tag:theconversation.com,2011:/fr/topics/poisoning-7828/articles
Poisoning – The Conversation
2023-07-25T20:05:54Z
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/210278
2023-07-25T20:05:54Z
2023-07-25T20:05:54Z
A new TikTok trend has people drinking toxic borax. An expert explains the risks – and how to read product labels
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539195/original/file-20230725-21-kg8vuz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=32%2C16%2C5456%2C3637&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A potentially dangerous trend has <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/drinking-borax-tiktok-trend-medical-authorities-debunk-rcna95526">gained prominence</a> on TikTok, with a number of people mixing borax into water and drinking it for supposed health benefits.</p>
<p>This isn’t new. Social media platforms have been host to many dangerous “challenges” – and users have been dosing themselves with questionable substances for years. </p>
<p>There’s no evidence to support the latest claims about borax. So how dangerous is it? And how can we assess the safety of the many other substances we use in daily life?</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539189/original/file-20230725-29-jcbua6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539189/original/file-20230725-29-jcbua6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539189/original/file-20230725-29-jcbua6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=669&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539189/original/file-20230725-29-jcbua6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=669&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539189/original/file-20230725-29-jcbua6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=669&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539189/original/file-20230725-29-jcbua6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=841&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539189/original/file-20230725-29-jcbua6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=841&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539189/original/file-20230725-29-jcbua6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=841&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">These borax-related topics have been trending on TikTok.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Screenshot/TikTok</span></span>
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<h2>What is borax?</h2>
<p>Borax, or sodium borate decahydrate, is a salt made of a combination of boron, sodium, oxygen and hydrogen. It comes in the form of a colourless crystalline solid that can easily be dissolved in water. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.foodauthority.nsw.gov.au/consumer/keeping-food-safe/other-topics/borax-and-boric-acid">Borax and the related boric acid</a> are commonly used in household products including laundry cleaning products, wood preservers, fertilisers, contact lens solution and ant killers.</p>
<p>Borax crystals are also widely available in supermarkets, hardware stores and garden centres. These products are typically pure borax, but other additives may be present.</p>
<h2>Don’t confuse borax with boron</h2>
<p>TikTok users posting videos of themselves ingesting borax and water solution <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/drinking-borax-tiktok-trend-medical-authorities-debunk-rcna95526">have falsely</a> <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/people-are-consuming-borax-in-new-tiktok-trend-experts-call-it-dangerous-4238058">claimed</a> it can help treat inflammation, joint pain, arthritis, lupus and a range of other conditions. </p>
<p>This is yet another hoax “remedy” in a long list of false hope products. Alternative therapies are often touted as being “natural” and therefore supposedly non-toxic.</p>
<p>But while borax is <a href="https://www.healthline.com/health/is-borax-safe#safety">naturally occurring</a>, this isn’t a guarantee of safety. Arsenic, ricin and the toxin <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/botulism/general.html">responsible for botulism</a> are also 100% natural, but can be highly toxic to humans. </p>
<p>And although the element boron specifically is <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2020.610307/full">considered essential</a> for plants and some animals, its role in the functioning of the human body is less clear. Boron can be found in some of the foods we eat, such as grapes and potatoes, but isn’t classified as an <a href="https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/37931">essential nutrient</a>. The very small amount of boron your body may need can be safely obtained by eating a <a href="https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Boron-HealthProfessional/">diet rich in fruits and vegetables</a>. </p>
<h2>How dangerous is borax?</h2>
<p>Borax is <em>not</em> considered safe to ingest. </p>
<p>In toxicology, the median lethal dose, or LD50, is the approximate dose required to kill half the animals in a population being studied.</p>
<p>The LD50 for borax in rats is about 5g per kilogram of body weight. This is a relatively large dose, which means acute toxicity causing death is unlikely in humans. But just because a dose won’t kill, that doesn’t mean it isn’t harmful – and it definitely doesn’t mean it’s good for you.</p>
<p>Borax was used extensively as a food preservative in the early 1900s. That was before the <a href="https://blog.history.in.gov/dr-harvey-wiley-and-his-poison-squad/">work of Harvey Washington Wiley</a> and his poison squad uncovered a range of side effects to consumption, including headaches, nausea, vomiting, gastric discomfort and more.</p>
<p>Borax is also classified as a <a href="https://www.industrialchemicals.gov.au/sites/default/files/Borax%20%28B4Na2O7.10H2O%29_Human%20health%20tier%20II%20assessment.pdf">reproductive toxin</a>, which means it “may impair fertility” and “may cause harm to the unborn child”. <a href="https://www.foodauthority.nsw.gov.au/consumer/keeping-food-safe/other-topics/borax-and-boric-acid">It is banned</a> as a food additive in Australia, the United States and several other countries.</p>
<h2>Safety first, last and always</h2>
<p>A number of dangerous social media challenges have gone viral over the past decade. One notable example was the “<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2018/01/13/teens-are-daring-each-other-to-eat-tide-pods-we-dont-need-to-tell-you-thats-a-bad-idea/">Tide pod challenge</a>”, in which users recorded themselves biting or eating laundry pods. </p>
<p>The consumption of laundry pods has <a href="https://www.consumerreports.org/laundry-cleaning/liquid-laundry-detergent-pods-pose-lethal-risk/">caused a number of deaths</a> (although these can’t necessarily be linked to the Tide pod challenge). From 2013 to 2022, poison centres in the US <a href="https://www.aapcc.org/track/laundry-detergent-packets">have managed around</a> 10,000 cases each year related to children age five and under being exposed to laundry detergent packets. </p>
<p>Clearly, we shouldn’t be drinking borax or eating laundry pods. Yet such substances can’t always be avoided – so the best protection is to understand the dangers associated with them. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/people-want-to-use-bleach-and-antiseptic-for-covid-and-are-calling-us-for-advice-168660">People want to use bleach and antiseptic for COVID and are calling us for advice</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Apart from reading the generic safety warnings on a product, such as “CAUTION” or “KEEP OUT OF REACH OF CHILDREN”, consumers can dig a little deeper through the use of resources known as safety data sheets (or SDS). </p>
<p>Every product containing hazardous substances must legally have an SDS. So whether you’re using a shampoo, hand sanitiser, vinegar or borax, there will almost certainly be an SDS available. <a href="https://imgcdn.mckesson.com/CumulusWeb/Click_and_learn/SDS_JOHSPC_SHAMPOO_BABY_1_7_FL_OZ_144_CS.pdf">Here’s the SDS</a> for Johnson’s Baby Shampoo, as an example.</p>
<p>You can find the SDS of a product online by searching the product’s name and “SDS” in Google. These documents follow a standardised format and provide details of hazards associated with a product.</p>
<p>They also include <a href="https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/safety-topic/hazards/chemicals/classifying-chemicals/using-ghs">standardised hazard pictograms</a> that represent the associated physical, health and environmental risks. You’ve probably seen these before, such as a “flammable” sign on a deodorant, or a “corrosive” sign on a household cleaner.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539174/original/file-20230725-17-i858fz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539174/original/file-20230725-17-i858fz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=776&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539174/original/file-20230725-17-i858fz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=776&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539174/original/file-20230725-17-i858fz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=776&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539174/original/file-20230725-17-i858fz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=975&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539174/original/file-20230725-17-i858fz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=975&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539174/original/file-20230725-17-i858fz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=975&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The international GHS system consists of nine symbols that represent the hazards associated with a substance.</span>
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</figure>
<p>As far as borax is concerned, the main <a href="https://cdn.commercev3.net/cdn.teachersource.com/downloads/MSDS/Borax-SDS.pdf">product shown in the TikTok videos</a> has an SDS that lists the human silhouette and exclamation mark pictograms. These correspond to the listed hazards of skin irritation, serious eye irritation and potential damage to fertility or an unborn child. </p>
<p>A number of precautionary statements follows – with advice on appropriate personal protective equipment, and how to store and dispose of the product. </p>
<p>Further details go beyond the typical consumer information and include composition, first aid information, toxicological information and fire fighting methods. These are helpful for medical professionals treating patients and fire fighters dealing with chemical spills and fires. </p>
<p>Safety data sheets <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acs.oprd.1c00427">aren’t perfect</a>, but they are a useful resource. So the next time you see an unusual “miracle cure” on social media, or there’s a chemical in your home you aren’t sure about, consider reading the SDS. </p>
<hr>
<p><em>If you have been exposed to a potentially harmful substance, call your local poison information centre or seek medical attention.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210278/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nathan Kilah does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
How dangerous is borax? And what’s the best way to judge the toxicity of everyday household products?
Nathan Kilah, Senior Lecturer in Chemistry, University of Tasmania
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/206957
2023-06-06T20:13:12Z
2023-06-06T20:13:12Z
‘I can’t get it out of my mind’: new research reveals the suffering of people whose dogs died after eating 1080 poison baits
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529961/original/file-20230605-17-d79gd3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=945%2C810%2C4295%2C2863&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/man-walking-his-dog-woods-standing-324424046">Gajus, Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Use of sodium fluoroacetate poison baits – commonly known as 1080 – to kill unwanted animals is widespread in Australia. But it occurs largely out of sight and out of mind. We may see signs warning the baits have been laid, but we rarely see the consequences. </p>
<p>When someone else’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/oct/08/we-feel-like-we-let-doble-down-the-unseen-dangers-of-1080-wild-dog-baits">dog dies</a> after <a href="https://www.thegreynomads.com.au/lifestyle/featured-articles/grey-nomad-dog-poisoning-prompts-1080-warning/">eating 1080 poison bait</a>, news reports briefly rattle our sense of security. But the people concerned can be left distressed and traumatised.</p>
<p>In our <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08927936.2023.2210438?src=">new research</a>, we interviewed seven people about their dog’s death from 1080 poisoning. We identified common themes and how these contributed to changed attitudes toward lethal control methods. This is the first qualitative study to give voice to people whose dogs have been unintentionally harmed by 1080.</p>
<p>Australia is only <a href="https://www.agric.wa.gov.au/1080/1080-characteristics-and-use?nopaging=1">one of a handful of countries</a> that allow the use of 1080 baits. We hope our results will inform decision-making by the government agencies, farmers and conservation organisations that use the poison. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Sign in the bush indicating 1080 poison bait is in use in the area." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529945/original/file-20230604-213248-q4xyne.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529945/original/file-20230604-213248-q4xyne.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529945/original/file-20230604-213248-q4xyne.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529945/original/file-20230604-213248-q4xyne.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529945/original/file-20230604-213248-q4xyne.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529945/original/file-20230604-213248-q4xyne.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529945/original/file-20230604-213248-q4xyne.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">1080 poison bait sign.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo by Rhyshuw1/Wikimedia Commons</span></span>
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</figure>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-australia-made-poisoning-animals-normal-107004">How Australia made poisoning animals normal</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Lethal control by 1080</h2>
<p>Since the 1950s, Australian governments, private contractors and property owners have used <a href="https://apvma.gov.au/node/76826">1080 poison baits</a> to kill “pest” animals such as foxes, rabbits, cats, pigs and wild dogs, including dingoes. </p>
<p>Depending on the target species, their food of choice is <a href="https://agriculture.vic.gov.au/farm-management/chemicals/requirements-for-using-1080-and-PAPP-animal-bait/1080-and-papp-animal-bait">laced with poison</a> (carrots for rabbits, grain for pigs, meat for foxes, wild dogs and dingoes).</p>
<p>The “metabolic poison” disrupts the energy powerhouse of the body’s cells (the mitochondria). The delay between ingestion and signs of toxicity can be anywhere between 30 minutes and 20 hours. Initial signs include vomiting, anxiety and shaking. But that’s only the beginning of what can be a long, painful and violent death. </p>
<p>Native Australian animals vary in their tolerance to the poison. That’s because it is derived from a naturally occurring compound (potassium fluoroacetate) found in several native Australian plants. Though, in parts of the country, it is used to kill native animals too, such as <a href="https://nre.tas.gov.au/wildlife-management/management-of-wildlife/managing-wildlife-browsing-grazing-losses/1080-poison">wallabies and possums</a>.</p>
<p>But companion animals such as dogs can also consume the baits. Their suffering, often witnessed by owners, provides important insights into what wild animals experience when poisoned. </p>
<p>Our research aimed to understand the impact the death of a companion dog from 1080 poisoning has on people and their relationships with other animals.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/profound-grief-for-a-pet-is-normal-how-to-help-yourself-or-a-friend-weather-the-loss-of-a-beloved-family-member-195099">Profound grief for a pet is normal – how to help yourself or a friend weather the loss of a beloved family member</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<h2>A strong sense of responsibility</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08927936.2023.2210438?src=">Our results</a> reveal how a brief encounter with 1080 had traumatic and life-altering consequences.</p>
<p>The participants loved their dogs and considered them family. They felt responsible for providing a happy, healthy life that included walking or running in nature. It was usually during these walks in familiar places that encounters with 1080 occurred.</p>
<p>Some people didn’t know about 1080, while others were very aware and took precautions like avoiding local areas known to be baited. </p>
<p>Several participants were shocked by how quickly their dogs ate a bait, after briefly snuffling at the ground or disappearing out of sight for just a moment. They struggled with the fact that a short lapse in their attention was all it took to lose their dog forever. </p>
<p>Others didn’t realise what had happened for hours, until the onset of symptoms or death.</p>
<h2>The horror: ‘just running away from pain’</h2>
<p>People described the death of their “loved one” from 1080 baiting as one of the most horrific experiences of their lives. Symptoms of 1080 poisoning included uncontrollable vomiting, defecating, urinating, frenzied running, barking, “screaming”, convulsions, confusion, fear, coma and finally, death. </p>
<p>The dogs seemed terrified and their guardians felt completely powerless in the face of extended suffering. As one participant told us:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>He was just running away from pain […] He was running that fast and he obviously had no control over what his body was doing, he just hit the fence at full speed, it dropped him to the ground and he’s on the ground snarling and biting and whatnot, at himself, at me, anyone who tried to get near.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Those who weren’t present when their dogs died felt guilty for not supporting their dog through their pain.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1543903940416311296"}"></div></p>
<h2>Traumatic grief: ‘I can’t get it out of my mind’</h2>
<p>Any loss of a companion animal can cause feelings of <a href="https://theconversation.com/profound-grief-for-a-pet-is-normal-how-to-help-yourself-or-a-friend-weather-the-loss-of-a-beloved-family-member-195099">grief</a>. However, <a href="https://societyforpsychotherapy.org/traumatic-pet-loss/#:%7E:text=What%20is%20Traumatic%20Pet%20Loss,a%20long%2Dterm%20companion%20pet.">traumatic loss</a> of a companion in such an unexpected and violent way is better captured by the concept of <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/traumatic-grief">traumatic grief</a>. One participant vividly recalled their dog’s death:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I can’t get it out of my mind […] her face like that and, you know, she wasn’t vicious at all […] it was so absolutely heartbreaking. I can’t even […] heartbreaking is not the right word for it. No, I need a more intense word than heartbreaking, just to see someone that you love go through that and know that they suffered every second until they died.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>We found the experience with 1080 changed people’s relationships and attitudes to dogs, wildlife, nature and government authorities.</p>
<p>They reported being anxious and hypervigilant for signs of 1080 poisoning in other dogs. Some could no longer visit locations where the poisoning occurred.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Rear view of a man and his dog walking on the beach" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529946/original/file-20230604-29-bn71v9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529946/original/file-20230604-29-bn71v9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529946/original/file-20230604-29-bn71v9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529946/original/file-20230604-29-bn71v9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529946/original/file-20230604-29-bn71v9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=607&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529946/original/file-20230604-29-bn71v9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=607&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529946/original/file-20230604-29-bn71v9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=607&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">After the traumatic loss of their companion, families shunned the place where the dog ate the bait.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/Exn1iytkat8">Corey Serravite, Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Many participants wanted to save other animals from suffering like their dog did. All participants believed no animal should be exposed to 1080 poison, regardless of species or wild status. Some went on to actively advocate against the use of 1080 bait.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/air-dropping-poisoned-meat-to-kill-bush-predators-hasnt-worked-in-the-past-and-its-unlikely-to-help-now-132195">Air-dropping poisoned meat to kill bush predators hasn't worked in the past, and it's unlikely to help now</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>The role of authorities</h2>
<p>For several participants, their suffering was amplified by a perceived lack of accountability from authorities. They believed officials dismissed and belittled their experience of losing a dog to 1080 poisoning.</p>
<p>Participants viewed 1080 baiting as a deliberate choice that led to their dog’s suffering and death. They were angry that anyone would knowingly choose such a violent management approach. In the words of one participant: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>What an inhumane thing to do to any living creature. […] I am just angry that this is happening in Australia, I really am. We are such a progressive country. It’s banned in so many parts of the world. And Australia, of all places, is still using it. […] It’s just not Australian to see a wild animal, never mind a dog that you love, die like that.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>There have been <a href="https://www.ban1080.org.au/articles/the-faces-of-1080">public calls</a> to ban 1080. Indeed, we believe a more <a href="https://theconversation.com/introduced-species-are-animals-too-why-the-debate-over-compassionate-conservation-is-worth-having-163987">compassionate approach</a> is needed: one that values the interests and agency of both wild and companion animals. It is time for Australia to reconsider its use of 1080.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>We would like to acknowledge the work of our colleague Melissa Zeven who led this research. We appreciate their efforts in conducting participant interviews and analysing such emotionally difficult stories.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/206957/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr Adam Cardilini is a member of the Animal Justice Party and volunteers in it's policy working group. He is also a fellow at PAN Works (<a href="https://panworks.io/">https://panworks.io/</a>), an international ethics think tank dedicated to the wellbeing of animals. The work in this article was partly supported by funding from Deakin University.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr Alexa Hayley is a member of the Animal Justice Party and Animals Australia, and is currently employed by Geelong Animal Welfare Society and Deakin University, School of Psychology.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr Bill Borrie has previously received funding from the US Forest Service and is currently a Fellow with PAN Works.</span></em></p>
Before their dog was poisoned, these families recognised Australia’s lethal ‘pest’ animal control methods were necessary. But afterwards, they saw 1080 baiting as inhumane and horrific. Here’s why.
