![\"Botox\"](\"https:\/\/someinterestingfacts.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Botox-300x199.jpg\")
<\/a>1. Botox<\/h2>\nThis is the most toxic substance in nature: just one gram (0.04 ounces) could kill 14,000 people if swallowed – or 8.3 million if injected!<\/p>\n
Produced by Clostridium botulinum bacteria, this neurotoxin is responsible for botulism, a rare but life-threatening illness transmitted principally through contaminated canned food.<\/p>\n
Botulinum disrupts communication between nerves and muscle cells, gradually paralysing its victims and finally leading to respiratory failure. Extremely small doses of botulinum toxin can, however, be used to treat muscle spasms and excessive sweating and to paralyse the muscles that cause wrinkles (sold commercially as Botox<\/strong>).<\/p>\nDid you know …<\/strong>\u00a0Yearly, more than half a million people “gain” cosmetic botox!<\/em><\/div>\n2. Asbestos<\/h2>\n
Asbestos is the name given to a handful of different minerals which share one common feature: bunches of fibrous crystals. Boasting an array of insulating properties topped off with a low price tag, asbestos was a popular building material until its toxic effects came to light.<\/p>\n
With repeated inhalation, asbestos fibres accumulate in the lungs, causing deadly diseases like asbestosis, an inflammatory lung condition, and cancer<\/strong>. These diseases typically don’t develop until 15-30 years after exposure.<\/p>\nDid you know …<\/strong> All types of asbestos cause cancer and are considered as carcinogenic substances of the first grade.<\/em><\/div>\n![\"Ricin\"](\"https:\/\/someinterestingfacts.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Ricin-300x200.jpg\")
<\/a>3. Ricin<\/h2>\nFound in the castor oil plant, ricin is a toxic protein that wreaks havoc on ribosomes, the cell’s protein builders.<\/p>\n
The result is severe damage to major organs. Just one milligram<\/strong> of ricin is enough to kill an adult if inhaled or ingested, leading many countries to investigate its use as a biological weapon.<\/p>\nThe castor oil plant’s popularity as an ornamental shrub and the relative ease of extracting the toxin from castor beans have also made ricin the poison of choice for many assassins.<\/p>\n
Did you know …<\/strong> Ricin is a poison that is “often” sent inside letters envelope!<\/em><\/div>\n4. Carbon monoxide<\/h2>\n
Colourless and odourless, carbon monoxide gas has a knack for going unnoticed.<\/p>\n
It is produced by the incomplete combustion of organic fuels including gas, coal and wood – occurring, for example, when inadequate ventilation deprives a gas-burning stove of oxygen. As a result, carbon monoxide poisoning is the most common type of air poisoning around the home.<\/p>\n
Carbon monoxide molecules bind tightly to haemoglobin, the oxygen-carrying protein in blood. Taking oxygen’s place, they prevent blood from delivering oxygen to cells. You can reduce the risk by keeping your home well ventilated and servicing appliances such as boilers every year.<\/p>\n
Did you know …<\/strong> Carbon monoxide causes more deaths than all the other poisons together!<\/em><\/div>\n![\"Tetrodotoxin\"](\"https:\/\/someinterestingfacts.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Tetrodotoxin-300x203.jpg\")
<\/a>5. Tetrodotoxin<\/h2>\nThrill-seeking Japanese diners are sometimes tempted to try fugu, a variety of pufferfish. The catch? If the chef slips up, they risk being poisoned with tetrodotoxin, a potent neurotoxin contained in the fish’s gonads, liver, intestines and skin.<\/p>\n
Opening nerves’ ion channels, tetrodotoxin acts similarly to batrachotoxin to block nerve impulses, causing paralysis and death by respiratory failure.<\/p>\n
Although chefs need a licence to serve fugu, mishaps still poison an estimated 200 people each year<\/strong>, with half of them dying. Pufferfish are not the only ones to use tetrodotoxin; it is one of the most common toxins in the marine world, employed by scores of fish, crabs and molluscs, including the blue-ringed octopus.<\/p>\nDid you know …<\/strong> Tetrodotoxin is used in the Haitian voodoo magic where voodoo priests from it, along with some other ingredients, prepare a powder known as a coup de poudre that allegedly makes zombie, temporary disturbance of human, after which the ‘deceased revives’…<\/em><\/div>\n6. Cyanide<\/h2>\n
