What chemicals kill people invisibly? poison
Deborah Blum is a poison enthusiast with a passion for harmful chemicals. Her new book, "The Criminal's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Science in New York's Jazz Age," was made into a movie for PBS because it sold well. The book focuses on the lessons learned in real-life cases by New York's first forensic doctor, Charles Norris, and toxicologist and forensic chemist Alexander Gettler. They use their superb forensic autopsy techniques to help police quickly catch murderers and provide the hard evidence they need. "When Norris first arrived in 1918, the New York government declared that criminals in New York could prove their innocence by their own means," Blum said in the latest issue of her blog, Inquiring Minds.
Arsenic, cyanide and chloroform were the favorite poisons of poisoners in the 1920s, and detecting each case was a challenge to science time and time again. For arsenic, "it is tasteless, and the poisoner can put it in any food without the victim noticing," Blum said. "Because it is odorless and tasteless, the medical examiner has no way of knowing that it is in the victim's body, because it attacks like a normal natural disease and cannot be detected in the body. So even if the medical examiner suspects that the victim was poisoned, there is no way to provide definitive evidence. It is precisely because of this that arsenic has become the favorite treasure of poisoners."
Since then, forensic science has developed for a long time, and poisoners have not had many opportunities to run rampant. Not only are there occasional poisoning cases, but environmental pollutants are also threatening human life and health like poisons. It is also because of the many potential safety hazards in human life that Blum has listed six of the most dangerous modern poisons in his blog. Whether it is damage to the environment or fatal consequences, the following six poisons need to be vigilant:
1. Lead
Jones' Kevin Drum, an ordinary mother, documents the dangers to us of lead, a naturally occurring poison. Because lead is a neurotoxin that hinders brain development, it is particularly toxic to children.leadWe live our lives everywhere: in the soil, in the paint of old houses, in pipes, in lipstick (in such minuscule amounts that the F.D.A. has identified it as harmless to human health). "I can't say exactly how lead, as a poison, will act on the human body, but it is indeed harmful to the human body," Blum said. "But I want to remind people that it is in our world and we are being eroded by it, and everyone is risking their lives." To learn more about the dangers of lead in homes, click here.
2. Arsenic
arsenicKnown as a toxic metalloid, arsenic is no longer as dangerous as it used to be as a murder tool for murderers, but it still exists in the environment and is a danger to things and water. "Arsenic is also invisible to human health," Blum said. "It is harmful at high or low levels." Arsenic is found naturally in the earth's crust and leaches into groundwater, and someone will always drink water with dangerous levels of arsenic. It is important to note that people dig wells to get water without permission, which increases the risk of arsenic poisoning. Arsenic is not only found in groundwater, but also in food. Arsenic is a by-product of mining and smelting, and it can be carried into food to some extent, especially in rice products. Long-term exposure to arsenic can lead to various cancers and other health threats.
3. Carbon monoxide
"I specifically Googled the toxicity of carbon monoxide that people should be aware of, and I wrote about 10 news stories of people getting sick or dying from carbon monoxide," Blum said. "This happens more often in the winter, especially after storms or when the temperature persists."
Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless gas that can quickly kill in high concentrations in enclosed spaces. It is produced in gas appliances, smokestacks, water heaters, generators and automobiles. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 400 Americans die each year from carbon monoxide poisoning.
It is worth noting that lead, arsenic and carbon monoxide are not complex chemical processes that react immediately after exposure, but naturally occurring poisons that are very persistent and close to our lives. "Their existence reminds us that although we are studying poisons more deeply than people in the era of Norris and Gettler," Blum said, "it is still not as good as it should be."
Although malicious poisoning incidents are not as rampant as in the 1920s, they are still not to be ignored. The three poisons introduced next are all "killing tools" more commonly used by modern malicious poisoners.
4.ethylene glycol(Antifreeze): Ethylene glycol is the most abundant of the chemicals used in antifreeze. "This is America's No. 1 killer poison," Blum said. Because ethylene glycol is sweet, it can be very useful in the hands of poisoners. Also, buying antifreeze is generally not considered a suspicious operation.
Here's a case of ethylene glycol: A Georgian woman named Lynn Turner was convicted of murdering her husband in 2004. It turned out to be her boyfriend's antifreeze, a common ingredient in jellies and drinks. In another case, a Houston doctor was accused of murdering a colleague. He was accused of pouring a cup of coffee for a colleague and adding ethylene glycol as "sweetener" and "sucralose" (the case is still awaiting trial).
"It's a nasty poison - it gets metabolized in the body and forms crystals called calcium oxalate, which are very sharp and can cut through a person's kidneys." It's lethal not just to people but also to animals. Ethylene glycol, the "kill of choice," was also used to poison a pet by an angry neighbor, Blum said.
5. Ricin
Last April, the U.S. Capitol received an envelope containing "white particulate matter." The letter ended up in the office of Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi, and after analysis, it was confirmed to be ricin. Ricin is an extremely deadly, naturally occurring poison that is extracted and refined from castor beans and castor oil byproducts. It can appear in various forms, including powders and sprays. Once ingested by the body, cells die quickly.
This is not the first time someone with ulterior motives has tried to commit murder in the form of mailing envelopes: In 2003, two envelopes containing ricin appeared in mailboxes in South Carolina and Tennessee: one addressed to the "White House." Ricin has long been known as a bioterrorism agent. For information on the history and biological effects of ricin, see here.
6. Polonia (Polonia) -210
Finally, we come to the real high-tech poisoning. Polonium-210 refers to the alpha particles released by the decay of the radioactive isotope Polonium-210. If it enters the human body, even a small amount of it can cause radioactive radiation poisoning and death.
Polonium-210 was in the news in a criminal case involving the murder of its victim, Yassir Arafat, over costs (which, according to Blum, are unproven). In 2006, a Russian dissident, Alexander Litvinenko, was confirmed to have died of Polonium-210 poisoning.
Unlike antifreeze, Polonium-210 is not readily available; you'd need a nuclear reactor to make it lethal, but it exists in the Earth's crust and inevitably exists in small batches in everyday environments.
Murderers who use these substances to commit murder must be "creepy, cold, and scheming," Blum said, but readers who study poisons and gain inspiration from her work are different from those who learn to kill with drugs.
"Most of us live in an environment that's full of dangerous substances, and we don't want to use these poisons to harm people," Blum said. "I think a lot of people just want to see our chemistry community safer, and I think it's a very interesting process to explore history and to know who you really are."
