Paralyzing, skin-burning, kidney-destroying...welcome to our list of the world’s top 5 strangest,
and most deadly, poisons.
First up: the manchineel tree.
This tree is often called “poison guava” in English and arbol de la muerte--tree of
death--in Spanish.
It produces a thick sap that oozes out of its fruit, leaves, and bark, and touching
it will leave you with blisters that you’d expect from a severe burn.
If it’s raining, DO NOT STAND UNDER THIS TREE.
One of the toxic compounds in that sap is water-soluble, which means it can dissolve
in those raindrops and land on you.
The most toxic compound in the tree, phorbol, interacts with a family of enzymes that modifies
proteins and affects what messages are sent throughout our cells.
Phorbol binds to these enzymes and causes an irreversible change so they’re left “ON”
and sending those messages becomes a total mess.
This can lead to severe inflammation -- hence the burn.
Exposure to phorbol can cause some swelling, skin and throat burns, chest tightness, and,
if you eat it, uh… death.
And there’s no doctor-approved antidote, so steer clear.
This frog is super cute, right?
Wrong.
Well, OK, yeah fine it’s cute, but also...it’ll kill you.
Its skin is covered in fluid that contains batrachotoxin.
Batrachotoxin binds to sodium channels on your nerve cells and keeps them from closing.
Permanently.
This throws off their ability to send chemical signals to your heart and central nervous
system, which will paralyze and maybe even kill you.
And, again there’s no antidote.
Ricin made headlines in the late 1970s murder of a Bulgarian journalist.
An assassin shot a tiny pellet covered in ricin out of the tip of an umbrella...into
his leg.
Ricin is a highly toxic protein in castor beans.
You’d only come in contact with it if you chewed the bean or breathed in castor bean
powder… both highly unlikely.
Ricin stops our cells from creating new protein by permanently blocking the activity of ribosomes--those
cellular machines we need to make all the protein in our cells.
When a cell stops making protein it’ll die.
If you inhale ricin, within a few hours you’ll have a fever, start coughing, and your lungs
will stop working.
If you eat it, you’ll have severe vomiting and diarrhea, and your organs will quickly
shut down.
Either way, without immediately seeking medical attention, you won’t live long.
And, sorry, no antidote for this one either.
And then there’s gold.
But not elemental gold--gold salts like these.
Gold salts are used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, a disease where your immune system attacks
itself, inflaming your joints.
The gold salts auranofin and sodium aurothiomalate decrease inflammation by blocking the immune
response.
But you don’t want too much gold in your system because it can cause vomiting and diarrhea,
and mess with your kidneys.
Lower amounts over a long time can permanently turn your skin purplish-gray.
And, hey guess what, there may be an antidote for this one!
Small molecules called chelators that bind really tightly to metal ions can be used,
but they’re not always effective.
And now we’ve reached the most toxic substance known to humankind: the protein botulinum
toxin made by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum.
Botulinum toxin causes a disease called botulism.
Canned goods contaminated with C. botulinum are usually the culprit, because the bacteria
can grow in places without oxygen.
Your body uses a neurotransmitter called acetylcholine to help nerve cells talk to other cell types,
like muscle cells.
Botulinum toxin blocks acetylcholine, which prevents muscle movement... and that’s dangerous
for a lot of reasons.
You’ll see the first symptoms of botulism in someone’s face, as muscles that control
their eyes and mouth begin to weaken.
That paralysis will only spread further down their body, eventually damaging muscles they
need to breathe.
If you don’t get medical attention right away, it’ll kill you.
The good news?
There is an antitoxin!
The bad news?
It won’t fix the damage already done to your body.
All it will do is stop further damage.
Because botulinum toxin keeps muscles from contracting, people inject it into their faces
to stop wrinkles from forming.
It’s called Botox.
And yes, it is super super diluted but it’s still the most toxic substance on Earth.
It’s a crazy world we live in.
If you suspect that you or someone you’re with has been poisoned, immediately call the
number at the bottom of the screen or go to webpoisoncontrol.org.