Natural poisons

Toxins are poisons produced by living organisms which are then extracted or copied to produce militarily useful quantities. Naturally occurring toxins are technically biological weapons but are included here because they are in reality chemical weapons and are applied as chemicals rather than as living organisms such as germs, spiders, or vipers. 

Military and university research laboratories being investigated as chemical agent sites should be considered as possible sites for these natural poisons. Some natural poisons such as ricin could be found in large quantities. In research facilities or landfills, toxins may also exist in deceptively small vials or ampoules, thus such discoveries should be handled with extreme care. The PINS technology has not been refined to accommodate natural toxins. 

Toxins were employed in ground or air bursting munitions, aircraft spray tanks or ground-level aerosol generators. It was widely reported a few years ago that an air gun was developed for the CIA that shot a steel dart one-fifth the thickness of a human hair. The dart was dipped in shellfish toxin (saxitoxin, Gonyaulax tamarensis or perhaps catanella) and was 

Some natural toxins are refined to a white powder or colorless crystals. As with chemical warfare agents, some of these poisons are extremely stable and can retain their toxicity for decades. Plants and fungi yield the most stable toxins. 

There is no evidence that the Neuse River toxin has yet been experimented with by the military, probably due to the toxin and bacteriological ban treaty. However, four dinoflagellate toxins were a part of the U.S. inventory in the not-so-far-distant past. Natural poisons were experimented with as far back as World War I. Crystalline ricin is confirmed at two World War I university sites and concerns us because of its purported stability and the ability to refine large quantities. By some accounts, it may be two orders of magnitude deadlier than sarin or as deadly as VX or soman. Ricin was the agent in the British M bomb developed for World War II. 

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As an allergen for testing purposes, synthetic 3-pentadecylcatechol is more useful than natural poison ivy extracts (of which it is one component). A stable crystalline solid, it is efficiently prepared in pure form from readily available starting materials. Outline a reasonable synthesis of this compound from 2,3-dimethoxybenzaldehyde and any necessary organic or inorganic reagents. 

The search for chemicals that will provide relief from pain, cure disease and infection, and offer an escape from the real world has been a part of virtually every known human culture. In the earliest period of human civilization, plants, animal products, and minerals were the major source from which such chemicals were obtained. Many of those products—ranging from natural poisons obtained from frogs and certain types of plants to rocky minerals such as compounds of arsenic to mind-altering substances derived from mushrooms and cacti—are still used in at least some parts of the world as a means of capturing prey, for the treatment of disease, or for recreational purposes. Indeed, many pharmaceutical chemists believe that the natural world contains an almost endless supply of yet-to-be-discovered chemicals that will significantly augment the world s supply of drugs. 

Part of the reason use of GBL and similar products have gone unchecked is that the FDA has less authority to control dietary supplements, which are not subject to the same strict review procedures as are drugs. Consumers should be aware that products available in health food stores or even on supermarket shelves can be just as dangerous as prescription drugs. Just because a product is labeled natural does not mean it is safe, and natural poisons like wild mushrooms cause many emergency room visits, cases of brain damage, and even deaths each year. 

Naturally toxic substances may also be included in compounds such as paints, ceramic glazes, and dyes. Natural poisons have long been used as insecticides in collections that contain materials susceptible to attack by pests. The most common among these compounds are arsenolite (arsenic trioxide) and mercury. 

Secretion is the transfer of materials from perimbular capillaries to the renal mbular lumen. Tubular secretion is mainly an active transport process. Usually only a few substances are secreted, unless they are present in great excess, or are natural poisons. 

The potential value of C2 toxin as a research tool depends on the vulnerability of cells. The experimental approach is straightforward when cells are susceptible to natural poisoning, because the two components of C2 toxin can be added to the exterior of cells and the enzymatic component will find its way to the cell interior (see for example Miyake and Ohishi, 1987 Reuner et al., 1987 Zepeda eta/., 1988). The approach is more problematic when cells are resistant to natural poisoning. In theory, resistance could be due to absence of cell surface receptors, absence of a mechanism for productive internalization, or absence of an intracellular substrate, but thus far only an absence of receptors (Fritz ef al., 1995) and an absence of substrate (Aktories et al., 1986) have been described. Cells without receptors can be rendered susceptible by using techniques that produce artificial internalization (e.g., permeabilizing the cell membrane or microinjection see Muller efal., 1992). Cells that do not have substrate are permanently resistant to poisoning. 

Abrin is a natural poison that is found in the seeds of a plant called the rosary pea or jcquirity pea. These seeds are red with a black spot covering one end. 

Chemical Warfare Material Table 5.3 Natural Poisons... 

If you were given the job to find a new class of bacterial poisons to sterilize medical instruments, where would you look for a source of natural poisons ... 

Scott PM (1995) Natural poisons Mycotoxins. In Official Methods of Analysis, 16th edn., ch. 49, pp. 1-49. Arlington, VA Association of Official Analytical Chemists, Inc. 

The toxicity of natural poisons, expressed by their LDjo (see Dose), is much higher than that of conventional inorganic poisons (see Table). 

The story told by the dead king, of being murdered by his brother using hebona juice, leaves an indelible picture in the mind. Perhaps the reason for this is that the story was so well and succinctly told, or it may have been that the use of a natural product as a weapon made the story more horrible. The latter explanation may account for the success of the modern murder mystery. We are used to its victims being dispatched with a variety of natural poisons from curare-tipped darts to tetrodotoxin-poisoned meals. Compounds such as curare and tetrodotox-in are toxic natural products of wide diversity and have many curious structures, chemically speaking. However, these compounds, which are extracted from leaves or puffer fish, are not included in the present survey. More commonplace exam-... 

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