![GHS-pictogram-skull](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/58/GHS-pictogram-skull.svg)
The history of poison stretches from before 4500 BCE to the
present day
The present (or here'' and ''now) is the time that is associated with the events perceived directly and in the first time, not as a recollection (perceived more than once) or a speculation (predicted, hypothesis, uncertain). It is a period of ...
.
Poisons have been used for many purposes across the span of human existence, most commonly as
weapon
A weapon, arm or armament is any implement or device that can be used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime, law enforcement, ...
s,
anti-venom
Anti-Venom is a fictional antihero appearing in Comic books published by Marvel Comics. It first appeared in '' The Amazing Spider-Man'' #569 (August 2008), and was created by Dan Slott and John Romita Jr. The creature belongs to a race of amorp ...
s, and medicines. Poison has allowed much progress in branches,
toxicology
Toxicology is a scientific discipline, overlapping with biology, chemistry, pharmacology, and medicine, that involves the study of the adverse effects of chemical substances on living organisms and the practice of diagnosing and treating e ...
, and technology, among other sciences.
Poison was discovered in
ancient times
Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient history cov ...
, and was used by ancient tribes and civilizations as a hunting tool to quicken and ensure the death of their prey or enemies. This use of poison grew more advanced, and many of these ancient peoples began forging weapons designed specifically for poison enhancement. Later in history, particularly at the time of the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...
, one of the more prevalent uses was assassination. As early as 331 BCE, poisonings executed at the dinner table or in drinks were reported, and the practice became a common occurrence. The use of fatal substances was seen among every social class; the
nobility
Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The character ...
would often use it to dispose of unwanted political or economic opponents.
In
Medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
Europe, poison became a more popular form of killing, though cures surfaced for many of the more widely known poisons. This was stimulated by the increased availability of poisons; shops known as
apothecaries
''Apothecary'' () is a mostly archaic term for a medical professional who formulates and dispenses '' materia medica'' (medicine) to physicians, surgeons, and patients. The modern chemist (British English) or pharmacist (British and North Ameri ...
, selling various medicinal wares, were open to the public, and from there, substances that were traditionally used for curative purposes were employed for more sinister ends. At approximately the same time, in the Middle East, Arabs developed a form of arsenic that is odorless and transparent, making the poison difficult to detect. This "poison epidemic" was also prevalent in parts of Asia at this time, as well.
Over the centuries, the variety of harmful uses of poisons continued to increase. The means for curing these poisons also advanced in parallel. In the modern world, intentional poisoning is less common than the Middle Ages. Rather, the more common concern is the risk of accidental poisoning from everyday substances and products.
Constructive uses for poisons have increased considerably in the modern world. Poisons are now used as
pesticides,
disinfectants, cleaning solutions, and
preservative
A preservative is a substance or a chemical that is added to products such as food products, beverages, pharmaceutical drugs, paints, biological samples, cosmetics, wood, and many other products to prevent decomposition by microbial growth or by ...
s. Nonetheless, poison continues to be used as a hunting tool in remote parts of developing countries, including Africa, South America, and Asia.
Origins of poison
Archaeological findings prove that while
ancient mankind used conventional weapons such as axes and clubs, and later swords, they sought more subtle, destructive means of causing death—something that could be achieved through poison.
Grooves for storing or holding poisons such as
tubocurarine
Tubocurarine (also known as ''d''-tubocurarine or DTC) is a toxic alkaloid historically known for its use as an arrow poison. In the mid-1900s, it was used in conjunction with an anesthetic to provide skeletal muscle relaxation during surgery or ...
have been plainly found in their hunting weapons and tools, showing that early humans had discovered poisons of varying potency and applied them to their weapons.
Some speculate that this use and existence of these strange and noxious substances was kept secret within the more important and higher-ranked members of a
tribe
The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to confli ...
or
clan, and were seen as emblems of a greater power. This may have also given birth to the concept of the stereotypical "
medicine man
A medicine man or medicine woman is a traditional healer and spiritual leader who serves a community of Indigenous people of the Americas. Individual cultures have their own names, in their respective languages, for spiritual healers and cerem ...
" or "
witch doctor
A witch doctor (also spelled witch-doctor) was originally a type of healer who treated ailments believed to be caused by witchcraft. The term is now more commonly used to refer to healers, particularly in regions which use traditional healing ...
".
Once the use and danger of poison was realized, it became apparent that something had to be done.
Mithridates VI
Mithridates or Mithradates VI Eupator ( grc-gre, Μιθραδάτης; 135–63 BC) was ruler of the Kingdom of Pontus in northern Anatolia from 120 to 63 BC, and one of the Roman Republic's most formidable and determined opponents. He was an e ...