Adam Cardilini, Lecturer, Environmental Science, School of Life and Environmental Science, Faculty of Science, Engineering and Built Environment, Deakin University
Alexa Hayley, Lecturer in Psychology, Deakin University
Bill Borrie, Associate Professor, Environmental Management and Sustainability, Deakin University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/201381
2023-04-05T20:02:53Z
2023-04-05T20:02:53Z
Picking mushrooms can go horribly wrong. Here’s what can happen, according to a toxicologist
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/516885/original/file-20230322-20-6dyr8m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C998%2C664&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/picking-wild-mushrooms-autumn-forest-hand-1810787860">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s <a href="https://www.foodsafety.asn.au/topic/warning-not-to-pick-or-eat-wild-mushrooms-because-of-deadly-deathcap-mushroom-risk-7-march-2023/">mushroom season</a> in many parts of Australia. Between now and about June, the cooler and wetter weather are the perfect conditions for mushrooms to grow in the wild. In Tasmania and parts of Victoria, mushrooms can grow all year round.</p>
<p>At the New South Wales Poisons Information Centre, where I’m the medical director, we receive 300–500 calls a year about mushrooms. Most are from people concerned about what they or others have eaten. Others are from health workers seeking advice on how to treat poisonings.</p>
<p>Here’s what happens if you eat a toxic mushroom, and if you do, what really helps health workers know what to do next.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-ancient-intimate-relationship-between-trees-and-fungi-from-fairy-toadstools-to-technicolour-mushrooms-165974">The ancient, intimate relationship between trees and fungi, from fairy toadstools to technicolour mushrooms</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>A rich history … but can make you sick</h2>
<p>Mushroom foraging, or mushroom hunting, is popular in <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23704957/">many parts of the world</a>. It’s associated with <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/26395916.2022.2055148">local cultures</a>, a social activity with family and friends, or to find food. So mushroom foraging can have deep emotional or cultural connections.</p>
<p>The success of a foraging expedition depends on finding mushrooms, and being able to differentiate the edible from the toxic varieties. That’s not always easy and even experienced foragers can make mistakes.</p>
<p>Toxic mushrooms can resemble edible ones, and might look different according to where they grow, including across continents. Mushroom identification apps do not appear to be <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36794335/">accurate enough</a> in Australia. It’s also not clear how useful mushroom-identification books are at helping people distinguish the edible from the toxic.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-glowing-ghost-mushroom-looks-like-it-comes-from-a-fungal-netherworld-111607">The glowing ghost mushroom looks like it comes from a fungal netherworld</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Different types of mushroom pickers</h2>
<p>People can be at risk of mushroom poisoning for different reasons. </p>
<p><strong>1. Young, and sometimes older people</strong></p>
<p>A common group of those at risk is younger people (mostly toddlers, as they explore the world around them), and sometimes older people (mostly people with cognitive issues, such as dementia). These people tend to find and eat mushrooms outside when partially supervised. </p>
<p>This group tends to eat smaller amounts, which is usually low risk, and contact poisons information centres early. But assessing the toxicity of the mushrooms they have eaten can be hard if the only information we have is chewed mushroom remnants from an uncertain source.</p>
<p><strong>2. Foragers</strong></p>
<p>The other at-risk category are people who eat larger amounts of mushrooms, usually as part of a foraging group, and develop symptoms. These people contact the poisons information centre some time after eating the mushrooms.</p>
<p>Uncooked mushroom samples are often not available. And we don’t always know if their symptoms relate to mushrooms or something else.</p>
<p>Most mushroom poisonings are mild. But sometimes this group develops severe poisoning that requires medical attention, including hospital admission, including those foraging for <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23330770/">food</a> or <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11951934/">hallucingenic mushrooms</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/toxic-poppy-seeds-are-sending-people-to-hospital-3-experts-explain-whats-behind-the-latest-food-scare-194716">Toxic poppy seeds are sending people to hospital. 3 experts explain what's behind the latest food scare</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What happens in the body?</h2>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517077/original/file-20230322-24-smm40f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Agaricus xanthodermus or yellow stainer mushroom" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517077/original/file-20230322-24-smm40f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517077/original/file-20230322-24-smm40f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517077/original/file-20230322-24-smm40f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517077/original/file-20230322-24-smm40f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517077/original/file-20230322-24-smm40f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517077/original/file-20230322-24-smm40f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517077/original/file-20230322-24-smm40f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The yellow stainer can cause nausea, vomiting, stomach pain and diarrhoea.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/agaricus-xanthodermus-yellowstaining-mushroom-july-belarus-1465659980">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The most common symptoms are nausea, vomiting, stomach pain and diarrhoea. We don’t always know how mushrooms cause these effects. But this is probably due to chemicals that directly irritate or kill cells in the gut. </p>
<p>We expect these symptoms after eating mushrooms such as the yellow stainer or <em><a href="https://www.rbg.vic.gov.au/science/herbarium/yellow-staining-mushroom/">Agaricus xanthodermus</a></em>, found in many parts of Australia, and the green-spored parasol or <em><a href="https://www.childrens.health.qld.gov.au/poisonous-plant-green-spored-parasol-chlorophyllum-molybdites/">Chlorophyllum molybdites</a></em>, found mostly in tropical and subtropical regions.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517079/original/file-20230322-20-vqjx7h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Chlorophyllum molybdites or green-spored parasol" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517079/original/file-20230322-20-vqjx7h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517079/original/file-20230322-20-vqjx7h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=355&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517079/original/file-20230322-20-vqjx7h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=355&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517079/original/file-20230322-20-vqjx7h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=355&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517079/original/file-20230322-20-vqjx7h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=446&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517079/original/file-20230322-20-vqjx7h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=446&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517079/original/file-20230322-20-vqjx7h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=446&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The green-spored parasol can also cause gut symptoms.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/poisonous-mushrooms-chlorophyllum-molybditeswhite-flowers-blooming-1792021862">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The mushroom that features in the Smurfs, <em><a href="https://www.dpaw.wa.gov.au/images/documents/about/science/fungus/61_2012-05_Amanita_muscaria_DEC_FF.pdf">Amanita muscaria</a></em>, can cause gut symptoms. It can <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7977045/">also cause</a> sedation (which may be severe) and fatigue, or agitation, confusion and changes in perception. This is because it contains chemicals such as ibotenic acid and muscimol that can stimulate or inhibit different parts of the brain. This mushroom is found in subtropical and temporal climates in Australia.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517080/original/file-20230322-20-w936wx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Fly agaric or Amanita muscaria" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517080/original/file-20230322-20-w936wx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517080/original/file-20230322-20-w936wx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517080/original/file-20230322-20-w936wx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517080/original/file-20230322-20-w936wx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517080/original/file-20230322-20-w936wx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517080/original/file-20230322-20-w936wx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517080/original/file-20230322-20-w936wx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The mushroom <em>Amanita muscaria</em> can sedate you.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/fly-agaric-amanita-muscaria-basidiomycete-genus-1910285572">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Toxic effects from other mushrooms includes sleepiness, lethargy, seizures, low blood pressure, hallucinations and agitation. <a href="https://www.jcu.edu.au/discover-nature-at-jcu/fungi/fungi-by-scientific-name/coprinus-atramentarius#:%7E:text=Description,liquid%20hence%20the%20common%20name">Some mushrooms</a> can interact with alcohol for a couple of days after eating the mushroom, causing flushing, nausea, vomiting and low blood pressure. </p>
<p>Fortunately, people usually recover from these types of symptoms as their body naturally eliminates the toxins.</p>
<p>But Australia also has poisonous mushrooms that <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23330770/">can kill</a>, or cause permanent <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33605821/">liver</a> or <a href="https://anzsnasm.com/10752">kidney failure</a>. That’s because they contain toxins that kill liver, kidney and other cells in essential organs of the body that the body cannot repair.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517081/original/file-20230322-16-c76ppm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Amanita phalloides or death cap mushroom" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517081/original/file-20230322-16-c76ppm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517081/original/file-20230322-16-c76ppm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517081/original/file-20230322-16-c76ppm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517081/original/file-20230322-16-c76ppm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517081/original/file-20230322-16-c76ppm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517081/original/file-20230322-16-c76ppm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517081/original/file-20230322-16-c76ppm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Eating a death cap mushroom can cause liver failure or can kill.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/amanita-phalloides-commonly-known-death-cap-2204034039">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>An example is the death cap mushroom (<em><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23330770/">Amanita phalloides</a></em>), which is found in Tasmania, Victoria, South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory.</p>
<p>In Tasmania, <em>Cortinarius eartoxicus</em> causes <a href="https://anzsnasm.com/10752">kidney failure</a> requiring dialysis. Similar varieties may also be <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11951934/">in Victoria</a> but have yet to be formally identified.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-in-your-porcini-packet-you-may-find-a-new-species-or-three-31740">What's in your porcini packet? You may find a new species ... or three</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What can you tell the person treating you?</h2>
<p>Knowing which mushroom people have eaten helps us predict the likely course of events and to choose the best treatment. </p>
<p>But people who call us for advice rarely have fresh samples or photos to allow us to identify the mushroom. People may also eat several different varieties of mushrooms at once, which can complicate how we assess you. </p>
<p>Our knowledge about poisonous mushrooms growing in Australia is also incomplete. In some cases, we rely on information reported from overseas but we are not certain how this applies to Australia, or to the region where the consumed mushroom was picked.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-peculiar-history-of-thornapple-the-hallucinogenic-weed-that-ended-up-in-supermarket-spinach-197014">The peculiar history of thornapple, the hallucinogenic weed that ended up in supermarket spinach</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What should I do if I’m worried?</h2>
<p>If you think you’ve eaten a toxic wild mushroom, contact a poisons information centre as soon as possible (details below). Health staff can provide advice related to your exposure, including the location of the exposure, amount eaten and your symptoms. </p>
<p>Some people may be advised to watch and wait at home, but others will need to go to hospital immediately. This allows treatments that may reduce the amount absorbed and the severity of poisoning.</p>
<h2>We can prevent this</h2>
<p>The safest way of obtaining mushrooms is from a reputable supermarket, grocer or market. </p>
<p>But if you choose to forage for wild mushrooms, then as a minimum, get advice from a relevant book or an experienced person, keep a sample of the mushroom and take lots of photos. Photos should include where they grow, and different angles of the mushroom. This includes the top, stem, underside and base (underground) portions. This may help us identify the mushroom if you or someone else develops symptoms.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>If this article raises health concerns for you or for someone you know about consuming mushrooms, call the <a href="https://www.poisonsinfo.nsw.gov.au">Poisons Information Centre</a> from anywhere in Australia on 131 126. This evidence-base advice is available 24 hours a day. For life-threatening symptoms, call 000.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/201381/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Darren Roberts is the Medical Director of the NSW Poisons Information Centre</span></em></p>
It’s mushroom season in many parts of Australia. Here’s what you need to know before you go foraging.
