved in oxidative reactions, disrupting the biochemical balance in the tissues. In this, its action is very similar to cyanide.

Poisoning is possible:

• in case of fires;
• in production where carbon monoxide is used to synthesize a number of organic substances (acetone, methyl alcohol, phenol, etc.);
• in gasified rooms in which gas-powered equipment is used (stoves, instantaneous water heaters, heat generators with an open combustion chamber) in conditions of insufficient air exchange, for example, if there is a violation of draft in chimneys and / or ventilation ducts or a lack of supply air for gas combustion;
• in garages with poor ventilation, in other unventilated or slightly ventilated rooms, tunnels, since the exhaust of a car contains up to 1-3% of СО according to standards;
• when staying on a busy road or near it for long periods on major highways, the average concentration of CO exceeds the poisoning threshold;
• at home in case of leakage of light gas and in case of improperly closed furnace dampers in rooms with furnace heating (houses, baths);
• when using low-quality air in breathing apparatus;
• when smoking a hookah (yes, a very large percentage of people experience headaches, dizziness, nausea, drowsiness after smoking a hookah, which is due to poisoning by carbon monoxide, formed with a lack of oxygen in the hookah apparatus).

So there are plenty of chances to get acquainted with the poisoning,% username%.

With a content of 0.08% CO in the inhaled air, a person feels a headache and suffocation. With an increase in the concentration of CO to 0.32%, paralysis and loss of consciousness occur (death occurs after 30 minutes). At a concentration above 1.2%, consciousness is lost after two or three breaths, a person dies in less than 3 minutes in convulsions. With pre-toxic concentrations (less than 0.08%), you can catch the following charms (as the concentration increases):

1. A decrease in the speed of psychomotor reactions, sometimes a compensatory increase in blood flow to vital organs. Persons with severe cardiovascular insufficiency have chest pain during exercise, shortness of breath.
2. Minor headache, decreased mental and physical performance, shortness of breath with moderate physical exertion. Visual impairment. It can be fatal to the fetus, people with severe heart failure.
3. Throbbing headache, dizziness, irritability, emotional instability, memory impairment, nausea, impaired coordination of small hand movements.
4. Severe headache, weakness, runny nose, nausea, vomiting, impaired vision, confusion.
5. Hallucinations, a severe violation of the coordination of muscle movements - this is why people often died in a fire.

How to help with carbon monoxide poisoning? Well, firstly, to leave the zone of infection. By the way, a regular gas mask, wet rags on the face and cotton-gauze dressings do not save, carbon monoxide saw them all in an interesting place and passes quietly through them - you need a gas mask with a hopcalite cartridge - this is one with copper oxide that oxidizes carbon monoxide to safe carbon dioxide. Well, then - breathe, breathe! Breathe with fresh air, and better with oxygen, give your miserable tissues and organs much needed!

Reliable antidotes for use in case of carbon monoxide poisoning are unknown to world medicine. But! - be proud: Russian scientists have developed the innovative drug Atsizol, positioned as an antidote (although for some reason other scientists have little faith in this). It is administered intramuscularly in the form of a solution. Also offered as a prophylactic. Russian scientists are inviting to test this drug, but for some reason there are even fewer volunteers than in the case of an antidote for amatoxins.

That's all,% username%!

I hope I did not spoil your appetite, it was interesting, and you learned something new for yourself, and not just limited your diet and places of visits.

Health and good luck!

“Everything is poison, and nothing is without poison; only one dose makes the poison invisible "

- Paracelsus