, King of
Pontus
Pontus or Pontos may refer to:
* Short Latin name for the Pontus Euxinus, the Greek name for the Black Sea (aka the Euxine sea)
* Pontus (mythology), a sea god in Greek mythology
* Pontus (region), on the southern coast of the Black Sea, in modern ...
(an ancient
Hellenistic
In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...
state of northern
Anatolia
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The ...
), from around 114–63 BC, lived in constant fear of being assassinated through poison. He became a hard-working pioneer in the search for a cure for poisons.
In his position of power, he was able to test poisons on criminals facing execution, and then if there was a possible antidote. He was paranoid to the point that he administered daily amounts of poisons in an attempt to make himself immune to as many poisons as he could.
Eventually, he discovered a formula that combined small portions of dozens of the best-known herbal remedies of the time, which he named
Mithridatium
Mithridate, also known as mithridatium, mithridatum, or mithridaticum, is a semi-mythical remedy with as many as 65 ingredients, used as an antidote for poisoning, and said to have been created by Mithridates VI Eupator of Pontus in the 1st cent ...
.
This was kept secret until his kingdom was invaded by
Pompey the Great
Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey or Pompey the Great, was a leading Roman general and statesman. He played a significant role in the transformation of ...
, who took it back to Rome. After being defeated by
Pompey
Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey or Pompey the Great, was a leading Roman general and statesman. He played a significant role in the transformation of ...
, Mithridates' antidote prescriptions and notes of medicinal plants were taken by the Romans and translated into Latin.
[Grout, James]
Mithridatum
(June 2008). Retrieved on 29 April 2007.
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic ' ...
describes over 7000 different poisons. One he describes as "The blood of a duck found in a certain district of Pontus, which was supposed to live on poisonous food, and the blood of this duck was afterwards used in the preparation of the Mithridatum, because it fed on poisonous plants and suffered no harm."
India
Indian surgeon
Sushruta defined the stages of slow poisoning and the remedies of slow poisoning. He also mentions antidotes and the use of traditional substances to counter the effects of poisoning.
Poisoned weapons were used in ancient India,
[Chatterjee, Hiralal. ''International Law and Inter-state Relations in Ancient India'' (1958). K. L. Mukhopadhyay. p. 104] and war tactics in
ancient India
According to consensus in modern genetics, anatomically modern humans first arrived on the Indian subcontinent from Africa between 73,000 and 55,000 years ago. Quote: "Y-Chromosome and Mt-DNA data support the colonization of South Asia by m ...
have references to poison. A verse in Sanskrit reads "''Jalam visravayet sarmavamavisravyam ca dusayet''," which translates to "Waters of wells were to be mixed with poison and thus polluted."
Chānakya (–283 BC), also known as ''Kautilya'', was adviser and prime minister to the first
Maurya
The Maurya Empire, or the Mauryan Empire, was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in the Indian subcontinent based in Magadha, having been founded by Chandragupta Maurya in 322 BCE, and existing in loose-knit fashion until 1 ...
Emperor
Chandragupta (–293 BC). Kautilya suggested employing means such as seduction, secret use of weapons, and poison for political gain. He also urged detailed precautions against assassination—tasters for food and elaborate ways to detect poison. In addition, the death penalty for violations of royal decrees was frequently administered through the use of poison.
Egypt
Unlike many civilizations, records of
Egyptian
Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt.
Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to:
Nations and ethnic groups
* Egyptians, a national group in North Africa
** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...
knowledge and use of poisons can only be dated back to approximately 300 BC. However, it is believed that the earliest known Egyptian
pharaoh
Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: '' pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the ...
,
Menes
Menes (fl. c. 3200–3000 BC; ; egy, mnj, probably pronounced *; grc, Μήνης) was a pharaoh of the Early Dynastic Period of ancient Egypt credited by classical tradition with having united Upper and Lower Egypt and as the founder of the ...
, studied the properties of poisonous plants and venoms, according to early records.
The Egyptians are also thought to have come into knowledge about elements such as
antimony
Antimony is a chemical element with the symbol Sb (from la, stibium) and atomic number 51. A lustrous gray metalloid, it is found in nature mainly as the sulfide mineral stibnite (Sb2S3). Antimony compounds have been known since ancient t ...
, copper,
crude arsenic, lead,
opium, and
mandrake
A mandrake is the root of a plant, historically derived either from plants of the genus '' Mandragora'' found in the Mediterranean region, or from other species, such as ''Bryonia alba'', the English mandrake, which have similar properties. The ...
