Deadliest poisons for human beings.

 

DON'T GET CLOSE TO THEM

One hundred times worse than arsenic: the 5 deadliest poisons in the world

Just a few drops of the most dangerous poisons can be lethal. And it is better that we stay away from these that mother nature provides us.

Although there are several ways to measure the toxicity of a poison, the unit that is usually used is the “median lethal dose”, better known as LD50 (abbreviation of “lethal dose 50%”). This is the dose of a substance that is fatal to half of the animals in a test.

5. Ricin.

Ricin is the deadly toxin that is extracted from the seeds of the castor bean, a bush that is easy to find in gardens around the world. The poison causes intestinal bleeding, followed by sometimes bloody diarrhoea, vomiting, dehydration and hypotension, and causes an unpleasant death, with agony that can last up to ten days.

4. VX.

The only synthetic compound on the list is a nerve agent that was developed to be used as a chemical weapon, although it was never officially used as such.

3. batrachotoxin.

The indigenous people of western Colombia collect frogs such as the 'Phyllobates terribilis' and heat them over a fire so that the poison drips out and they can smear it on their darts and arrows.

2. maitotoxin. 

Ciguatera is a very common disease in the tropics that is contracted due to food poisoning related to the consumption of fish that inhabit coral reefs.

1. Botulinum toxin.

The poison causes botulism, a disease characterized by progressive muscle paralysis that ends up affecting respiratory function and is usually contracted after food poisoning.

Entry written by: Maria Gabriela Baena.