Darren Roberts, Conjoint Associate Professor in clinical pharmacology and toxicology, St Vincent’s Healthcare Clinical Campus, UNSW Sydney
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/194175
2022-12-04T08:54:46Z
2022-12-04T08:54:46Z
A dangerous pesticide isn’t being monitored in key bird of prey populations - we’re shedding light on that gap
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/497025/original/file-20221123-24-5lmmwa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=612%2C15%2C2328%2C1215&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">GettyImages</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>It was once regarded as a <a href="https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/ddt--from-miracle-chemical-to-banned-pollutant/3253684">miracle chemical</a> to protect against disease and improve global food production. The man who discovered its properties even won a <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Paul-Hermann-Muller">Nobel Prize for medicine</a>. But today, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/DDT">dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane</a> (DDT) is best known for its devastating effects on the environment, as well as on animal and human health. </p>
<p>It was first used in the second world war to protect Allied soldiers against malaria and typhus, which are spread by mosquitoes and body lice. After the war, DDT became a widely available pesticide to kill insect crops pests and insects causing disease in humans. </p>
<p>However, it became clear that DDT was toxic to more than its intended targets. Continued exposure to the chemical <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/biomonitoring/pdf/ddt_factsheet.pdf">can cause</a> neurological damage, endocrine disorders and reproductive failure in both humans and animals. </p>
<p>Awareness of this damage was in no small part due to Rachel Carson’s book <a href="http://www.rachelcarson.org/SilentSpring.aspx">Silent Spring</a>, published in 1962. Silent Spring brought global attention to DDT’s environmental impacts and sparked a public outcry that forced much of the developed world – the “global north” – to ban the use of DDT in the 1970s and 1980s.</p>
<p>In 2004 the <a href="http://www.pops.int/">Stockholm Convention</a> on Persistent Organic Pollutants – those that stay in the environment for a long time after use – was adopted by over 90 nations. DDT was among the most dangerous pesticides, industrial chemicals and by-products placed on the convention’s “dirty dozen” list, and was banned in most parts of the world.</p>
<p>Two years later the World Health Organization <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1570869/">recommended</a> the restricted use of DDT to control malaria. It <a href="http://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/ddtgen.pdf">remains in use</a> for this purpose in various tropical countries in Asia, Africa, and South and Central America. Its use here doesn’t just put human health at risk: top predators, among them <a href="https://www.britannica.com/animal/bird-of-prey">birds of prey</a> (also referred to as raptors), are threatened too.</p>
<h2>Birds of prey as sentinels</h2>
<p>Birds of prey or raptors are often apex predators, sitting at the top of the food chain. As such, they can act as an “ecological barometer”, helping us gauge the health of the environment. In addition to their value as indicator species, they provide valuable ecosystem services, controlling pest animals such as rodents and removing carrion from the environment, potentially reducing the spread of disease. </p>
<p>Because DDT accumulates in wildlife and magnifies up the food chain many raptor populations have been nearly <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/2401613#metadata_info_tab_contents">wiped out</a> by its use. However, this <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.org/activity/biomagnification-and-bioaccumulation/">bio-accumulation</a> also means they have the potential to serve as a useful indicator to monitor levels of DDT in the environment. Thus, raptors can be regarded as sentinels for DDT.</p>
<p>There has been extensive monitoring of DDT in raptors by conservation agencies and academics across the globe for the last 60 years. But no study has looked at the patterns emerging from these monitoring programmes, nor compared these patterns through space and time. Our <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969722068346">new study</a> fills that gap. </p>
<h2>A global north bias</h2>
<p>We found that DDT monitoring in raptors is heavily biased toward the global north. Europe and North America account for 95% of samples. This is a concern because most DDT use is currently in the global south, as are most raptor species. </p>
<p>We found that DDT has been measured in over 27,000 raptors across more than 100 species. The numbers of birds sampled peaked in the 1960s and 1970s, an increase that coincided with international concern surrounding DDT.</p>
<p>However, just three species account for half of all raptor samples collected: bald eagle, Eurasian sparrowhawk and peregrine falcon. Only the peregrine falcon occurs on all continents, but have been sampled far less in Africa, Asia, Central and South America than Europe and North America. The Eurasian sparrowhawk is also found in Asia but similar to the peregrine has been sampled far less frequently there than in Europe.</p>
<p>The geographical one-sidedness <a href="https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/bitstream/1807/71107/1/Tackling%20Inequities%20in%20Global%20Scientific%20Power%20Structures.pdf">we’ve identified</a> can likely be linked to a dearth of available funding, appropriate infrastructure and the necessary training in global south nations.</p>
<p>And it’s worrying for three reasons. </p>
<p>First, <a href="https://reader.elsevier.com/reader/sd/pii/S0006320718305871?token=BE5B91A7D1D04D803F09245532FF85F05E7C3CC99FD685A3963349EE2107B039AB93376274699582A842DCBC230F5AAE&originRegion=us-east-1&originCreation=20221115162212">most current DDT use</a> is in the global south because of the chemical’s role in malaria control. </p>
<p>Second, the region is <a href="https://reader.elsevier.com/reader/sd/pii/S0006320718305871?token=BE5B91A7D1D04D803F09245532FF85F05E7C3CC99FD685A3963349EE2107B039AB93376274699582A842DCBC230F5AAE&originRegion=us-east-1&originCreation=20221115162212">home to most</a> of the world’s raptors. Most raptor species <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/epdf/10.1073/pnas.2018203118">come from</a> South and Southeast Asia, followed by sub-Saharan Africa and South America. The tropics in particular (mostly in the global south) display the <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/epdf/10.1073/pnas.2018203118">highest</a> raptor diversity. There are also many declines of species in these <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006320718300934">regions</a>.</p>
<p>Third, many countries in the global south are notoriously <a href="https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/publication/514476/adbi-wp980.pdf">poor enforcers</a> of environmental legislation.</p>
<h2>More gaps to fill</h2>
<p>Even with better enforcement, global north countries are not always good at protecting their environments. It was only when peregrine falcons were wiped out from many regions of the <a href="https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/peregrine/population-numbers-and-trends/">UK</a> and the <a href="https://kids.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frym.2022.714834">US</a> – in the late 1950s to mid 1960s – that their governments finally acted by banning DDT.</p>
<p>As more data are being gathered and collated to develop a clearer picture of DDT levels among <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2017.09.059">raptors</a> in the global south, countries in the region might learn from the US and UK measures and prepare similar programmes to start monitoring DDT levels in their raptor populations in a more systematic manner.</p>
<p>Our research is a critical first step in consolidating the uneven information on the global monitoring of DDT. The next step will be to compare how DDT levels in raptors from tropical regions still using DDT compare to levels in raptors from more temperate regions where DDT has long been banned. We are currently working on that research. </p>
<p>As more data becomes available and a clearer picture is created, we hope governments will feel compelled to act to ensure we do not face a second “silent spring”.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/194175/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kailen Padayachee received funding from the National Research Foundation and Carnegie Corporation of New York. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Arjun Amar receives funding from the South African National Research Foundation (NRF) . </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chevonne Reynolds does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
DDT accumulates in wildlife and magnifies up the food chain. Birds of prey occupy the top of these food chains in various ecosystems.
Kailen Padayachee, PhD Candidate, FitzPatrick Institute, University of Cape Town and Research Fellow, School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand
Arjun Amar, Associate Professor , FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town
Chevonne Reynolds, Senior Lecturer, University of the Witwatersrand
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/194716
2022-11-17T03:58:49Z
2022-11-17T03:58:49Z
Toxic poppy seeds are sending people to hospital. 3 experts explain what’s behind the latest food scare
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496004/original/file-20221117-17-madsvi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=4%2C1%2C994%2C664&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Poisonous poppy seeds have sent a number of people around Australia to hospital with severe symptoms – from muscle cramping and spasms to seizures and cardiac arrests – prompting a nationwide recall of <a href="https://www.foodstandards.gov.au/media/Pages/Additional-brands-listed-in-national-poppy-seed-recall.aspx">certain batches and brands</a> of this common pantry item.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1592706604905873408"}"></div></p>
<p>We work for two major poisons information services (<a href="https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/news/Pages/20221115_00.aspx">New South Wales</a> and <a href="https://www.childrens.health.qld.gov.au/chq/our-services/queensland-poisons-information-centre/">Queensland</a>), where we have been advising and caring for people with poppy seed poisoning. There have also been cases in <a href="https://www.health.vic.gov.au/health-alerts/health-warning-on-on-poppy-seeds">Victoria</a>, Australian Capital Territory, <a href="https://glamadelaide.com.au/urgent-recall-on-two-popular-poppy-seed-brands-amid-poisoning-concerns/">South Australia</a> and <a href="https://ww2.health.wa.gov.au/Media-releases/2022/November/WA-Health-warns-community-of-severe-reactions-after-consuming-poppy-seed-tea">Western Australia</a>. </p>
<p>To date, there have been around 32 cases of poppy seed toxicity reported in Australia over the past month, all in adults.</p>
<p>This is what we know about what’s behind these cases and what you need to do if you’ve consumed poppy seeds recently, or have poppy seeds in your kitchen cupboards.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/people-want-to-use-bleach-and-antiseptic-for-covid-and-are-calling-us-for-advice-168660">People want to use bleach and antiseptic for COVID and are calling us for advice</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>How could these poppy seeds be dangerous?</h2>
<p>The poppy seeds involved in the latest national recall are non-food grade seeds that are not intended for human consumption and are not safe to consume. Investigations are under way to determine how non-food grade seeds ended up in the shops.</p>
<p>Food-grade poppy seeds – the type that you’d usually see sprinkled on cake or bread – are not dangerous.</p>
<p>Poppy seeds come from the poppy plant <em>Papaver somniferum</em>. This plant produces a number of chemicals called alkaloids. Some, like morphine and codeine, have been used medicinally for thousands of years to treat pain and other conditions.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495762/original/file-20221116-13-cv3jy9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Poppy plant Papaver somniferum" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495762/original/file-20221116-13-cv3jy9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495762/original/file-20221116-13-cv3jy9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495762/original/file-20221116-13-cv3jy9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495762/original/file-20221116-13-cv3jy9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495762/original/file-20221116-13-cv3jy9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495762/original/file-20221116-13-cv3jy9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495762/original/file-20221116-13-cv3jy9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Poppy seeds come from the plant <em>Papaver somniferum</em> and are used to make medicines, as well as food products.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/opium-poppy-heads-close-papaver-somniferum-2004569264">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Other naturally occurring poppy alkaloids – such as thebaine, noscapine, laudanosine and papaverine – are less-well described in terms of their effects on humans, but they can have a wide range of toxic effects.</p>
<p>Different varieties of poppy plants contain different amounts of these alkaloids.</p>
<p>Some have very low amounts, which tend to be used to produce food-grade poppy seeds. Varieties with higher amounts are used to produce medicines, such as morphine and codeine.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/weekly-dose-codeine-doesnt-work-for-some-people-and-works-too-well-for-others-58067">Weekly Dose: codeine doesn't work for some people, and works too well for others</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What happened recently then?</h2>
<p>The non-food grade poppy seeds that incorrectly entered the human food supply contain high amounts of the alkaloid thebaine. </p>
<p>Thebaine has very different effects to morphine. <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31670127/">In large doses</a> it causes severe and prolonged muscle cramps, spasms, seizures and cardiac arrests, as seen in the recent cluster of poisonings. </p>
<p>High concentrations of thebaine have been identified in the blood of affected people in this latest cluster.</p>
<p>To our knowledge, this is the first time that thebaine has entered the food chain in Australia. However, there are a couple of reports of people who have had severe toxicity after consuming non-food grade poppies in recent decades.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/indian-viagra-herbal-drug-kamini-contains-morphine-and-can-quickly-lead-to-dependence-191509">'Indian Viagra' – herbal drug Kamini contains morphine and can quickly lead to dependence</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>How many poppy seeds are we talking about?</h2>
<p>All reported cases in the current cluster at the time of the recall occurred after people consumed poppy seeds as part of a drink – similar to a brewed tea. </p>
<p>Most people had consumed more than 100g poppy seeds (about 11 tablespoons). Although, 50g (5-6 tablespoons) may be sufficient to cause poisoning. Thebaine can build up in the body if you ingest it several times over the same day.</p>
<p>There have been no reports to date of people being poisoned after eating poppy seeds in baked goods. However, the investigation is ongoing. Owing to the nature of the contamination, we’d recommend avoiding poppy seeds from <a href="https://www.foodstandards.gov.au/media/Pages/Additional-brands-listed-in-national-poppy-seed-recall.aspx">affected brands</a> in any form.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495557/original/file-20221116-13-p2a308.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1000%2C666&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Bread rolls with poppy seeds on brown paper" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495557/original/file-20221116-13-p2a308.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1000%2C666&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495557/original/file-20221116-13-p2a308.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495557/original/file-20221116-13-p2a308.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495557/original/file-20221116-13-p2a308.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495557/original/file-20221116-13-p2a308.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495557/original/file-20221116-13-p2a308.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495557/original/file-20221116-13-p2a308.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">So far, there have been no poisonings reported after eating poppy seeds in bread or cake.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/kaiser-rolls-poppy-seeds-bakery-concept-1043931433">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What if I have poppy seeds at home?</h2>
<p>The non-food grade poppy seeds we’re currently concerned about likely entered the food supply in the past two months. So, if you bought poppy seeds <a href="https://www.health.vic.gov.au/health-alerts/health-warning-on-poppy-seeds">before September 2022</a>, these are likely to be safe. </p>
<p>If you’ve bought poppy seeds in the past two months and these <a href="https://www.foodstandards.gov.au/industry/foodrecalls/recalls/Pages/default.aspx?k=poppy">are listed</a> as part of the national recall, you may be at risk.</p>
<p>You can throw them in the bin or return them to where you bought them for a refund.</p>
<h2>What if I’ve eaten poppy seeds or drunk the tea?</h2>
<p>If you or someone you know develops the following symptoms after consuming poppy seeds, seek urgent medical assistance by calling triple zero:</p>
<ul>
<li>severe muscle cramping, muscle spasms and abnormal movements </li>
<li>seizures </li>
<li>collapses or is unresponsive.</li>
</ul>
<p>If symptoms are mild, or you’re not sure if these are because of consuming poppy seeds, call the Poisons Information Centre for advice (details below).</p>
<p>If you’ve consumed poppy seeds more than four hours ago and you feel fine, you can be reassured. That’s because these poisoning symptoms typically happen quickly, within four hours. </p>
<p>If you’ve consumed a large number of poppy seeds as a drink, especially from an affected batch of seeds, in the past four hours, go to the emergency department regardless of symptoms.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>If this article raises health concerns for you or for someone you know about consuming poppy seeds, call the <a href="https://www.poisonsinfo.nsw.gov.au/">Poisons Information Centre</a> from anywhere in Australia on 131 126. This evidence-base advice is available 24 hours a day. For life-threatening symptoms, call 000.</em></p>
<hr>
<p><em>Update: the article has been updated to reflect prior poppy poisonings.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/194716/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Darren Roberts is the Medical Director of the NSW Poisons Information Centre and a clinical Toxicologist at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jared Brown is a Senior Poisons Specialist in Toxicovigilance at NSW Poisons Information Centre.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Katherine Isoardi is the Director of the Clinical Toxicology Unit, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane, and Medical Director of Queensland Poisons Information Centre, Queensland Children’s Hospital, Brisbane, Australia</span></em></p>
Affected poppy seeds made into a tea have led to seizures and cardiac arrests.
Darren Roberts, Conjoint Associate Professor in clinical pharmacology and toxicology, St Vincent’s Healthcare Clinical Campus, UNSW Sydney
Jared Brown, Clinical Associate Lecturer, School of Pharmacy, University of Sydney
Katherine Isoardi, Conjoint Associate Professor, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/191938
2022-10-13T15:36:45Z
2022-10-13T15:36:45Z
Legalizing cannabis led to increased cannabis poisonings in Canadian children. It could get a whole lot worse.