(among others) which are mentioned in
papyri. Egyptians are now thought to be the first to master
distillation
Distillation, or classical distillation, is the process of separating the components or substances from a liquid mixture by using selective boiling and condensation, usually inside an apparatus known as a still. Dry distillation is the heat ...
, and to manipulate the poison that can be retrieved from apricot kernels.
Cleopatra is said to have poisoned herself with an asp after hearing of
Marc Antony
Marcus Antonius (14 January 1 August 30 BC), commonly known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and general who played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic from a constitutional republic into the aut ...
's demise. Prior to her death, she was said to have sent many of her maidservants to act as guinea pigs to test different poisons, including
belladonna,
henbane
''Hyoscyamus niger'', commonly known as henbane, black henbane, or stinking nightshade, is a poisonous plant in the nightshade family Solanaceae. It is native to temperate Europe and Siberia, and naturalised in Great Britain and Ireland.
...
, and the
strychnine tree's seed.
After this, the alchemist
Agathodaemon
An agathodaemon ( grc, ἀγαθοδαίμων, ) or agathos daemon (, , ) was a spirit (''daemon'') of ancient Greek religion. They were personal or supernatural companion spirits, comparable to the Roman '' genii'', who ensured good luck, fert ...
(around AD 300) spoke of a mineral that when mixed with
natron
Natron is a naturally occurring mixture of sodium carbonate decahydrate ( Na2CO3·10H2O, a kind of soda ash) and around 17% sodium bicarbonate (also called baking soda, NaHCO3) along with small quantities of sodium chloride and sodium sulfate. ...
produced a 'fiery poison'. He described this poison as 'disappearing in water', giving a clear solution.
Emsley speculates that the 'fiery poison' was arsenic trioxide, the unidentified mineral having to have been either
realgar
Realgar ( ), also known as "ruby sulphur" or "ruby of arsenic", is an arsenic sulfide mineral with the chemical formula α-. It is a soft, sectile mineral occurring in monoclinic crystals, or in granular, compact, or powdery form, often in asso ...
or
orpiment
Orpiment is a deep-colored, orange-yellow arsenic sulfide mineral with formula . It is found in volcanic fumaroles, low-temperature hydrothermal veins, and hot springs and is formed both by sublimation and as a byproduct of the decay of anothe ...
, due to the relation between the unidentified mineral and his other writings.
[Emsley, pp. 2–3]
Rome
In Roman times, poisoning carried out at the dinner table or common eating or drinking area was not unheard of, or even uncommon, and was happening as early as 331 BC.
These poisonings would have been used for self-advantageous reasons in every class of the social order. The writer
Livy
Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding in ...
describes the poisoning of members of the upper class and nobles of Rome, and Roman emperor
Nero
Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68), was the fifth Roman emperor and final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 unti ...
is known to have favored the use of poisons on his relatives, even hiring a personal poisoner. His preferred
enema
An enema, also known as a clyster, is an injection of fluid into the lower bowel by way of the rectum.Cullingworth, ''A Manual of Nursing, Medical and Surgical'':155 The word enema can also refer to the liquid injected, as well as to a device ...
poison was said to be
cyanide
Cyanide is a naturally occurring, rapidly acting, toxic chemical that can exist in many different forms.
In chemistry, a cyanide () is a chemical compound that contains a functional group. This group, known as the cyano group, consists of ...
.
Nero's predecessor,
Claudius, was allegedly poisoned with mushrooms or alternatively poison herbs.
[Suetonius, ''Claudius''] However, accounts of the way Claudius died vary greatly.
Halotus
Halotus (c. 20–30 ADc. 70–80 AD) was an eunuch servant to the Roman Emperor Claudius, the fourth member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty.Anthony A. Barrett ''Agrippina: Sex, Power, and Politics in the Early Empire'', page 140. Routledge, 1996. ...
, his taster,
Gaius Stertinius Xenophon
Gaius Stertinius Xenophon (c. 10 BC54 AD), often referred to in ancient literature as simply Xenophon, was a physician who served the Roman Emperor, Claudius, the fourth member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Xenophon is primarily remembered for ...
, his doctor, and the infamous poisoner
Locusta
Locusta or Lucusta (died 69), was a notorious maker of poisons in the 1st-century Roman Empire, active in the final two reigns of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. She supposedly took part in the assassinations of Claudius and Britannicus. She was a f ...
have all been accused of possibly being the administrator of the fatal substance, but
Agrippina, his final wife, is considered to be the most likely to have arranged his murder and may have even administered the poison herself. Some report that he died after prolonged suffering following a single dose at his evening meal, while some say that he recovered somewhat, only to be poisoned once more by a feather dipped in poison which was pushed down his throat under the pretense of helping him to vomit, or by poisoned gruel or an enema.