Whether inhaled or ingested, cyanide is one of the fastest-acting poisons known, sealing death sentences in minutes. Chemically speaking, a cyanide is a compound with a triple bond between a carbon and a nitrogen atom.<\/p>\n
Hydrogen cyanide gas and solid sodium or potassium cyanide are highly toxic, preventing the body’s cells from using oxygen and starving the heart and the brain.<\/p>\n
Certain fruit pits contain cyanide and small quantities of hydrogen cyanide are present in engine exhaust fumes. Industrial uses include gold mining and pesticides – one of which was used by the Nazis in gas chambers.<\/p>\n
2. Asbestos<\/h2>\n
Asbestos is the name given to a handful of different minerals which share one common feature: bunches of fibrous crystals. Boasting an array of insulating properties topped off with a low price tag, asbestos was a popular building material until its toxic effects came to light.<\/p>\n
With repeated inhalation, asbestos fibres accumulate in the lungs, causing deadly diseases like asbestosis, an inflammatory lung condition, and cancer<\/strong>. These diseases typically don’t develop until 15-30 years after exposure.<\/p>\n Found in the castor oil plant, ricin is a toxic protein that wreaks havoc on ribosomes, the cell’s protein builders.<\/p>\n The result is severe damage to major organs. Just one milligram<\/strong> of ricin is enough to kill an adult if inhaled or ingested, leading many countries to investigate its use as a biological weapon.<\/p>\n The castor oil plant’s popularity as an ornamental shrub and the relative ease of extracting the toxin from castor beans have also made ricin the poison of choice for many assassins.<\/p>\n Colourless and odourless, carbon monoxide gas has a knack for going unnoticed.<\/p>\n It is produced by the incomplete combustion of organic fuels including gas, coal and wood – occurring, for example, when inadequate ventilation deprives a gas-burning stove of oxygen. As a result, carbon monoxide poisoning is the most common type of air poisoning around the home.<\/p>\n Carbon monoxide molecules bind tightly to haemoglobin, the oxygen-carrying protein in blood. Taking oxygen’s place, they prevent blood from delivering oxygen to cells. You can reduce the risk by keeping your home well ventilated and servicing appliances such as boilers every year.<\/p>\n Thrill-seeking Japanese diners are sometimes tempted to try fugu, a variety of pufferfish. The catch? If the chef slips up, they risk being poisoned with tetrodotoxin, a potent neurotoxin contained in the fish’s gonads, liver, intestines and skin.<\/p>\n Opening nerves’ ion channels, tetrodotoxin acts similarly to batrachotoxin to block nerve impulses, causing paralysis and death by respiratory failure.<\/p>\n Although chefs need a licence to serve fugu, mishaps still poison an estimated 200 people each year<\/strong>, with half of them dying. Pufferfish are not the only ones to use tetrodotoxin; it is one of the most common toxins in the marine world, employed by scores of fish, crabs and molluscs, including the blue-ringed octopus.<\/p>\n Whether inhaled or ingested, cyanide is one of the fastest-acting poisons known, sealing death sentences in minutes. Chemically speaking, a cyanide is a compound with a triple bond between a carbon and a nitrogen atom.<\/p>\n Hydrogen cyanide gas and solid sodium or potassium cyanide are highly toxic, preventing the body’s cells from using oxygen and starving the heart and the brain.<\/p>\n Certain fruit pits contain cyanide and small quantities of hydrogen cyanide are present in engine exhaust fumes. Industrial uses include gold mining and pesticides – one of which was used by the Nazis in gas chambers.<\/p>\n<\/a>3. Ricin<\/h2>\n4. Carbon monoxide<\/h2>\n
<\/a>5. Tetrodotoxin<\/h2>\n6. Cyanide<\/h2>\n
![\"Sarin\"](\"https:\/\/someinterestingfacts.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Sarin-300x199.jpg\")
<\/a>7. Sarin<\/h2>\n![\"Batrachotoxin\"](\"https:\/\/someinterestingfacts.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Batrachotoxin-300x248.jpg\")
<\/a>9. Batrachotoxin<\/h2>\n