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488215/original/file-20221005-14-dt3gfq.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=326%2C33%2C7176%2C4634&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos, Mental Health and Addictions Minister and Associate Minister of Health Carolyn Bennett and MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith (right) listen as Morris Rosenberg, chair of the independent review board on the impact of legalization of cannabis, speaks at a news conference in Ottawa on Sept. 22. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/legalizing-cannabis-led-to-increased-cannabis-poisonings-in-canadian-children--it-could-get-a-whole-lot-worse-" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>When Canada <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-24.5/">legalized non-medical cannabis</a> <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/cannabis/article-cannabis-legalization-day-one-live/">four years ago</a>, there was enormous uncertainty about how legalization could impact the health of Canadians. Since then, there has been increasing evidence that legalization has resulted in some negative health effects. The clearest of these is a large increase in accidental cannabis poisonings in young children. </p>
<p>We conducted two large studies that found a nine-fold increase in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.42521">emergency department</a> visits and a six-fold increase in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMc2207661">hospitalizations for cannabis poisoning</a> in children younger than 10 years (average age of 3.5 years) following cannabis legalization in Canada. These increases have been so substantial that cannabis is now a leading cause of hospitalizations for poisoning in this age group.</p>
<p>The government of Canada has just <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-federal-government-to-look-at-public-health-impact-of-cannabis/">launched a mandated federal review of the health and social impacts of cannabis legalization</a>. We argue that addressing the impacts of legalization on the health of Canadians must take precedence over the financial concerns of the cannabis industry, which are demonstrated by their <a href="https://cannabis-council.ca/advocacy">growing calls</a> to <a href="https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/cannabis-canada-weekly-lobbying-ottawa-ahead-of-the-cannabis-act-review-stocks-suffer-decline-1.1715123">roll back or remove government regulations</a> in the <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/news/2022/09/government-of-canada-launches-legislative-review-of-the-cannabis-act.html">upcoming review</a>.</p>
<h2>Provincial variation</h2>
<p>Looking at the <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/drugs-medication/cannabis/laws-regulations/provinces-territories.html">provincial variation</a> in the ways that legalization was implemented across Canada, it’s clear that increases in cannabis poisonings in young children did not need to occur. </p>
<p>At the start of legalization in October 2018, the federal government only allowed the sale of dried cannabis flower. After an intentional one-year delay, new products, including cannabis edibles like candies and chocolates, were permitted. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488617/original/file-20221006-18-pf2fpi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Line graph showing sharp increases in cannabis poisonings in British Columbia and Ontario after legalization of cannabis edibles, in contrast to a more modest increase in Québec" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488617/original/file-20221006-18-pf2fpi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488617/original/file-20221006-18-pf2fpi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488617/original/file-20221006-18-pf2fpi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488617/original/file-20221006-18-pf2fpi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488617/original/file-20221006-18-pf2fpi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488617/original/file-20221006-18-pf2fpi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488617/original/file-20221006-18-pf2fpi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Most of the increase in cannabis poisonings in young kids happened after edible products came to market. The increase was much more modest in Québec, where the sale of these products was prohibited.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Daniel Myran, Yaron Finkelstein)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A wide variety of these edibles went on sale everywhere in Canada except in Québec, which prohibited anything in the form of chocolates, gummies and candies based on <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/SOR-2018-144/FullText.html">concern over their high appeal to children</a>.</p>
<p>We found that most of the increase in cannabis poisonings in young kids happened after edible products came to market, and that Québec — <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/cannabis-regulations-quebec-legal-1.5223723">which prohibited their sale</a> — was protected from this effect and saw a much more modest increase in pediatric cannabis poisonings.</p>
<p>This lack of increase in Québec strongly argues against alternative explanations, including that these hospital visits are from illegal cannabis products, caregivers becoming more comfortable disclosing that kids may have ingested cannabis or pandemic influences.</p>
<h2>Child cannabis poisonings</h2>
<p>When we care for infants and young children who have been rushed to the hospital for cannabis poisoning, we see many parents and caregivers who are shocked by the severity of the cannabis effects on their intoxicated child. Children can become very sick, be less responsive and in severe cases suffer from seizures, trouble breathing on their own, or even enter a coma. </p>
<p>With no effective antidote, children with severe cannabis poisoning require hospitalization — sometimes in intensive care units requiring a breathing machine — until the cannabis is processed and cleared from their body. The long-term effects of these unintentional poisonings are unknown.</p>
<p>These increases in child poisonings occurred despite safety efforts by the federal government, which included <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/services/health/campaigns/cannabis/education-resources.html">parental education</a>, restricting cannabis advertising, mandating <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/cannabis-regulations-licensed-producers/packaging-labelling-guide-cannabis-products/guide.html">plain and child-resistant packaging and restricting the amount of THC</a> (the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis) in a package to a maximum of 10 milligrams. </p>
<p>It’s important to note the <a href="https://cannabis-council.ca/files/advocacy/Not-Done-Yet-Report-Card-Rationale-10.19.21.pdf">cannabis industry is specifically asking</a> that many of these regulations — including THC limits and child-resistant packaging — be removed to make their products more competitive with the illicit market.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488225/original/file-20221005-14-73ezx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A display of candies, cookies and chocolate squares, each displayed with its black packaging with yellow and white warning labels." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488225/original/file-20221005-14-73ezx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488225/original/file-20221005-14-73ezx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=373&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488225/original/file-20221005-14-73ezx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=373&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488225/original/file-20221005-14-73ezx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=373&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488225/original/file-20221005-14-73ezx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488225/original/file-20221005-14-73ezx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488225/original/file-20221005-14-73ezx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A variety of cannabis edibles are displayed at the Ontario Cannabis Store in Toronto on Jan. 3, 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Tijana Martin</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But legalization is not shaping up to be just about replacing the illegal market. The legal market is expanding far faster than the illegal market contracts. Canadian <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3610012401">households now spend an estimated 37.3 per cent more on cannabis</a> from all sources (medical, legal non-medical and illegal) than they did before legalization (1.44 billion in the third quarter of 2018 vs 1.93 billion in the second quarter of 2022). That means that we, as a country, are likely using increasing quantities of cannabis. </p>
<h2>Youth cannabis use and harms</h2>
<p>A key goal of legalization was to <a href="https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/cj-jp/cannabis/">reduce cannabis use and related harms in youth</a>. While the data is less definitive, there is also some reason for concern that these harms have increased. </p>
<p>In Ontario, emergency department visits due to cannabis-induced <a href="https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.31937">episodes of severe vomiting (hyperemesis)</a> and for <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/add.15834">cannabis addiction, cannabis-induced psychosis and poisoning</a> have also increased in young adults since legalization. </p>
<p>The largest increases in emergency department visits due to cannabis occurred when the legal market began carrying new high-potency products and the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/dar.13351">number of cannabis retail stores rapidly expanded</a>. These increases overlapped with much of the COVID-19 pandemic so it is hard to disentangle whether they reflect changes from legalization, a response to COVID-19 related stressors or a combination.</p>
<h2>Social benefits of legalization</h2>
<p>Increases in cannabis harms in young children and youth do not negate the social benefits of cannabis policy reform. Criminalization of cannabis created major problems, including life-altering limits on employment, education and financial opportunities. These effects were well documented to be heavily <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2020.102937">discriminatory due to over-policing among racialized communities and Indigenous youth</a>. </p>
<p>Reducing criminal justice harms is of considerable public health interest. However, we argue that it does not necessitate cannabis commercialization that includes cannabis marketing, widespread cannabis retail stores and permitting ultra-high-potency products that appeal to youth and children.</p>
<p>As the federal government reviews the impacts of legalization to date, we recommend protecting the health of Canadian children and youth by — at a minimum — maintaining existing regulations. This includes plain and child-resistant packaging and THC content limits on edibles. Without these, we will almost certainly see greater numbers and far more severe cannabis poisonings in children. </p>
<p>While we examine more evidence on the impacts of legalization on younger Canadians, we also caution against loosening current rules that limit cannabis marketing and advertising which can appeal to youth and young adults.</p>
<p>If we want to reduce cannabis poisonings in children, we should consider further national restrictions on the taste and visual appearance of edibles and the type of edibles approved, as Québec has implemented.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/191938/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Daniel Myran receives research funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the University of Ottawa Department of Family Medicine and is based at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute. The views presented are his own and not necessarily representative of his affiliated organizations.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Yaron Finkelstein has received CIHR funding for research on medical cannabis. He is a member of C4T (Canadian Childhood Cannabinoid Clinical Trials), a research group that studies medical cannabis.</span></em></p>
Health repercussions — including large increases in child cannabis poisonings — must outweigh industry calls to roll back cannabis regulations in the federal review of the impact of legalization.
Daniel Myran, Public Health Physician and Canadian Institutes of Health Research Fellow, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa
Yaron Finkelstein, Professor of Pediatrics, Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Toronto
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/168427
2021-09-23T11:47:33Z
2021-09-23T11:47:33Z
Alexander Litvinenko: court judgment on assassinated Russian spy has cross-border implications
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/422931/original/file-20210923-19-url9rv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C1%2C1238%2C887&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Alexander Litvinenko in University College Hospital after being poisoned with a radioactive substance.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The European court of human rights has ruled that Russia is responsible for the 2006 assassination of Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko in the UK. The <a href="http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng?i=001-21197">six to one judgment</a> is significant for human rights standards, even 15 years after Litvinenko died by poisoning with the radioactive substance polonium-210.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19647226">Litvinenko’s story</a> feels lifted from a film script. In Russia, he had been an agent of the Federal Security Service (FSB, formerly known as KGB), working in the organisation crime unit and anti-terrorism department. In 1998, Litvinenko publicly accused the FSB of conducting illegal operations, including assassinations. He was dismissed from the agency and arrested, but subsequently released. Two years later he left Russia and was granted asylum in the UK.</p>
<p>In London, Litvinenko did not lay low. He exposed corruption in Russia, publishing the book <a href="https://www.waterstones.com/book/blowing-up-russia/alexander-litvinenko/yuri-felshtinsky/9781783341559">Blowing up Russia</a>, which claimed FSB was behind a number of terrorist attacks in Russia. </p>
<p>In 2006, Litvinenko was lethally poisoned – an unusual event on British soil that shocked the public and drew intense media scrutiny. The high-profile case led to a lengthy UK inquiry led by Sir Robert Owen, concluding that his murder was <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-35371344">“probably” approved</a> by the Russian government.</p>
<p>UK police established that Litvinenko had been poisoned by his acquaintances, Andrey Lugovoy and Dmitry Kovtun, one of whom was also a former KGB agent. Litvinenko fell ill after drinking tea – later found to be laced with the poisonous substance – with the pair at a London hotel.</p>
<p>The police found multiple traces of the radioactive substance in the hotels, cars, airplanes and restaurants visited by Lugovoy and Kovtun. Curiously, the UK authorities could not check one of the airplanes they used, as its scheduled return to London from Russia was cancelled – the plane never landed again in the UK.</p>
<h2>A long road to justice</h2>
<p>Litvinenko’s widow, Marina, brought this complaint to the European court of human rights in 2007, represented by three eminent barristers – including the current Labour leader Keir Starmer. She accused the Russian government of involvement in her husband’s death, saying that no effective investigation had been conducted in Russia and that authorities had failed to collaborate properly with their British counterparts. The litigation continued alongside the investigation in the UK. The UK identified the suspects and charged them in 2011. Russian authorities declined the UK’s request for their extradition.</p>
<p>The Strasbourg court agreed with the applicant, establishing that Litvinenko’s right to life had been violated. The court said agents of the Russian state effectively conducted an extrajudicial, targeted killing on British soil.</p>
<p>The court also ruled that Russian authorities attempted to thwart British efforts to investigate the case. Therefore, Russia failed to comply with its obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights (to which it’s a signatory) to properly investigate Litvinenko’s death.</p>
<p>Lugovoy is now a member of Russian parliament and enjoys immunity. He has already characterised the judgment as <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/european-court-rules-russia-was-behind-litvinenko-killing-2021-09-21/">politically motivated</a>. </p>
<p>The court suggested that the reason for Lugovoy’s election was to avoid responsibility. The sole dissenting judge, Dmitry Dedov – the court’s judge from Russia – proposed a curious alternative explanation, saying Lugovoy “had become a victim of the Cold War”.</p>
<p>The court established a link between the suspects and the Russian state, finding that Lugovoy and Kovtun did not have personal reasons to kill Litvinenko, and also that it would have been extremely difficult to acquire radioactive poison without the governmetn’s help.</p>
<p>Dedov was unconvinced, instead blaming the UK authorities for Russia’s lack of investigation into the case, saying the former failed to share material evidence with the latter.</p>
<p>The court ordered Russia to pay damages and legal costs, totalling €122,500 (£105,411), but the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/sep/21/russia-responsible-for-alexander-litvinenko-death-european-court-rules">Kremlin said</a> it did not accept the ruling and will not pay the damages. As a result of this judgment the Russian authorities must properly investigate the death of Litvinenko, but this is unlikely to happen any time soon.</p>
<h2>Bigger picture</h2>
<p>The court’s message in this case is clear – any European state that ratified the European Convention on Human Rights (including Russia) cannot escape liability if it conducts illegal activities outside its borders.</p>
<p>Of course, it is often difficult to prove another country’s involvement in alleged wrongdoing. In the Litvinenko case, the court drew conclusions from Russia’s lack of cooperation in the investigations, saying the state had “failed to engage with any fact-finding efforts” by the UK or the court. The court also confirmed the facts that were established by the 2016 <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/493860/The-Litvinenko-Inquiry-H-C-695-web.pdf">British inquiry</a> into the case, bolstering the legitimacy of those findings.</p>
<p>The judgment returned the Litvinenko case to <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-58637572?fbclid=IwAR1CRsgnLmJv9yWwT5IAXXNqB2IfIqB5fbejE7tgk3tvfpUulmYAKdLE5cE">the world media</a>, a reminder that although it may take a very long time, human rights justice can ultimately be served. </p>
<p>Still, this might not be the end of the story. This judgment was delivered by the chamber of seven judges of the human rights court. The Russian government can request this case to be transferred to the court’s grand chamber, where 17 judges can fully review the chamber judgment. </p>
<p>The grand chamber judgment would be a more authoritative ruling in this politically sensitive case, but it would mean further delays and uncertainty for the victim’s family – if the court agrees to hear it again. Having said that, the Russian authorities might not request a rehearing, to avoid attracting even more attention to this case. </p>
<p>In any case, this ruling is significant because Litvinenko’s assassination is not the only isolated case of extraterritorial killing. The attempt to murder former Russian intelligence agent Sergei Skripal using the nerve agent Novichok in <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-43315636">Salisbury in 2018</a> comes to mind. </p>
<p>With the ruling on Litvinenko, the court has sent a clear message that it will not tolerate extrajudicial killings and spy wars, even if they happen outside the borders of the responsible states.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/168427/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kanstantsin Dzehtsiarou does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The European court of human rights has found the Russian state responsible for Litvinenko’s death by poisoning.