[ Agrippina is considered to be the murderer, because she was ambitious for her son, ]Nero
Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68), was the fifth Roman emperor and final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 unti ...
, and Claudius had become suspicious of her intrigues.
Later imperial Asia
Despite the negative effects of poison, which were so evident in these times, cures were being found in poison, even at such a time where it was hated by the most of the general public. An example can be found in the works of Iranian born Persian physician, philosopher, and scholar Rhazes
Abū Bakr al-Rāzī (full name: ar, أبو بکر محمد بن زکریاء الرازي, translit=Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Zakariyyāʾ al-Rāzī, label=none), () rather than ar, زکریاء, label=none (), as for example in , or in . In m ...
, writer of ''Secret of Secrets'', which was a long list of chemical compounds, minerals and apparatus, the first man to distil alcohol and use it as an anti-septic, and the person who suggested mercury be used as a laxative
Laxatives, purgatives, or aperients are substances that loosen stools and increase bowel movements. They are used to treat and prevent constipation.
Laxatives vary as to how they work and the side effects they may have. Certain stimulant, lubri ...
. He made discoveries relating to a mercury chloride called corrosive sublimate. An ointment derived from this sublimate was used to cure what Rhazes described as 'the itch
Itch (also known as pruritus) is a sensation that causes the desire or reflex to scratch. Itch has resisted many attempts to be classified as any one type of sensory experience. Itch has many similarities to pain, and while both are unpleasant ...
', which is now referred to as scabies. This proved an effective treatment because of mercury's poisonous nature and ability to penetrate the skin, allowing it to eliminate the disease and the itch.[Emsley, pp. 3–4]
Nazi suicides by poison
Nazi war leader Hermann Göring
Hermann Wilhelm Göring (or Goering; ; 12 January 1893 – 15 October 1946) was a German politician, military leader and convicted war criminal. He was one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party, which ruled Germany from 1933 to 1 ...
used cyanide to kill himself the night before he was supposed to be hanged during the Nuremberg trials
The Nuremberg trials were held by the Allies against representatives of the defeated Nazi Germany, for plotting and carrying out invasions of other countries, and other crimes, in World War II.
Between 1939 and 1945, Nazi Germany invaded m ...
. Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
had also taken a pill of cyanide
Cyanide is a naturally occurring, rapidly acting, toxic chemical that can exist in many different forms.
In chemistry, a cyanide () is a chemical compound that contains a functional group. This group, known as the cyano group, consists of ...
but he bit down on the capsule and shot himself in the right temple shortly before the fall of Berlin along with his wife, Eva Braun
Eva Anna Paula Hitler (; 6 February 1912 – 30 April 1945) was a German photographer who was the longtime companion and briefly the wife of Adolf Hitler. Braun met Hitler in Munich when she was a 17-year-old assistant and model for his ...
.
Present day
In the late 20th century, an increasing number of products used for everyday life proved to be poisonous. The risk of being poisoned nowadays lies more in the accidental factor, where poison be induced or taken by accident. Poisoning is the 4th most common cause of death within young people. Accidental ingestions are most common in children less than 5 years old.
However, hospital and emergency facilities are much enhanced compared to the first half of the 20th century and before,
and antidotes are more available.
Antidotes have been found for many poisons, and the antidotes for some of the most commonly known poisons are shown in the table above:
However, poison still exists as a murderous entity today, but it is not as popular form of conducting murder as it used to be in past times, probably because of the wider range of ways to kill people, better detection, and other factors that must be taken into consideration. One of the more recent deaths by poisoning was that of Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko
Alexander Valterovich "Sasha" Litvinenko (30 August 1962 ( at WebCite) or 4 December 1962 – 23 November 2006) was a British-naturalised Russian defector and former officer of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) who specialised ...
in 2006 from lethal polonium-210 radiation poisoning.
Other uses
Today, poison is used for a wider variety of purposes than it used to be. For example, poison can be used to rid an unwanted infestation by pests or to kill weeds. Such chemicals, known as pesticides, have been known to be used in some form since about 2500 BC. However, the use of pesticides has increased staggeringly from 1950, and presently approximately 2.5 million tons of industrial pesticides are used each year. Other poisons can also be used to preserve foods and building material.
In culture
Today, in many developing peoples of countries such as certain parts of Africa, South America and Asia, the use of poison as an actual weapon of hunting and attack still endures.
