- Little did you know that poison is basically
lurking at every turn.
(yelling)
(explosion)
Of all the things that could poison you in this world,
some are at the top in terms of how potent
and quick that they're able to kill.
And most of them you either never heard of,
or have access to and didn't even know could kill you.
Get ready because here are the
10 most poisonous things on Earth.
Number one is blue-ringed octopus venom.
No larger than a golf ball, the blue-ringed octopus
is the world's most venomous marine animal.
Primarily found in the tide pools and coral reef
around Australia and Japan, you definitely
want to stay away from these guys
no matter how cute and docile they may seem.
Blue-ringed octopus venom contains tetrodotoxin,
a neurotoxin that is so powerful that it will cause
blindness, nausea, respiratory failure, paralysis,
and a very painful death.
You know this thing's about to attack
when its signature yellow skin with blue and black
rings start to turn brown,
and the rings go iridescent and start pulsating.
Yeah, then it's just time to swim away.
The venom from one blue-ringed octopus
is strong enough to kill 26 humans in minutes,
and since the bites themselves are usually small
and painless, most people don't even know that
they've been stung until heavier symptoms set in.
Since scientists haven't been able to come up with a
successful anti-venom, hospitals can only put victims
on ventilators until all toxins wear off, if they even do.
Okay, I think I'm gonna pass on calamari for a while.
Number two is cyanide.
The second item on this list is one of the most
well-known and most dangerous poisons out there.
It's so lethal that it can cause immediate death
to anyone who comes into contact with it.
Cyanide is a chemical that can be turned into a
colorless gas or a white powder.
When poisoned, a person will begin to have difficulty
breathing, followed by dizziness and nausea,
which will then lead to convulsions and ultimately death.
Cyanide actually occurs naturally and can be found in
apricots and other stone fruits,
which contain small traces of it in their pits.
It can most easily be identified because of
its bitter almond smell.
But don't try to smell it because you're gonna die.
Cyanide has actually been used a lot in warfare,
and was one of the active ingredients in the gasses
the Nazis used in extermination camps.
And the cyanide pill, which you've probably heard of,
is an open secret among spies and military officials.
If captured, rather than divulging state secrets,
the captive can commit suicide by biting into a capsule
containing the poison which is kept hidden,
often wedged in a tooth.
Number three is cone snail venom.
With venom strong enough to kill 20 adults
with a single drop, it's no wonder that the cone snail
is considered one of the most dangerous animals
in the entire world.
Cone snails actually have a hollow barbed tooth,
like a little harpoon that they use to hunt prey.
It extends from the snail's head and is so sharp
that it can even pierce through wetsuit fabric.
They're found in warm, tropical waters all around the world,
and there are nearly 600 different species of cone snails
and they vary in size and appearance,
but one thing that they all have in common
is that these little guys are extremely venomous.
The sting of a small cone snail is similar to a bee sting,
which can be bad enough, but getting stung by a
bigger snail can be fatal.
If infected with a high dose of venom,
victims will experience vision loss, respiratory failure,
muscle paralysis, and of course, death.
And the worst thing is that so far,
there is zero antivenom for the cone snail sting.
So if you see one of these, just walk away from it
because you're gonna die.
Number four is strychnine.
Who would have thought that something used as a treatment
for a number of medical conditions in the past
would turn out to actually be a super poisonous substance?
Strychnine is a crystalline alkaloid which occurs
naturally in some seeds, like the dog button plant
that grows in tropical climates.
When extracted, it's colorless and has a bitter taste.
More importantly, strychnine is highly toxic.
This stuff could kill a person
within just a few hours of ingestion.
It attacks the central nervous system,
shutting it down before paralyzing the respiratory
pathways, leading to death by asphyxiation.
In the late 1800s, strychnine was actually thought
to have similar effects to caffeine
and was used by athletes as a performance enhancing drug.
But today, strychnine is used in pesticides and rat poison.
Some drug dealers are even known to add it to heroin
to make the effects, get this, smoother.
Yeah, just give me that good rat poison.
(giggles)
Number five is box jellyfish poison.
The next deadly sea creature is the box jellyfish.
But this one needs a bit of a closer look,
mostly because it's so transparent
that it's practically invisible.
Well that's good to know if you're going for a swim.
The box jellyfish can be found in tropical oceans
near Asia and Australia, but it has been spotted
as from from their habitat as California.
They can grow to be up to a whopping 10 feet long,
and just one of them has enough poison in it
to kill 60 adults.
With its painful sting,
the poison goes straight into the blood stream.
The venom increases blood pressure
and can actually lead to a heart attack
and a very painful death.
If a person is unfortunate enough to get stung
by this creature, soaking the wound in vinegar
can actually help with the pain,
but because the poison is so strong,
you have to get to a hospital as fast as you can
because it's practically a race against time.
Fortunately, there are many life-saving treatments
available for their sting.
Have I completely turned you off the ocean yet?