Kanstantsin Dzehtsiarou, Professor in Human Rights Law, University of Liverpool
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/159333
2021-05-18T20:10:17Z
2021-05-18T20:10:17Z
‘One sip can kill’: why a highly toxic herbicide should be banned in Australia
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401162/original/file-20210518-21-4lwwle.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C7%2C5176%2C3437&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>There’s a weedkiller used in Australia that’s so toxic, one sip could kill you. It’s called paraquat and debate is brewing over whether it should be banned.</p>
<p>Paraquat is already outlawed in many places around the world. The Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority has been reviewing paraquat’s use here for more than <a href="https://apvma.gov.au/node/12666">two decades</a>, and its final decision is due later this year.</p>
<p>We are medical and environmental scientists, and have <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1462901119312407">researched</a> the harmful effects of paraquat, even when it’s used within the recommended safety range. We strongly believe the highly toxic chemical should be banned in Australia.</p>
<p>The potentially lethal effects on humans are well known. In Australia in 2012, for example, a farmer died after a herbicide containing paraquat accidentally sprayed into his mouth. And our research has found paraquat also causes serious environmental damage.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Brown dead plants" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401163/original/file-20210518-21-13pugut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401163/original/file-20210518-21-13pugut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401163/original/file-20210518-21-13pugut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401163/original/file-20210518-21-13pugut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401163/original/file-20210518-21-13pugut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401163/original/file-20210518-21-13pugut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401163/original/file-20210518-21-13pugut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Paraquat is used to spray crops, but can harm humans and wildlife.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Paraquat: the story so far</h2>
<p>Paraquat is the active ingredient in <a href="https://www.syngenta.com.au/cereals/herbicides/gramoxone-360pro">Gramoxone</a>, among other products. It has been used <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/brazil-pesticide-paraquat-idUSL2N0WY2V720150402">since the 1950s</a>, <a href="https://emergency.cdc.gov/agent/paraquat/basics/facts.asp">mostly</a> to control grass and weeds around crops such as rice, cotton and soybeans.</p>
<p>Paraquat is <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2019L00685">registered</a> as a schedule 7 poison on the national registration scheme, meaning its use is strictly regulated.</p>
<p>Suppliers of paraquat say it <a href="https://www.farmonline.com.au/story/7196485/aussie-safety-standards-mitigate-paraquat-risks/">should not</a> be banned, insisting herbicides containing it are safe for people and the environment when used for their intended purpose and according to label instructions.</p>
<p>Farmers have also <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2021-03-31/one-sip-of-paraquat-could-kill-but-farmers-stand-by-it/100039266">argued</a> against a ban, saying it would force them to use more expensive, less effective alternatives and <a href="https://www.farmonline.com.au/story/7196485/aussie-safety-standards-mitigate-paraquat-risks/">reduce</a> crop yield.</p>
<p>Paraquat has been banned in more than 50 countries, including the United Kingdom, <a href="http://www.dextrainternational.com/chinese-ministry-of-agriculture-and-rural-affairs-paraquat-sales-banned-in-china/">China</a>, <a href="https://coconuts.co/bangkok/news/highly-toxic-paraquat-among-5-chemicals-banned-as-of-today">Thailand</a> and European Union nations. However, it’s still widely used by farmers in the developing world, and in Australia and the United States.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/ban-on-toxic-mercury-looms-in-sugar-cane-farming-but-australia-still-has-a-way-to-go-140596">Ban on toxic mercury looms in sugar cane farming, but Australia still has a way to go</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Paraquat bottles with Thai language label" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401165/original/file-20210518-13-1jqkx91.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401165/original/file-20210518-13-1jqkx91.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401165/original/file-20210518-13-1jqkx91.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401165/original/file-20210518-13-1jqkx91.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401165/original/file-20210518-13-1jqkx91.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401165/original/file-20210518-13-1jqkx91.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401165/original/file-20210518-13-1jqkx91.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Paraquat is now banned in Thailand, among other nations.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A chemical peril</h2>
<p>Paraquat is a non-selective herbicide, which means it kills plants indiscriminately. It does so by inhibiting photosynthesis, the process by which plants convert sunlight into chemical energy. </p>
<p>Paraquat stays in the environment for a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0045653517309645">long time</a>. It’s well known for causing collateral damage to <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27867393/">plants</a> and <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27141736/">animals</a>. For example, even at very low concentrations, paraquat has been <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0065693">found to harm</a> the growth of honey bee eggs. </p>
<p>Exposure to living organisms <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14634980903126637">can occur</a> by <a href="https://www.theland.com.au/story/5171215/farmer-says-current-spray-drift-just-the-tip-of-the-iceberg/">spray drift</a> or when paraquat is sprayed on crops <a href="https://analyticalsciencejournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/jssc.201400551">then reaches</a> surface and underground sources of drinking water. </p>
<p>Paraquat can have unintended consequences for biological organisms and the environment, particular in waterways. Our recent <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338710856_The_impact_of_pesticides_on_local_waterways_A_scoping_review_and_method_for_identifying_pesticides_in_local_usage">paper</a> summarised the evidence of the harmful effects of paraquat at realistic field concentrations.</p>
<p>We found evidence that paraquat can <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22437394/">severely inhibit</a> healthy bacterial growth in aquatic environments, which in turn affects nutrient cycling and the decomposition of organic matter.</p>
<p>The research also shows paraquat <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21340574/">can distort</a> tropical freshwater plankton communities by negatively impacting metabolic diversity and reducing phytoplankton growth. </p>
<p>In fish, paraquat has <a href="http://www.indianjournals.com/ijor.aspx?target=ijor:ija&volume=60&issue=4&article=020">been found</a> to lead to a death rate of common carp three times higher than the weed it is used to control.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Common carp in the wild" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401166/original/file-20210518-19-s5esd2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401166/original/file-20210518-19-s5esd2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401166/original/file-20210518-19-s5esd2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401166/original/file-20210518-19-s5esd2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401166/original/file-20210518-19-s5esd2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401166/original/file-20210518-19-s5esd2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401166/original/file-20210518-19-s5esd2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Research shows paraquat kills common carp at a higher rate than the weed it’s meant to control.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>‘One sip can kill’</h2>
<p>In addition to the environmental effects, of course, paraquat is highly toxic to humans. A small accidental sip <a href="https://www.epa.gov/pesticide-worker-safety/paraquat-dichloride-one-sip-can-kill">can be fatal</a> and there is no antidote. </p>
<p>The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention <a href="https://emergency.cdc.gov/agent/paraquat/basics/facts.asp">says</a> paraquat is a leading cause of fatal poisoning in parts of Asia, the Pacific Islands, and South and Central Americas.</p>
<p>Paraquat enters the body through the skin, digestive system or lungs. If ingested in sufficient amounts, <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15779152/">it causes</a> lung damage, leading to pulmonary fibrosis and death through respiratory failure. The liver and kidney can also fail.</p>
<p>Several recent incidents in Australia demonstrate the risks of paraquat poisoning due to human error, even within the current strict regulations. </p>
<p>According to news reports, the <a href="https://www.qt.com.au/news/man-rushed-to-hospital-after-swallowing-herbicide/1618297/">Queensland farmer poisoned</a> by paraquat in 2012 was filling a pressure pump to control weeds on his property. The unit cracked and paraquat sprayed over his body and face, entering his mouth.</p>
<p>In 2017, an <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-11/near-fatal-poisoning-central-coast-man-paraquat-ban/9242454">adult with autism</a> took a sip from a Coke bottle used to store paraquat. The bottle had been left in a disabled toilet at a sports ground in New South Wales. The man was initially given 12 hours to live, but fortunately recovered after two weeks in hospital. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/pesticides-and-suicide-prevention-why-research-needs-to-be-put-into-practice-102533">Pesticides and suicide prevention – why research needs to be put into practice</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="chemical being poured into pressure pump container" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401167/original/file-20210518-15-1euq4qr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401167/original/file-20210518-15-1euq4qr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401167/original/file-20210518-15-1euq4qr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401167/original/file-20210518-15-1euq4qr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401167/original/file-20210518-15-1euq4qr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401167/original/file-20210518-15-1euq4qr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401167/original/file-20210518-15-1euq4qr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Queensland farmer died in 2012 after paraquat accidentally sprayed in his face when he filled a pressure pump.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Paraquat: not worth the risk</h2>
<p>There’s a growing awareness of the threats posed by global chemical use. In fact, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412021002415">a paper</a> released this week suggests the potential risk to humanity is on a scale equivalent to climate change.</p>
<p>Paraquat is no doubt an effective herbicide. However, in our view, the risks it poses to humans and the environment outweigh the agricultural benefits.</p>
<p>Current regulation in Australia has not prevented harm from paraquat. It’s time for Australia to join the movement towards a global ban on this toxic chemical.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-real-cost-of-pesticides-in-australias-food-boom-20757">The real cost of pesticides in Australia's food boom</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<hr>
<p><em>Editor’s note: the article has been updated to reflect the fact products other than Gramoxone also contain paraquat.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/159333/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nedeljka Rosic received funding from Santos Organics, an environmental charity who donated $2,500 towards research exploring the use of pesticides in Australia. This was shared with the two other co-authors.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joanne Bradbury has received funding from Santos Organics, an environmental charity who donated $2,500 towards research exploring the use of pesticides in Australia. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sandra Grace received funding from Santos Organics, an environmental charity, who donated $2500 towards research exploring the use of pesticides in Australia. . </span></em></p>
Paraquat’s potentially lethal effects on humans are well known. But our research has found it also causes serious environmental damage.
Nedeljka Rosic, Senior Lecturer, Southern Cross University
Joanne Bradbury, Senior Lecturer, Evidence Based Healthcare, Faculty of Health, Southern Cross University
Sandra Grace, Professor, Southern Cross University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/145664
2020-09-09T16:52:57Z
2020-09-09T16:52:57Z
Alexei Navalny poisoning: what theatrical assassination attempts reveal about Vladimir Putin’s grip on power in Russia
<p>Vladimir Putin’s intelligence and security organs have used a variety of lethal ways over the past few decades to dispatch those who oppose him or the Russian state – an increasingly difficult line to draw. These murders and attempted murders are often theatrical and laced with morbid messaging. The recent poisoning of Putin opponent Alexei Navalny <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-54002880">with the nerve agent Novichok</a> has again illustrated the Russian president’s willingness to sanction dramatic homicide as a tool of the state. </p>
<p>Putin’s prioritisation of <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02684527.2019.1573537">theatrical vengeance</a> – even at the expense of large-scale diplomatic reprisals and biting economic sanctions – reveals both the nature of his regime and his obsession with maintaining and projecting power.</p>
<p>Political assassination during Putin’s reign is in keeping with Soviet and Russian traditions, but the brazenness of the Navalny poisoning and its timing during the swelling <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-54068451">Belarus protests</a> shows both continuity and change. After Stalin’s death in 1953 the Politburo of the Communist Party, not a single person, was the embodiment of the state during the cold war. Putin has blurred and conflated such distinctions since he assumed power in 2000.</p>
<h2>Ruthlessness</h2>
<p>Like his Soviet forebears, Putin presides over a declining state in which power intermingles with corruption and <a href="https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250119346">extrajudicial murder</a>. The attempted poisoning of former Russian military intelligence officer and British spy Sergei Skripal in 2018 first introduced Novichok into the British vernacular. Fellow Russian intelligence officer and British agent Alexander Litvinenko did not survive his poisoning in 2006 with Polonium-210 in a cup of tea. His murder, <a href="https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20160613090324/https://www.litvinenkoinquiry.org/report">according to the official British inquiry</a>, was “probably” approved by Putin personally.</p>
<p>Putin’s well of ruthlessness runs deep, and he has not hidden his willingness to engage in “wet affairs” – such as murders, kidnapping or sabotage. It would be self-defeating to keep his readiness for vengeance secret: it’s a message he wants those Russians who may get grassroots political inspiration from the protests over the border in Belarus to hear. </p>
<p>When asked about specific killings, Putin routinely evades such questions as deftly as a talented spy evades surveillance. But when speaking in general terms, Putin has been clear. <a href="https://www.globalsecurity.org/intell/world/russia/fsb-wet.htm">Globalsecurity.org</a> and others quoted the Russian leader as threatening that “traitors will kick the bucket, trust me”, after Skripal was released in a spy swap in 2010.</p>
<p>Given the melding of leader with state, Putin has increasingly characterised personal disloyalty as a threat to the Russian state. So although former intelligence turncoats are frequent targets of Putin’s vengeance, victims also include journalists and political rivals, particularly those who investigate, expose, and criticise corruption among Putin and his inner circle. Navalny’s apparently <a href="https://theconversation.com/alexei-navalny-suspected-poisoning-why-opposition-figure-stands-out-in-russian-politics-144836">effective efforts to organise legitimate opposition</a> through the ballot box would be intolerable for any autocrat who is unsure how to govern without complete control. </p>
<h2>Soviet poisoning playbook</h2>
<p>Although poisoning is arguably the most dramatic form of Russian state-sponsored murder, outspoken Putin critics have been assassinated with more pedestrian means: in politician <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-31669061">Boris Nemtsov’s case</a>, four bullets in the back in February 2015. Likewise, Russian investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/oct/05/ten-years-putin-press-kremlin-grip-russia-media-tightens">was shot on October 7 2006</a> – also Putin’s birthday – in her Moscow apartment building. Such killings could be cynically attributed to unfortunate street crime in a case of implausible denial, but Novichok leaves no room for doubt.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/novichok-how-are-victims-surviving-poisoning-145574">Novichok: how are victims surviving poisoning?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Perceived enemies of the Russian state, like the Soviet Union before it, have met their ends in a dizzying variety of gruesome ways, but why does the fascination with poison endure? There are tactical and strategic considerations. An assassin cannot expect a clean getaway after shooting a pedestrian on Waterloo Bridge in London, but a puncture wound with a <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/av/magazine-37376130">ricin-tipped umbrella</a> would suffice, as in the case of Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov’s assassination by Soviet intelligence in 1978. </p>
<p>Today, Soviet-created Novichok has replaced <a href="https://theconversation.com/handle-with-care-the-worlds-five-deadliest-poisons-56089">ricin</a>. It offers the assassin advantages such as stealth and time for escape. It can be administered by exposure to everyday items such as doorknobs or tea. It appears in a sleepy city like Salisbury, as in the case of Skripal, or on Navalny’s flight from Siberia.</p>
<p>Additionally, a poison victim suffers, often publicly, yielding strategic effects. The photographs of the pitiable Litvinenko, hairless, gaunt, suffering in his hospital bed, grimly underscored the intended message. While any thug can murder with a gun, Soviet and subsequently Russian leaders have made assassination into a dramatic art form. The use of exotic poisons shows that confrontations with power are not a battle between two people, but rather bring the full resources of the state to bear against an individual, framing the situation as hopeless and futile. Poison evokes fear that you are never safe, never out of reach.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HWMmySJZIME?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<h2>Choppy waters</h2>
<p>Putin is a standard-bearer, rather than a pioneer in the long history of Russian political assassination. Still, the brazenness of an unambiguous assassination attempt on a figure like Navalny, and the political circumstances in Minsk, matter. They can be interpreted as the act of a leader whose hand may be feeling unsteady on the rudder of the ship of state. </p>
<p>At the same time, however, <a href="https://theconversation.com/vladimir-putin-secures-constitutional-changes-allowing-him-to-rule-until-2036-what-this-means-for-russia-141103">recent Russian constitutional reforms</a> have erased any line between leader and the state, and may give Putin the confidence to deal even more harshly with opponents. But this expanded power has not offered more tools to deal with, or co-opt, the most vocal opponents. Those who cannot be bribed must be intimidated. Those who cannot be intimidated must be silenced. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/belarus-what-role-could-russia-play-in-alexander-lukashenkos-future-144701">Belarus: what role could Russia play in Alexander Lukashenko's future?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>If Putin has successfully manipulated the political process to make himself president for life, the coronavirus has been less cooperative in bending to his will. Claims of a <a href="https://theconversation.com/russian-coronavirus-vaccine-results-have-been-published-heres-what-they-reveal-145636">successful COVID-19 vaccine</a> notwithstanding, Russia’s ineffective response to the pandemic has laid bare the inadequacy of the regime. With the economic consequences of the pandemic and the oil crisis, combined with general Russian <a href="https://theconversation.com/ahead-of-constitutional-reform-vote-two-thirds-of-young-russians-think-vladimir-putin-should-step-back-from-power-141306">Putin fatigue</a>, opposition to Putin is <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-09-09/russia-elections-will-navalny-s-poisoning-spur-the-protest-vote">likely to expand</a>. </p>
<p>Given Putin’s apparent legal impunity, his need to distract from state failures and corruption, and disconcerting Belorussian anti-authoritarian protests on his doorstep, it’s hard to imagine Putin losing his taste for the loathsome theatre of political assassination.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/145664/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Frey does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. This analysis does not represent any official United States Government or Department of Defense position. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Gioe does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. This analysis does not represent any official United States Government or Department of Defense position.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael S Goodman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Vladimir Putin is a standard-bearer, rather than a pioneer in the history of Soviet and Russian political assassination.
Michael S Goodman, Professor of Intelligence and International Affairs, King's College London
David Frey, Director Center Holocaust and Genocide Studies, United States Military Academy West Point
David Gioe, Associate Professor of History, United States Military Academy West Point
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/145013
2020-08-25T09:40:27Z
2020-08-25T09:40:27Z
What is the chemical agent that was reportedly used to poison Russian politician Alexei Navalny?
