Silver liquid metal of death
The chemical symbol of mercury, Hg, refers to the metal’s Latin name, hydrargyrum – it means ”water silver”.
Mercury is one of nature’s most slowly-working poisons, but also one of the most lethal. Worst of all, symptoms don’t appear until the heavy metal has affected the body’s organs so badly that recovery is almost impossible. Forensic pathologists consider mercury the ”cancer” of poisons. The secret behind the fatality is to be found in the microscopic damage, which oxygen atoms inflict on our organs every time we breathe. Normally, antioxidants repair the damage, so the organs can keep on working. Mercury attacks an enzyme in the body which is responsible for the production of antioxidants. The large organs of the body such as the heart, kidneys, and brain are all major oxygen consumers. In the case of poisoning, the only cure is treatment with substances which make the metal soluble in water, allowing the kidneys to filter out the mercury.
Rusting to Death
Mercury reduces the body’s ability to repair the damage caused by the oxygen we breathe. Result: cell regeneration is disrupted, and organ failure eventually follows.
Brain
The most oxygen-requiring organ is affected first. The first symptom is a slight headache, which develops into amnesia and continous eadache.
Lungs
Severe mercury poisoning affects the nervous system and will destroy the lungs over time.
Kidneys
As the poisoning gradually intensifies, the kidneys will have difficulties clearing the body of waste substances. They finally fail, and the victim dies.
Polonium
fatal dose
0.1 microgramme. Death occurs after a few weeks. Poisoning symptoms, Hair shedding, nose-bleeding, gum bleeding, vomiting, fever, organ failure.
Harmless particles killed agent
Unlike others, the radioactive particles of Polonium-210 cannot penetrate human skin. But if the poison enters the body – e.g. via food – it is extremely lethal. The radioactive substance quickly binds to the spleen, the kidneys, and the liver, which are bombarded with the short radioactive waves, which polonium emits as it decays. The first symptoms occur in the fast-growing hair cells of the body, and the victims thus shed their hair. Subsequently, the polonium causes the liver, milt, and heart to fail.
Sweet-smelling killer
Aconitine – fatal dose 2 mg. Death occurs in less than an hour. Poisoning symptoms Stomach ache, vomiting, breathing difficulties, numb limbs,
breathing paralysis, heart failure.Attractive,
Europe’s most poisonous flower, aconitum napellus, contains the aconitine neurotoxin, which paralyses breathing. Aconitine was previously used on arrows by Japanese and Nepalese hunters, and as recently as 2004, Canadian actor Andre Noble died after eating aconitum by accident, while out bushwalking
Strychnine is extracted from the seeds of the Strychnos nux-vomica plant.
Killer cramps
Strychnine – fatal dose 100 mg poisoning symptoms Vomiting, violent convulsions, facial spasms, foam at the mouth, wide eyes, unconsciousness, suffocation.
Killer cramps – Strychnine is carried through the body via red blood cells and – unlike other substances – it only binds very slightly to blood proteins. So it can leave the blood stream easily, and enter the nervous system, where it attacks the neurotransmitters, which control our nerve impulses. The result is spasms, which affect heartrate and breathing.
Cyanide fatal dose 50 mg. Death occurs within a few minutes. Poisoning symptoms Headache, dizziness, cramps, shortness of breath,
heart failure.
Suffocating from the inside – Most cells in our bodies contains a microscopic power plant: a mitochondrion. The tiny power plant receives oxygen from the
red blood cells, while CO2 is passed our via the cell membrae. Cyanide attaches to a single iron molecule in the mitochondrion, and the effect is fatal. The slight change is enough to reduce the oxygen supply to the cells. Not enough to kill the cell, but enough to enormously disrupt the signals relayed to the heart and lungs about how fast to pump blood and breathe. This ultimately leads to organ failure.
Cells are full of tiny assembly lines called ribosomes, which decode DNA and build proteins, which are vital for our survival. Ricin attaches to a single molecule, and disrupts this vital process.
Ricin fatal dose 1.8 mg. Death usually occurs within 72 hours. poisoning symptoms Breathing difficulties, hot flashes, dehydration, bloody faeces, cramps, hallucinations, liver and kidney failure.
In 1969, Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov suddenly fell ill and died shortly after. Forensic examinations revealed that Markov had been assassinated by a person, who shot ricin into his body. Ricin is extracted from the beans of the castor oil plant, which are considered among the most toxic in the plant kingdom. Though the poison was used in an attempt to kill US President Barack Obama as recently as in April 2013, poisoning most often occurs when an unsuspecting victim eats the plant’s brownish beans. Often, 5-6 beans is enough to kill an adult.
Arsenic fatal dose 100 mg. Death occurs within a few hours. poisoning symptoms Dizziness, headache, hair shedding, bloody urine, vomiting, cramps.
Arsenic curbs the supply of energy to the cells. The arsenic metal (atomic number 33) can be turned into a number of poisons, which have one thing in common: They destroy cells’ ability to produce so-called ATP – a substance, which transports energy so the cells can function. Without ATP, cells burn out, and the massive cell death paralyses the nerves and makes all vital organs fail. In mild cases, the poisoning may be cured by cleaning the intestines with glucose solutions, which remove the arsenic.