Okay, you're welcome.
Number six is mustard gas.
Despite its name, this is not the type of mustard
you want to be bringing to your next barbecue.
Sulfur gas, or mustard gas as it's more commonly known,
was given the name because of its yellow brown color and
smell, which has been compared to mustard or horseradish.
German scientists developed the chemical during World War I
to use as a weapon alongside their heavy artillery forces
in order to debilitate large armies.
The scariest thing is that the gas can easily penetrate
through clothes and cause severe chemical burns and blisters
to form on a person's skin, eyes,
and in the respiratory system.
Victims can die from the intensity of the burns,
or damage to the lungs when it's inhaled.
But surviving an attack with this stuff is no treat either.
The gas can cause temporary and permanent blindness,
disfigurement, and even cancer.
Pregnant women who have been exposed to small amounts
of mustard gas have a much higher chance of having
a baby with birth defects or cancer as well.
Number seven is stonefish venom.
The stonefish is considered to be the most poisonous fish
in the ocean, and man, it's sure not trying to win
any Miss Congeniality awards.
They're found in the waters around Australia
and tend to hang out on the ocean floor,
hiding amongst the rocks and sand.
But don't think you'll be safe if you stay out of the water
because these guys can actually survive on land
for up to 24 hours.
If you are unlucky enough to step on one these
seriously ugly fish, they have 13 spikes on their backs
that will inject their venom deep into your foot.
But it gets worse because the toxins from a stonefish sting
start to work pretty quickly, causing swelling,
necrosis, paralysis, and of course death.
The pain that shoots up the victim's leg is so intense
that people have actually begged to have the leg cut off.
One victim described it as having each knuckle,
then wrist, then elbow and shoulder being hit in turn
with a sledgehammer over the course of about an hour.
Luckily there is an antivenom, which may or not
surprise you to learn is the second most administered
antivenom in Australia.
Number eight is Indian red scorpion venom.
The Indian red scorpion is one of the most common
creatures on this list, and can be found in densely
populated areas in India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.
It's actually been rated the most deadly scorpion
in the world, and is responsible for a number of deaths
every year, especially amongst young children.
One sting is severely painful and will cause sweating,
vomit, convulsions, foaming at the mouth, and blackouts.
If it's not treated quickly, the venom will work its way
through the victim, attacking the heart and lungs,
leading to pulmonary edema and death.
And in a bizarre twist, the venom can even cause priapism,
which is, well, let's just call it nature's cruel
and painful Viagra, talk about die hard.
Antivenom has been developed to fight the effects of
venom from other species of scorpions,
but unfortunately it hasn't proven to be very effective
in treating the Indian red scorpion's stings.
So it's probably best to just avoid these little creeps
because you're gonna get a hard death boner.
Number nine is Botox.
The most toxic substance on the entire planet is botulinum
toxin, or as it's more commercially-known, Botox.
It's a naturally-occurring neurotoxin that can be found
in soil, dust, and contaminated canned foods.
And man, this stuff is lethal.
One single teaspoon is powerful enough
to kill one billion people.
I'm gonna say that one again for you, one billion.
So you might be wondering how people inject this stuff
into their faces and not end up just dying immediately.
Well, in cosmetic products like Botox,
botulinum is used in extremely small doses,
in order to paralyze the muscles that cause wrinkles
and to treat excessive sweating.
But because humans can only take the tiniest amount of it,
poisoning is all too possible.
A deadly dose will attack the central nervous system,
causing blurred vision, nausea, heart attack,
and full paralysis.
All of this of course before eventually,
you guessed it, a slow and painful death.
And number 10 is arsenic.
Arsenic is actually a naturally-occurring mineral
that's used in lots of everyday items like car batteries
and pesticides, but it's also highly toxic
and has a pretty dark history.
Arsenic has been used as a weapon of choice
for many murderers over the centuries because
it was nearly impossible to trace.
Small doses of arsenic can cause jaundice and a skin rash,
but if given in a higher dose, a victim of poisoning
will experience intense pain, vomiting, and diarrhea.
Convulsions and a coma aren't far behind,
and within just a few hours, circulatory failure
will ultimately lead to death.
But arsenic poisoning doesn't just happen in tales
of murder and revenge.
Today, nearly 140 million people in over 70 countries are
under threat of poisoning from arsenic-contaminated water.
This is because it occurs naturally in deep levels
of ground water, but becomes dangerous when wells
are dug too deep and used as a main water supply
without proper treatment.
In fact, there have been 20 major incidents reported in
Asia, but arsenic contaminated water has also been
found across the United States.
See, this is why I just drink bottled water,
it freaks me out.
So those were the 10 most poisonous things on this planet.
I hope you guys enjoyed this one.
And of course, thank you guys so much for coming by today.
Remember to come back tomorrow at exactly 3pm
Eastern Standard Time, because I'll have a brand new
video for you, I'll see you then.