<p>The medical evacuation of Alexei Navalny, the outspoken political critic of Vladimir Putin who was allegedly poisoned last week, has shed more light on his illness.</p>
<p>The Charité – Universitätsmedizin hospital in Berlin said in <a href="https://www.charite.de/en/service/press_reports/artikel/detail/statement_by_charite_clinical_findings_indicate_alexei_navalny_was_poisoned/">a statement</a> yesterday:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The patient is being treated in intensive care and remains in a medically induced coma. While his condition is serious, it is not currently life-threatening. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Notably, the hospital states he was poisoned by “a substance from the group of cholinesterase inhibitors”. But what are these, and how can this sort of poisoning be treated?</p>
<h2>From pesticides to weapons-grade chemicals</h2>
<p>Cholinesterase inhibitors, also called anticholinesterases, are a broad group of chemical agents.</p>
<p>They include many everyday pesticides such as organophosphate and carbamate compounds, which the <a href="https://apvma.gov.au/node/892">Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority</a> regulates in Australia.</p>
<p>They also include more exotic weapons-grade chemicals such as <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5754388/pdf/11419_2017_Article_376.pdf">sarin</a>, which was deployed in Syria, and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278691518306598">novichok</a>, reportedly used to poison two Russian expatriates in Salisbury, UK, in 2018. </p>
<p>In this form, these chemicals are often collectively referred to as “<a href="https://militaryhealth.bmj.com/content/jramc/148/4/344.full.pdf">nerve agents</a>”.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Red bottles of weed killer on store shelf." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/354528/original/file-20200825-15-9y4mf5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/354528/original/file-20200825-15-9y4mf5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/354528/original/file-20200825-15-9y4mf5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/354528/original/file-20200825-15-9y4mf5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/354528/original/file-20200825-15-9y4mf5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/354528/original/file-20200825-15-9y4mf5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/354528/original/file-20200825-15-9y4mf5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Cholinesterase inhibitors aren’t all chemical weapons — they can include everyday pesticides.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>First developed in Germany in the <a href="https://cen.acs.org/articles/94/i41/Nazi-origins-deadly-nerve-gases.html">lead-up to World War II</a>, nerve agents are several times more potent, and therefore dangerous, than organophosphate or carbamate pesticides. They’re banned under the <a href="https://cen.acs.org/policy/chemical-weapons/New-nerve-pop%20agents-added-Chemical-Weapons-Convention/97/web/2019/12">Chemical Weapons Convention</a>. </p>
<p>These chemicals can cause harm through simple contact or inhalation, in minuscule quantities. Some reports suggest Navalny was poisoned via <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/24/alexei-navalny-was-probably-poisoned-says-germany">a cup of tea</a>, which would also be effective. </p>
<p>It’s no exaggeration to say this group represents the most lethal chemicals humans have ever created.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/alexei-navalny-has-long-been-a-fierce-critic-of-the-kremlin-if-he-was-poisoned-why-now-and-what-does-it-mean-144847">Alexei Navalny has long been a fierce critic of the Kremlin. If he was poisoned, why now? And what does it mean?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>How do they make people sick?</h2>
<p>Cholinesterase inhibitors work by blocking an enzyme called <a href="https://academic.oup.com/bjaed/article/4/5/164/291028">acetylcholinesterase</a>. </p>
<p>Under normal circumstances, acetylcholinesterase regulates the amount of a neurotransmitter called acetylcholine (ACh) that crosses our nerve junctions (or synapses), converting electrical signals through the body.</p>
<p>ACh acts mainly on the body’s autonomic (involuntary) nervous system, which controls fundamental functions such as heart rate, breathing rate, salivation and digestion. It’s a crucial neurotransmitter.</p>
<p>Left unregulated, the effect of cholinesterase inhibitors is a little bit like blocking one of the major “off-switches” of the body. You’re left with all the lights turned “on” and the body quickly runs into trouble.</p>
<p>A rapid build-up of ACh at the nerve junctions leads to the effects we tend to see in nerve agent toxicity, including mucus secretions from the respiratory and digestive tracts, breathing problems, and muscle dysfunction. </p>
<p>Ultimately, death is usually a result of respiratory failure.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1297913724393656322"}"></div></p>
<h2>How can this poisoning be treated?</h2>
<p>It is possible to treat nerve agent poisoning, with a combination of physical and pharmacological interventions. But it is dangerous, and difficult.</p>
<p>Initially, decontamination is critical. Poisoning continues as long as contact with the agent continues, and there’s a risk of contamination for those providing medical care. </p>
<p>Significant exposure will invariably require intubation and mechanical ventilation. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.charite.de/en/service/press_reports/artikel/detail/statement_by_charite_clinical_findings_indicate_alexei_navalny_was_poisoned/">German hospital</a> reports Navalny is currently being treated with atropine. Atropine is used to bind to and blanket ACh receptors, rendering the circulating excess of these neurotransmitters less hazardous.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-alexei-navalny-revolutionized-opposition-politics-in-russia-before-his-apparent-poisoning-144830">How Alexei Navalny revolutionized opposition politics in Russia, before his apparent poisoning</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What’s the poison?</h2>
<p>Health workers can detect whether or not someone has been exposed to harmful cholinesterase inhibitors by taking urine and blood samples.</p>
<p>But as time passes, and the toxin is secreted in the urine, it becomes more difficult to identify exactly what type of cholinesterase inhibitor was the culprit.</p>
<p>The “ghosts” of the poisoning — incapacitated acetylcholinesterase enzymes — are detectable for a longer time, but it can be very hard to link these in isolation to a specific agent.</p>
<p>Depending on the toxicity of the agent, how much was used, how long patients were exposed, and how they were exposed, enzyme levels can start to return to normal from several days to several weeks after exposure.</p>
<p>The person’s health will improve, but often not back to normal. An <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Chen-Chang_Yang/publication/5783827_Intermediate_Syndrome_Following_Organophosphate_Insecticide_Poisoning/links/0c96051c1020f0a140000000/Intermediate-Syndrome-Following-Organophosphate-Insecticide-Poisoning.pdf?origin=publication_detail">intermediate syndrome</a> can last for weeks, and people affected describe this as very debilitating.</p>
<h2>A history of exotic poisonings</h2>
<p>Critics of the Russian regime and their affiliates seem to have a higher than average chance of succumbing to exotic poisons, compared with the general population. </p>
<p>In 2004, the then Ukrainian president <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140673609609120?via%3Dihub">Viktor Yushchenko</a> was poisoned with a chemical called TCDD-dioxin, and left with facial disfigurement. </p>
<p>In 2006 <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1361-6498/aa58a7">Alexander Litvinenko</a>, a defected ex-FSB agent, was poisoned with radioactive isotope polonium-210.</p>
<p>The attempts on the lives of the Skripal family in Salisbury, with the agent generally assumed to be <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278691518306598">novichok</a>, has probably been the highest-profile poisoning in recent years.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/alexei-navalny-suspected-poisoning-why-opposition-figure-stands-out-in-russian-politics-144836">Alexei Navalny suspected poisoning: why opposition figure stands out in Russian politics</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In the case of Navalny, it’s very unlikely the specific agent used will ever be proven. But his case does share common ground with these others.</p>
<p>To assume all of these attempts were necessarily at the personal behest of the Russian leader is probably too long a bow to draw. But it would be reasonable to assume someone in an inner coterie was involved each time — if only to access such sophisticated weapons of assassination.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/145013/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Caldicott has received funding from the NH&MRC.
He is the Clinical Lead for Pill Testing Australia.
</span></em></p>
We’ve heard anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny was poisoned with something called a ‘cholinesterase inhibitor’. Here’s what that means.
David Caldicott, Emergency Medicine Consultant, Australian National University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/144847
2020-08-21T04:54:31Z
2020-08-21T04:54:31Z
Alexei Navalny has long been a fierce critic of the Kremlin. If he was poisoned, why now? And what does it mean?
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/354013/original/file-20200821-22-14pm8mt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sergey Ponomarev/AP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The headlines are grim. Alexei Navalny, a key leader of the Russian opposition, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-53844958">is currently fighting for his life</a> in a coma after allegedly being poisoned in Siberia. </p>
<p>A medical team from Germany is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/21/alexei-navalny-plane-leaves-germany-to-transport-putin-critic-after-suspected-poisoning">en route to the hospital</a> today to transport Navalny to Berlin for treatment.</p>
<p>Navalny, who has been the victim of numerous attacks over the years, was <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-politics-navalny-comment/my-death-wouldnt-help-putin-kremlin-critics-parting-remark-idUSKBN25G216">reportedly asked</a> by a group of supporters in the city of Tomsk a day before he became ill why he wasn’t dead yet. According to one supporter,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>He replied that it wouldn’t be beneficial for Putin. That it would lead to him being turned into a hero.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Who is Alexei Navalny?</h2>
<p>Navalny is a key leader of the Russian opposition. Just 44 years old, he is a Moscovite lawyer who originally made his name as an anti-corruption blogger. </p>
<p>He then transformed his social media activism into a crowd-funded, anti-corruption organisation — the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Corruption_Foundation">Anti-Corruption Foundation</a> — that frequently releases slickly produced YouTube videos and reports detailing the high-level corruption in the Russian government. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tpmZJG6sF_w?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>He openly opposes President Vladimir Putin, famously calling the ruling United Russia party the “<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/04/more-than-half-of-russians-say-putins-party-are-crooks-and-thieves/275398/">party of crooks and thieves</a>”. He also <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/09/alexei-navalny-recount-moscow-election">ran for mayor of Moscow</a> in 2013, and <a href="https://apnews.com/147dd51bc6c04107901952fe89dd13f2">attempted to challenge</a> Putin for the presidency in 2018, but was <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-42479909">ruled ineligible</a> due to a corruption conviction that was widely seen as politically motivated. </p>
<p>To support his political movement, Navalny has built a large network of offices around Russia and currently leads the (still unregistered) political party “<a href="https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-navalny-new-political-party/29237240.html">Russia of the Future</a>.”</p>
<p>He is not without controversy. His political views have been criticised by some in Moscow’s famously fractious opposition community, particularly his <a href="https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2014/10/16/navalny-wouldnt-return-crimea-considers-immigration-bigger-issue-than-ukraine-a40477">support of the annexation of Crimea</a> and <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/5-things-you-need-to-know-about-alexei-navalny/?utm_source=RSS_Feed&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS_Syndication">his ties to Russian nationalists</a>. </p>
<p>But there is little question his views and activism have earned him the attention of the authorities. He has been jailed on administrative charges numerous times and his <a href="https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2018/06/29/navalny-brother-free-3-5-years-prison-a62047">brother was sent to prison</a> for three years. He also has endured frequent police searches and had <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/05/02/alexei-navalny-accuses-kremlin-involvement-green-dye-attack/">green dye thrown on his face</a>, damaging his vision. </p>
<p>In recent months, there has been an escalation in the authorities’ attacks against him. In July, he was <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-politics-navalny/kremlin-critic-navalny-says-fines-force-him-to-close-anti-corruption-foundation-idUSKCN24L1KZ">forced to announce</a> he would shut down his Anti-Corruption Foundation due to hefty fines. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/354014/original/file-20200821-20-8wl06m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/354014/original/file-20200821-20-8wl06m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/354014/original/file-20200821-20-8wl06m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/354014/original/file-20200821-20-8wl06m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/354014/original/file-20200821-20-8wl06m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/354014/original/file-20200821-20-8wl06m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/354014/original/file-20200821-20-8wl06m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A woman holding a sign saying ‘Navalny was poisoned’ at a protest in St. Petersburg.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">ANATOLY MALTSEV/EPA</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Amid all this activism, however, Navalny’s <a href="https://www.instagram.com/navalny/?hl=en">social media accounts</a> are remarkably light-hearted and normal, often featuring pictures of him spending time with his family or jogging in his local Moscow park. </p>
<p>There is little question, therefore, that he is a key representative of a new generation of Russians who are not afraid to criticise the state and, after almost a century of nightmarish upheavals, want to finally live in a “normal country.” </p>
<p>A key part of this normality is reorienting Russia away from its backward-looking, post-imperial, Cold War posturing to become a forward-looking country focused on building better schools, infrastructure and health care. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/putin-for-life-many-russians-may-desire-leadership-change-but-dont-see-a-viable-alternative-133431">Putin for life? Many Russians may desire leadership change, but don't see a viable alternative</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Putin facing numerous challenges</h2>
<p>The alleged Navalny poisoning takes place at a sensitive time for Putin and the Kremlin. Since the 2018 election, Putin’s popularity has been on the decline, hitting an <a href="https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2020/05/06/putins-approval-rating-drops-to-historic-low-poll-a70199">all-time low</a> of 59% in May, according to an independent polling agency. </p>
<p>The coronavirus pandemic has accelerated this drop as the virus has <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-05-19/how-vladimir-putin-s-russia-bungled-the-coronavirus">exposed</a> the poor health care infrastructure across the country. This “Putin fatigue” has been most recently on show in the Russian Far East, where the Kremlin’s decision to jail the elected governor <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/25/huge-anti-kremlin-protests-erupt-in-russias-far-east">triggered massive protests</a> just last month.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/354015/original/file-20200821-14-1rbrgd3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/354015/original/file-20200821-14-1rbrgd3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/354015/original/file-20200821-14-1rbrgd3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/354015/original/file-20200821-14-1rbrgd3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/354015/original/file-20200821-14-1rbrgd3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/354015/original/file-20200821-14-1rbrgd3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/354015/original/file-20200821-14-1rbrgd3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Thousands have protested against Putin in the Russian Far East city of Khabarovsk in recent weeks.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Igor Volkov/AP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Kremlin has responded to this flagging popularity with a large, <a href="https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/five-things-to-know-about-russia-s-constitutional-amendments">stage-managed constitutional amendment</a> process that seeks to renew support for Putin and the regime. </p>
<p>There has also been a growing crackdown against critics of the government, including a <a href="https://echo.msk.ru/blog/rumyantsev/2693671-echo/">purge of leading constitutional law professors</a> at one of Moscow’s most prestigious universities.</p>
<p>To add to this, a <a href="https://theconversation.com/belarus-explained-how-europes-last-dictator-could-fall-144711">massive protest movement</a> has broken out in neighbouring Belarus — one of Russia’s most stalwart allies — over claims President Alexander Lukashenko rigged the recent election. More than <a href="https://www.voanews.com/europe/hundreds-thousands-march-belarus">200,000 people marched</a> last week demanding Lukashenko’s resignation.</p>
<p>This protest movement has galvanised many young Russians, who want similar changes in Russia. It has also likely sparked fear within the Kremlin, where the country’s leaders view mass protest as an existential threat to their control of the Russian political system.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/354016/original/file-20200821-16-1i50s7n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/354016/original/file-20200821-16-1i50s7n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/354016/original/file-20200821-16-1i50s7n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/354016/original/file-20200821-16-1i50s7n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/354016/original/file-20200821-16-1i50s7n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=531&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/354016/original/file-20200821-16-1i50s7n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=531&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/354016/original/file-20200821-16-1i50s7n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=531&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Lukashenko has made urgent calls to Putin to intervene in Belarus’ protests and help keep him in power.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mikhail Klimentyev</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Who could have poisoned Navalny?</h2>
<p>Given this context, it is not clear who is responsible for the alleged poisoning of Navalny. </p>
<p>If it does turn out to be a poisoning, it certainly fits a larger pattern of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/20/world/europe/navalny-poison-russia-kremlin.html">suspicious “illnesses”</a> suffered by individuals seen to be a threat to the Russian state. </p>
<p>The best-known examples include the likely use of Novichok nerve agent by Russian security services to <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-48801205">poison Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia</a> in Salisbury, UK, in 2018. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/belarus-explained-how-europes-last-dictator-could-fall-144711">Belarus, explained: How Europe's last dictator could fall</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>And there are less well-known examples of suspected domestic poisonings. That same year, a key member of the opposition art group Pussy Riot — Pyotr Verzilov — was also <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/we-now-know-more-about-the-apparent-poisoning-of-the-pussy-riot-member-pyotr-verzilov">apparently poisoned</a>.</p>
<p>Although making Navalny a martyr certainly <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/08/20/why-putin-might-be-hoping-navalny-survives-his-poisoning/">does not seem to help the Kremlin at this point</a>, it is also possible the attack involved rogue elements of the Russian security state who were threatened by Navalny’s anti-corruption exposes. As one commentator in the UK <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/08/20/navalny-poison-riddle-points-toxic-kremlin-politics/">put it</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>What is more frightening, a state that kills, or a state that can’t control the killers?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>If it does turn out to be a poisoning, we are unlikely to ever get definitive answers of who ordered the attack. But it does send a chilling message to those who criticise the current regime. And it is a sad reminder to the next generation of Russians that they do not (yet) live in a “normal country.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/144847/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>William Partlett does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Navalny has long been targeted by the authorities for his work exposing corruption among Russian officials. But making him a martyr does not seem to help the Kremlin at this point.