In Africa, certain arrow poisons are made using floral ingredients, such as of that taken from the plant ''Acokanthera''. This plant contains ouabain, which is a cardiac glycoside, oleander
''Nerium oleander'' ( ), most commonly known as oleander or nerium, is a shrub or small tree cultivated worldwide in temperate and subtropical areas as an ornamental and landscaping plant. It is the only species currently classified in the ge ...
, and milkweed
''Asclepias'' is a genus of herbaceous, perennial, flowering plants known as milkweeds, named for their latex, a milky substance containing cardiac glycosides termed cardenolides, exuded where cells are damaged. Most species are toxic to humans ...
s.
Poisoned arrows are also still used in the jungle areas of Assam
Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...
, Burma and Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
. The ingredients for the creation of these poisons are mainly extracted from plants of the ''Antiaris
''Antiaris toxicaria'' is a tree in the mulberry and fig family, Moraceae. It is the only species currently recognized in the genus ''Antiaris''. The genus ''Antiaris'' was at one time considered to consist of several species, but is now regarde ...
'', ''Strychnos
''Strychnos'' is a genus of flowering plants, belonging to the family Loganiaceae (sometimes Strychnaceae). The genus includes about 100 accepted species of trees and lianas, and more than 200 that are as yet unresolved. The genus is widely di ...
'' and ''Strophanthus'' genera, and ''Antiaris toxicaria
''Antiaris toxicaria'' is a tree in the mulberry and fig family, Moraceae. It is the only species currently recognized in the genus ''Antiaris''. The genus ''Antiaris'' was at one time considered to consist of several species, but is now regarded ...
'' (a tree of the mulberry and breadfruit family), for example, is used in the Java island of Indonesia, as well as several of its surrounding islands.
The juice or liquid extracts are smeared on the head of the arrow, and inflicts the target paralysis, convulsions
A convulsion is a medical condition where the body muscles contract and relax rapidly and repeatedly, resulting in uncontrolled shaking. Because epileptic seizures typically include convulsions, the term ''convulsion'' is sometimes used as a s ...
and/or cardiac arrest, virtually on strike due to the speed in which the extracts can affect a victim.
As well as plant based poisons, there are others that are made that are based on animals. For example, the larva or pupae of a beetle
Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...
genus of the Northern Kalahari Desert
The Kalahari Desert is a large semi-arid sandy savanna in Southern Africa extending for , covering much of Botswana, and parts of Namibia and South Africa.
It is not to be confused with the Angolan, Namibian, and South African Namib coastal d ...
is used to create a slow-acting poison that can be quite useful when hunting. The beetle itself is applied to the arrow head, by squeezing the contents of the beetle right onto the head. Plant sap is then mixed and serves as an adhesive. However, instead of the plant sap, a powder
A powder is a dry, bulk solid composed of many very fine particles that may flow freely when shaken or tilted. Powders are a special sub-class of granular materials, although the terms ''powder'' and '' granular'' are sometimes used to distin ...
made from the dead, eviscerated larva can be used.
See also
*Visha Kanya
The ''Visha Kanya'' (Sanskrit ; en, Poison girl) were young women reportedly used as assassins, often against powerful enemies, during the times of Ancient India. Their blood and bodily fluids were purportedly poisonous to other humans, as was me ...
*Chinese alchemical elixir poisoning In Chinese alchemy, elixir poisoning refers to the toxic effects from elixirs of immortality that contained metals and minerals such as mercury and arsenic. The official ''Twenty-Four Histories'' record numerous Chinese emperors, nobles, and off ...
* Forensic science
* List of chemical elements
*List of Extremely Hazardous Substances
This is the list of extremely hazardous substances defined in Section 302 of the U.S. Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (42 U.S.C. 11002). The list can be found as an appendix to 40 C.F.R. 355. Updates as of 2006 can be seen on ...
*List of poisonings
These are lists of poisonings, deliberate and accidental, in chronological order by the date of death of the victim(s). They include mass poisonings, confirmed attempted poisonings, suicides, fictional poisonings and people who are known or suspec ...
* Poison
*Toxicity
Toxicity is the degree to which a chemical substance or a particular mixture of substances can damage an organism. Toxicity can refer to the effect on a whole organism, such as an animal, bacterium, or plant, as well as the effect on a subs ...
References and notes
*
Further reading
*
External links
History of Poisons
www.poison.org
"The Savior from Demise: A Book on Withstanding the Harms of Deadly Poisons"
from 1431 (in Arabic)
{{DEFAULTSORT:History of Poison
Poisons
Poison