William Partlett, Associate Professor, The University of Melbourne
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/125337
2020-02-04T10:26:53Z
2020-02-04T10:26:53Z
Carbon monoxide poisons thousands every year – and there are no good treatments
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305900/original/file-20191209-90557-1bi9p2d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=5%2C348%2C3747%2C1856&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/confirm/104381117?src=57cd42cc-ea50-45cb-afe4-a3406b643358-2-5&size=huge_jpg">Sinelev/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Carbon monoxide is an undetectable yet lethal gas, often produced by incomplete combustion of carbon-based fuels, such as coal, gas and wood. It kills about <a href="https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Carbon-monoxide-poisoning/">60 people a year in the UK</a>, according to the NHS. </p>
<p>Although statistics on unintentional exposure to carbon monoxide are hard to come by, about <a href="https://www.headway.org.uk/about-brain-injury/individuals/types-of-brain-injury/carbon-monoxide-poisoning/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI-bzVm_uo5wIVAbDtCh3k3wqzEAAYASAAEgLR2fD_BwE">4,000 people are thought to attend A&E each year</a> as a result of exposure to the gas. The true figure is probably much higher because the symptoms of exposure to the gas aren’t specific.</p>
<p>There is no antidote for carbon monoxide poisoning, nor is there any treatment for injury caused by exposure. </p>
<p>One of the ways that carbon monoxide causes harm is by combining with a protein called haemoglobin in red blood cells to form carboxyhaemoglobin. This prevents the blood from carrying oxygen and prevents the tissues from using oxygen effectively, so people with carbon monoxide poisoning are essentially at risk of suffocation. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/312570/original/file-20200129-92969-1gqnmwl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/312570/original/file-20200129-92969-1gqnmwl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/312570/original/file-20200129-92969-1gqnmwl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/312570/original/file-20200129-92969-1gqnmwl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/312570/original/file-20200129-92969-1gqnmwl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/312570/original/file-20200129-92969-1gqnmwl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/312570/original/file-20200129-92969-1gqnmwl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Patient in a hyperbaric chamber.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperbaric_medicine#/media/File:HyperBaric_Oxygen_Therapy_Chamber_2008.jpg">James Heilman/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Not the whole picture</h2>
<p>But the formation of carboxyhaemoglobin is only a part of the picture – carbon monoxide also binds to other proteins in the body. The binding of carbon monoxide and haemoglobin begins to be reversed once the person is removed from the source of the gas, but the binding to other proteins can take longer. Also, carbon monoxide exposure causes an immune response and inflammation and so has a direct toxic effect on cells as a result. It is, in effect, a multifactorial poison. </p>
<p>Carbon monoxide exposure <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/bmj/365/bmj.l2299.full.pdf">can cause harm</a> whether people are exposed to high concentrations over a short period or low concentrations over a long period. Either method of exposure can lead to long-term health problems, <a href="https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/779017?src=trendmd_pilot">including neurological complications</a>, such as difficulties with memory and attention, as well as psychological and emotional problems. </p>
<p>Further difficulty exists because we can only measure carboxyhaemoglobin from blood samples. There are no other biomarkers that doctors can use to measure the existence and extent of carbon monoxide exposure. And any long-term health problems from exposure <a href="https://oem.bmj.com/content/59/10/708">don’t necessarily correlate with carboxyhaemoglobin levels</a>. </p>
<p>Also, even the measurement of carboxyhaemoglobin is complicated by how much time has elapsed between removing the person from the source of exposure and testing for the presence of carboxyhaemoglobin. Two minutes from removal to testing has been <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26563790">suggested as optimal</a>, meaning that the diagnosis of carbon monoxide exposure may be missed altogether while harm from that exposure may still be significant but not immediately apparent.</p>
<p>Hyperbaric oxygen therapy has been thought to prevent some of the undesirable effects of carbon monoxide exposure and lessen the risk of further damage, as it is comparatively quicker at removing carboxyhaemoglobin than standard oxygen therapy. But its practical application has been limited by the time between diagnosis and treatment. </p>
<p>A Cochrane review (the gold standard for reviewing medical evidence) <a href="https://www.cochrane.org/CD002041/INJ_there-is-insufficient-evidence-to-support-the-use-of-hyperbaric-oxygen-for-treatment-of-patients-with-carbon-monoxide-poisoning">also failed to find enough evidence</a> to support the use of hyperbaric oxygen therapy for carbon monoxide exposure. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is <a href="https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Carbon-monoxide-poisoning/">no longer used by the NHS</a>. </p>
<h2>Light relief</h2>
<p>Recent research in animals investigated a way of clearing the gas from the bloodstream using visible light (photo) therapy, <a href="https://www.atsjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1164/rccm.201503-0609OC">which is known to disconnect carbon monoxide from haemoglobin</a>. The researchers involved in this study treated carbon monoxide exposure in mice by applying phototherapy directly to their lungs. As a result, carboxyhaemoglobin was lowered as the phototherapy removed the carbon monoxide from the haemoglobin and also doubled the rate of elimination of carbon monoxide from the bodies of the mice. The mice could exhale an increased quantity of carbon monoxide from their lungs, because of the phototherapy, when compared with the control group of mice which did not receive the phototherapy.</p>
<p>Another treatment, invented in the US in the 1970s, is called extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). An ECMO machine is similar to the heart-lung bypass machine used in open heart surgery. Large cannulas (tubes) drain blood from the body. The machine then oxygenates the blood, removing carbon dioxide from haemoglobin. Used to treat many kinds of respiratory and cardiac problems in children and adults, <a href="http://rc.rcjournal.com/content/60/9/e155">ECMO has also been used to treat carbon monoxide exposure</a>. </p>
<p>However, ECMO is a complicated procedure and not an easy treatment for a sick person to endure. It is highly invasive and carries the <a href="https://www.annalsthoracicsurgery.org/article/S0003-4975%2813%2902005-5/pdf">risk of significant complications</a>, requires the person receiving it to be ventilated and sedated, and is usually reserved for those very sick people who would not survive without it. It is usually only used when there are no alternatives. </p>
<p>These early-stage treatments offer hope for those affected by carbon monoxide, and future research in these areas may see some important breakthroughs in alleviating the harm that is caused. This is encouraging; we can decrease our vulnerability to death and injury by increasing our knowledge. But these deaths and injuries across the world are often caused just by heating our homes and cooking our food and are almost always entirely preventable. </p>
<p>My primary area of research is with those who have survived exposure. In many cases, these people’s lives have been devastated and utterly fragmented by the experience. Any treatment that eased their suffering would be most welcome.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/125337/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julie Connolly receives funding from th Gas Safety Trust. </span></em></p>
Could we treat carbon monoxide poisoning with light?
Julie Connolly, Senior Lecturer in Health and Social Care, Liverpool John Moores University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/124169
2019-10-02T20:03:40Z
2019-10-02T20:03:40Z
Here’s what happened when codeine was made prescription only. No, the sky didn’t fall in
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/295175/original/file-20191002-101447-15o2pee.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C13%2C998%2C652&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">When people went to their GP asking for painkillers, they weren't prescribed higher doses of codeine or stronger opioids, as some feared.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/british-gp-talking-senior-woman-surgery-98521166?src=CyaCbhqZljZiIOusQJyLog-1-11">from www.shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Fears switching the painkiller codeine to a prescription only medicine would lead to more people misusing stronger painkillers are unfounded, according to research published today.</p>
<p>Our research, in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/add.14798">Addiction</a>, found the 2018 switch resulted in a 50% drop in codeine overdoses and sales. There was also no increase in overdoses with stronger opioids or high strength codeine, as some had feared.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/trust-me-im-an-expert-the-science-of-pain-91907">Trust Me I'm An Expert: The science of pain</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Remind me again, how did we get here?</h2>
<p>Australia has a love affair with codeine. It has historically been our <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26781123">most used opioid</a>, and 2013 data showed we <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26690771">took more codeine</a> as a country than the USA, despite having roughly 7% the population.</p>
<p>However, from <a href="https://www.tga.gov.au/codeine-info-hub">February 2018</a>, you could only buy codeine in Australia with a prescription. Before then, you could buy low strength codeine (up to 15mg per tablet) in combination with paracetamol, ibuprofen and aspirin over-the-counter (OTC) at pharmacies. Higher strength codeine has always required a prescription.</p>
<p>The 2018 change was not an overnight decision. Codeine has been on the government’s radar for <a href="https://ris.pmc.gov.au/sites/default/files/posts/2017/02/codeine_re-scheduling_ris.pdf">over a decade</a>; the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) set up a codeine working party in 2008 in response to increasing misuse. Codeine is an opioid analgesic, meaning people can become dependent on it, and there is a risk of harm from overdose.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-making-codeine-products-prescription-only-is-a-good-idea-34745">Why making codeine products prescription-only is a good idea</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>There was also an <a href="https://ris.pmc.gov.au/sites/default/files/posts/2017/02/codeine_re-scheduling_ris.pdf">earlier attempt at reducing harm</a> when in 2010, all codeine painkillers were moved behind the counter at pharmacies. Before that, the lower strength products could be picked up off the pharmacy shelf without consulting a pharmacist.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27177599">our previous study</a> showed this move to stocking codeine behind the counter had little impact. Other studies also showed that <a href="https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2015/203/7/trends-and-characteristics-accidental-and-intentional-codeine-overdose-deaths">deaths from codeine continued to increase</a>. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/getmedia/15db8c15-7062-4cde-bfa4-3c2079f30af3/21028a.pdf.aspx?inline=true">2016 National Drug Strategy Household Survey</a> reported codeine available from behind the counter at a pharmacy was the most misused legal opioid in Australia and misuse was particularly common in adolescents. </p>
<p>This left the TGA with little choice but to bring Australia in line with most other countries that restrict codeine to prescription only. The TGA announced the change in <a href="https://www.tga.gov.au/scheduling-decision-final/scheduling-delegates-final-decision-codeine-december-2016">December 2016</a> following a lengthy consultation, and the change took effect on February 1, 2018.</p>
<h2>Not everyone was happy</h2>
<p>The announcement <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/dar.12568">divided community and health-care professional groups</a>. <a href="https://www.pulseitmagazine.com.au/news/australian-ehealth/2770-rescheduling-otc-codeine-could-cost-316m-a-year-guild">Pharmacy organisations</a> opposed the change, whereas <a href="https://www1.racgp.org.au/newsgp/professional/gps-criticise-pharmacy-guild-on-codeine-rescheduli">GPs were in favour</a>. </p>
<p>There were also fears the change would lead to a <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29699742">massive burden on GPs</a> as patients came to request codeine.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/three-claims-used-to-justify-pulling-codeine-from-sale-without-a-prescription-and-why-theyre-wrong-87257">Three claims used to justify pulling codeine from sale without a prescription, and why they're wrong</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Some people were concerned the move would drive people to use <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-11/panadeine-shortage-pushing-patients-onto-stronger-painkillers/9741946">higher strength codeine</a>. This was because people wanting codeine would need to see their doctor, so they might request the stronger products that had always been prescription only. <a href="https://www.tga.gov.au/scheduling-submission/public-submissions-scheduling-matters-referred-acms17-march-2016-codeine">There was also concern</a> the change would push people towards even stronger painkillers, like oxycodone and morphine. </p>
<h2>What happened next?</h2>
<p>In our work at the <a href="https://www.poisonsinfo.nsw.gov.au/">NSW Poisons Information Centre</a> we get hundreds of calls about opioid overdoses every month. So we were keen to evaluate whether the change in codeine availability affected the number of overdoses. We, like others, were also worried there might also be unintended consequences of the change in its availability.</p>
<p>In the year after the change, we saw a 51% drop in codeine poisonings overall. This mainly affected low strength preparations (the category no longer available without prescription), where poisonings dropped by 79%. </p>
<p>There was no increase in poisonings with high strength codeine or other opioids. Similarly, sales data showed overall use of codeine dropped by almost 50%, with use of low strength codeine most affected, dropping by 87%. Again, there was no increase in use of high strength codeine.</p>
<h2>Your genetics are also important</h2>
<p>Concerns over misuse and addiction were not the sole reason behind the change in codeine availability. A person’s response to codeine is <a href="https://theconversation.com/weekly-dose-codeine-doesnt-work-for-some-people-and-works-too-well-for-others-58067">determined by their genes</a>, specifically a gene that codes for the enzyme CYP2D6. This enzyme activates codeine by converting it to morphine in the body. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/weekly-dose-codeine-doesnt-work-for-some-people-and-works-too-well-for-others-58067">Weekly Dose: codeine doesn't work for some people, and works too well for others</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>So, depending on their DNA, some people don’t get any effect from codeine, some get a “normal” effect, while others find it toxic at what is normally considered a safe dose. </p>
<p>The latter is the most dangerous scenario, and has resulted in <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28520350">several deaths</a>. This has included a <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17872605">newborn baby</a> who died after their mother had a normal dose of codeine for pain after childbirth. The mother was later found to have the gene that results in excessive codeine activation, and a lethal dose of morphine was transmitted to her baby in her breast milk. </p>
<p>Even if the misuse problems disappeared overnight, people who advocated codeine be available only by prescription argued that a medicine with such a variable effect should only be available after seeing a doctor.</p>
<h2>How about unintended consequences of the codeine switch?</h2>
<p>Future research needs to look into possible unintended consequences of the change in codeine availability.</p>
<p>For instance, people may have switched to simple analgesics, like paracetamol and ibuprofen. These don’t have the same potential to be abused, are generally safer, and are <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21257263">more effective</a> than low-strength codeine products. Yet they can still be toxic when overdosed.</p>
<p>Our research didn’t look at whether the codeine switch led to more people using paracetamol or ibuprofen, or were harmed by them.</p>
<h2>Limiting availability works</h2>
<p>Prescription drug misuse and overdoses are problems that are very much <a href="https://www.nps.org.au/australian-prescriber/articles/pharmaceutical-drug-misuse-in-australia">driven by drug availability</a>. And when the availability of other medicines in Australia and internationally have been restricted, we’ve seen the benefits, namely reductions in misuse and poisoning.</p>
<p>This has happened with the opioid painkillers <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20407028">tramadol</a>, <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2484293">hydrocodone</a> and <a href="https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2013/199/4/trials-and-tribulations-removal-dextropropoxyphene-australian-register">dextropropoxyphene</a>; and the benzodiazepine <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2530900">alprazolam</a>.</p>
<p>Our study shows a good example of how effective simple strategies can be in tackling opioid misuse. Codeine is just one small piece of the puzzle, and we would like to see further investment and a systematic strategy to address causes of the <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/DetailsPage/3303.02018?OpenDocument">rise in fatal poisonings</a> from prescription drugs in the past decade.</p>
<p>We would like to see a National Centre for Poisoning Research set up, which would bring together and support existing and new researchers. This would focus on preventing and managing poisoning, to provide a national response to this clinical and public health problem.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/124169/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rose Cairns receives funding from the NHMRC for suicide prevention research. She has previously been an associate investigator on an untied educational grant from Seqirus to study tapentadol misuse (this funder had no role in the current study).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicholas Buckley has received funding from the NHMRC to support research into poisoning prevention.</span></em></p>
When codeine became a prescription only drug in 2018, the number of overdoses dropped, our new research shows. But restricting sales of codeine is only one way to reduce harm from opioids.
Rose Cairns, Lecturer in Pharmacy, University of Sydney
Nicholas Buckley, Professor of Clinical Pharmacology, University of Sydney
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/103478
2018-09-20T12:21:03Z
2018-09-20T12:21:03Z
Low levels of carbon monoxide poisoning can be very difficult to spot – and can cause brain damage
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237286/original/file-20180920-129853-rh5upp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">shutterstock</span> </figcaption></figure><p>Carbon monoxide (CO), like many gases, cannot be detected by our human senses. We cannot see it, smell it or taste it. But unlike many gases, small amounts are extremely harmful to us.</p>
<p>In 2015 (the most recent year for which statistics are available), <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/causesofdeath/adhocs/006135numberofdeathsfromaccidentalcarbonmonoxidepoisoning">53 people</a> in the UK died from accidental carbon monoxide poisoning. This compares with 170 people <a href="https://www.cpsc.gov/Safety-Education/Safety-Education-Centers/Carbon-Monoxide-Information-Center/Carbon-Monoxide-Questions-and-Answers">in the US</a>. While this may not seem like a huge amount, deaths from carbon monoxide are largely preventable. There is, however, a general <a href="https://emj.bmj.com/content/19/5/386">lack of knowledge</a> about the dangers of carbon monoxide among both the general public and the scientific community.</p>
<h2>The symptoms</h2>
<p>We know the most about acute poisoning; we have some understanding of the wide range of symptoms and after effects that people who are poisoned in a single episode to a large amount of carbon monoxide suffer. But what we don’t know as much about are the effects of <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3404310/">poisoning at lower levels</a>, where people are exposed to smaller amounts of carbon monoxide, sometimes over a lengthy period, that do not trigger their carbon monoxide alarm. </p>
<p>Such people suffer nonspecific but significant symptoms. They may well have engaged with healthcare professionals, and had their symptoms investigated, but the nature of such symptoms do not lend themselves to a straightforward diagnosis once obvious physiological causes have been discounted.</p>
<p>The symptoms of <a href="https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/carbon-monoxide-poisoning/">acute</a> poisoning may include headache, stomach upsets, dizziness, drowsiness, confusion, and seizure, leading to coma and death. These are the cases that are <a href="https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/fit-fiddle-father-who-died-1318615">more likely to be reported</a> by the media. </p>
<p>Those of <a href="https://cks.nice.org.uk/carbon-monoxide-poisoning#!topicsummary">chronic</a> poisoning, meanwhile are variable, somewhat vague, and nonspecific. People report fatigue, flu-like symptoms, memory issues, musculoskeletal pain, motor disorders and emotional (affective) disorders, where they may be irritable, moody or depressed. These symptoms vary widely from person to person, for reasons as yet not fully understood, but are not necessarily connected to the amount of carbon monoxide to which they have been exposed.</p>
<h2>Fine – or dead</h2>
<p>Another aspect of the lack of knowledge about carbon monoxide concerns the aftermath of poisoning. Carbon monoxide is understood <a href="https://www.msdmanuals.com/en-gb/professional/injuries-poisoning/poisoning/carbon-monoxide-poisoning">to leave the blood quickly</a> once the person is away from the source of poisoning.</p>
<p>This is in line with the popular view of how we are poisoned, which is that the damage carbon monoxide causes results from oxygen starvation (hypoxia), as carbon monoxide binds with haemoglobin to form carboxyhaemoglobin. Oxygen cannot, therefore, be transported in to or out of the body’s organs and tissues. A person is essentially slowly suffocated.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237175/original/file-20180919-158240-je5ghf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237175/original/file-20180919-158240-je5ghf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237175/original/file-20180919-158240-je5ghf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237175/original/file-20180919-158240-je5ghf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237175/original/file-20180919-158240-je5ghf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237175/original/file-20180919-158240-je5ghf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237175/original/file-20180919-158240-je5ghf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Not enough houses are fitted with carbon monoxide alarms.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/carbon-monoxide-alarm-mounted-interior-wall-498076648?src=Fukg4QIpQZd7wTVqbVDfWg-1-2">Abimages/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This line of thinking means that the assumption that once the person is away from the carbon monoxide, recovery will commence, is easily made. But mechanisms of poisoning are more complicated. Hypoxia undoubtedly plays a significant role, as does what is known as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reperfusion_injury">reperfusion injury</a>, which is further damage caused when oxygen returns to tissues that have been previously starved. Carbon monoxide, however, also binds to proteins other than haemoglobin, and it is a toxin which is known to affect cellular respiration and causes an inflammatory response. The brain and the heart seem <a href="https://www.atsjournals.org/doi/full/10.1164/rccm.201606-1275CI">most susceptible to damage</a>. </p>
<p>People who have been poisoned may therefore suffer from neurological or cognitive deficits, psychological effects and cardiovascular issues. Cruelly, such symptoms may occur <a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2004-09/uopm-leo090304.php">weeks after initial poisoning</a> symptoms have abated, and for some people they will be permanent.</p>
<h2>Prolonged impact</h2>
<p>What also often remains unsaid but is crucial to consider is the emotional toll of poisoning. This is something that is evident from my ongoing research, which centres on collecting the accounts of those who have been affected by carbon monoxide poisoning. </p>
<p>One sufferer I’ve spoken to has had to change her career entirely, as she could no longer cope with the demands of running her own, previously very successful, business. A young teacher I met with struggles with hyperacuity, meaning that she has become extremely and painfully sensitive to all loud noises. Relationships can also be adversely affected, as people don’t have the same emotional behaviours, and memories are altered. A husband I spoke to completely forgot that his wife of 30 years had never liked drinking tea. It has a significant impact: people have to learn to live with what is in effect a <a href="https://www.headway.org.uk/about-brain-injury/individuals/types-of-brain-injury/carbon-monoxide-poisoning/carbon-monoxide-poisoning-symptoms-and-treatment/">brain injury</a>.</p>
<p>Such sufferers may not be able to communicate, work or perform their usual daily activities in the same way that they did before they were poisoned. Some of my participants had many months or even years of visiting GPs and having investigations, only to be told that there is nothing wrong to be found. It is natural, of course, for GPs to focus on the person in front of them, rather than that person’s environment. There is currently very little tailored support for people in this situation.</p>
<h2>Steps to take</h2>
<p>Carbon monoxide is common; our bodies generate very small, measurable <a href="https://www.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/japplphysiol.00174.2012">amounts</a>. Habitual tobacco users have higher quantities, but seemingly without the burdensome, nonspecific symptoms described here. In domestic settings, excess carbon monoxide is formed by the incomplete combustion of any carbon-based fuel; so any faulty heating or cooking appliance using gas, wood, coal or smokeless fuel, and so on, could be a risk. </p>
<p>Many homes in middle and low income countries rely on some sort of solid fuel for cooking, lighting and heating, with the result that significant quantities of carbon monoxide are released into the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3673244/">indoor environment</a>, although statistics are not always readily available for the burden of suffering that this causes.</p>
<p>In contrast, we know that <a href="https://www.staygassafe.co.uk/">one in six UK homes</a> are estimated to have a dangerous gas appliance. Gas appliances should ideally be serviced annually. This includes all of the mandatory safety <a href="https://www.gassaferegister.co.uk/help-and-advice/gas-safety-in-the-home/get-your-appliances-checked/">checks</a> and some manufacturer-specific checks to ensure that the gas is burning safely. </p>
<p>Carbon monoxide audible alarms and monitors also need to be in place, even in households that only use electricity as fuel, as carbon monoxide can travel between properties. Currently, less than half of <a href="http://www.hse.gov.uk/gas/domestic/index.htm">UK households</a> have a <a href="http://www.co-bealarmed.co.uk/2017/02/over-half-of-uk-population-at-risk-from-the-silent-killer/">carbon monoxide alarm</a>, compared with around three quarters of <a href="https://thenewdaily.com.au/life/wellbeing/2018/04/30/australians-lack-carbon-monoxide-nous/">Australian</a> homes. </p>
<hr>
<p><em>If you suspect a problem, call the gas emergency number on 0800 111 999, or the <a href="http://www.hse.gov.uk/gas/domestic/index.htm">Health and Safety Executive (HSE)</a> Gas Safety Advice Line on 0800 300 363.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/103478/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julie Connolly receives funding from the Gas Safety Trust. </span></em></p>
Low level carbon monoxide poisoning leads to a wide range of nonspecific but significant symptoms – making it very difficult to detect.
Julie Connolly, Senior Lecturer in Health and Social Care, Liverpool John Moores University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/98358
2018-06-27T10:45:33Z
2018-06-27T10:45:33Z
How we discovered three poisonous books in our university library
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225100/original/file-20180627-112620-14hp9vy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/old-books-green-cover-yellowed-pages-1048053595?src=7divbo7EJk1uZ9Tm-xdhCA-4-16">Raman Saurei/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Some may remember the deadly book of Aristotle that plays a vital part in the plot of Umberto Eco’s 1980 novel <a href="http://www.nybooks.com/articles/1983/07/21/murder-in-the-monastery/">The Name of the Rose</a>. Poisoned by a mad Benedictine monk, the book wreaks havoc in a 14th-century Italian monastery, killing all readers who happen to lick their fingers when turning the toxic pages. Could something like this happen in reality? Poisoning by books?</p>
<p>Our recent research indicates so. We found that three rare books on various historical topics in the University of Southern Denmark’s library collection contain large concentrations of arsenic on their covers. The books come from the 16th and 17th centuries.</p>
<p>The poisonous qualities of these books were detected by conducting a series of X-ray fluorescence analyses (micro-XRF). This technology displays the chemical spectrum of a material by analysing the characteristic “secondary” radiation that is emitted from the material during a high-energy X-ray bombardment. Micro-XRF technology is widely used within the fields of archaeology and art, when investigating the chemical elements of pottery and paintings, for example.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223318/original/file-20180615-85830-o9y0od.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223318/original/file-20180615-85830-o9y0od.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223318/original/file-20180615-85830-o9y0od.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223318/original/file-20180615-85830-o9y0od.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223318/original/file-20180615-85830-o9y0od.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=537&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223318/original/file-20180615-85830-o9y0od.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=537&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223318/original/file-20180615-85830-o9y0od.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=537&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">One of the poisonous books.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">SDU</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Glaring green</h2>
<p>The reason why we took these three rare books to the X-ray lab was because the library had previously discovered that medieval manuscript fragments, such as copies of Roman law and canonical law, were used to make their covers. It is <a href="https://medievalbooks.nl/2015/12/18/x-rays-expose-a-hidden-medieval-library/">well documented</a> that European bookbinders in the 16th and 17th centuries used to recycle older parchments. </p>
<p>We tried to identify the Latin texts used, or at least read some of their content. But then we found that the Latin texts in the covers of the three volumes were hard to read because of an extensive layer of green paint which obscures the old handwritten letters. So we took them to the lab. The idea was to filter through the layer of paint using micro-XRF and focus on the chemical elements of the ink below, for example on iron and calcium, in the hope of making the letters more readable for the university’s researchers. </p>
<p>But XRF-analysis revealed that the green pigment layer was arsenic. This chemical element is among the most toxic substances in the world and exposure may lead to various symptoms of poisoning, the development of cancer and even death.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225105/original/file-20180627-112614-twgyc6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225105/original/file-20180627-112614-twgyc6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225105/original/file-20180627-112614-twgyc6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225105/original/file-20180627-112614-twgyc6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225105/original/file-20180627-112614-twgyc6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225105/original/file-20180627-112614-twgyc6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=553&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225105/original/file-20180627-112614-twgyc6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=553&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225105/original/file-20180627-112614-twgyc6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=553&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Accidents caused by the use of green arsenic, 1859.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://wellcomecollection.org/works/bdgwyugs?query=arsenic&page=1">© Wellcome Collection</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Arsenic (As) is a ubiquitous naturally occurring metalloid. In nature, arsenic is typically combined with other elements such as carbon and hydrogen. This is known as organic arsenic. Inorganic arsenic, which may occur in a pure metallic form as well as in compounds, is the more harmful variant. The toxicity of arsenic does not diminish with time. </p>
<p>Depending on the type and duration of exposure, various symptoms of arsenic poisoning include an irritated stomach, irritated intestines, nausea, diarrhoea, skin changes and irritation of the lungs.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225102/original/file-20180627-112611-bjz8o6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225102/original/file-20180627-112611-bjz8o6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225102/original/file-20180627-112611-bjz8o6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225102/original/file-20180627-112611-bjz8o6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225102/original/file-20180627-112611-bjz8o6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225102/original/file-20180627-112611-bjz8o6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225102/original/file-20180627-112611-bjz8o6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Paris Green.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Paris_Green_(Schweinfurter_Gr%C3%BCn).JPG">Chris Goulet/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The green arsenic-containing pigment found on the book covers is thought to be Paris green, copper(II) acetate triarsenite or copper(II) acetoarsenite Cu(C₂H₃O₂)₂·3Cu(AsO₂)₂. This is also known as “emerald green”, because of its eye-catching green shades, similar to those of the popular gemstone. </p>
<p>The arsenic pigment – a crystalline powder – is easy to manufacture and has been commonly used for multiple purposes, especially in the 19th century. The size of the powder grains influence on the colour toning, as seen in oil paints and lacquers. Larger grains produce a distinct darker green – smaller grains a lighter green. The pigment is especially known for its colour intensity and resistance to fading.</p>
<h2>Pigment of the past</h2>
<p>Industrial production of Paris green was initiated in Europe in the early 19th century. Impressionist and post-impressionist painters used different versions of the pigment to create their vivid masterpieces. This means that many museum pieces today contain the poison. In its heyday, all types of materials, even book covers and clothes, could be coated in Paris green for aesthetic reasons. Of course, continuous skin contact with the substance would lead to symptoms of exposure. </p>
<p>But by the second half of the 19th century, the toxic effects of the substance were more commonly known, and the arsenic variant stopped being used as a pigment and was more frequently used as a pesticide on farmlands. Other pigments were found to replace Paris green in paintings and the textile industry etc. In the mid 20th century, the use on farmlands was phased out as well.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225107/original/file-20180627-112598-1iqk7ja.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225107/original/file-20180627-112598-1iqk7ja.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225107/original/file-20180627-112598-1iqk7ja.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225107/original/file-20180627-112598-1iqk7ja.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225107/original/file-20180627-112598-1iqk7ja.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225107/original/file-20180627-112598-1iqk7ja.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=598&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225107/original/file-20180627-112598-1iqk7ja.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=598&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225107/original/file-20180627-112598-1iqk7ja.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=598&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘The Arsenic Waltz’.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/V0042226.jpg/full/full/0/default.jpg">© Wellcome Collection</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the case of our books, the pigment wasn’t used for aesthetic purposes, making up a lower level of the cover. A plausible explanation for the application – possibly in the 19th century – of Paris green on old books could be to protect them against insects and vermin. </p>
<p>Under certain circumstances, arsenic compounds, such as arsenates and arsenites, may be transformed by microorganisms into arsine (AsH₃) – a highly poisonous gas with a distinct smell of garlic. <a href="https://hyperallergic.com/329747/death-by-wallpaper-alluring-arsenic-colors-poisoned-the-victorian-age/">Grim stories</a> of green Victorian wallpapers taking the lives of children in their bedrooms are known to be factual. </p>
<p>Now, the library stores our three poisonous volumes in separate cardboard boxes with safety labels in a ventilated cabinet. We also plan on digitising them to minimise physical handling. One wouldn’t expect a book to contain a poisonous substance. But it might.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/98358/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Interdisciplinary research led to the discovery that three historic books were covered in a layer of arsenic.
Jakob Povl Holck, Research Librarian, University of Southern Denmark
Kaare Lund Rasmussen, Associate Professor in Physics, Chemistry and Pharmacy, University of Southern Denmark
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/93309
2018-03-14T13:42:31Z
2018-03-14T13:42:31Z
Russian spy attack: how toxic chemicals can cause widespread contamination
<p>The recent attempted poisoning of the former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter has led to warnings about the spread of the toxic chemical used in the attack. Hundreds of people who visited the restaurant where the attack is thought to have taken place <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-russia-hammond/hundreds-urged-to-wash-clothes-after-uk-nerve-agent-attack-idUSKCN1GN0AK">have been told</a> to wash their clothes to avoid any chance of contamination with the suspected “Novichok” <a href="https://theconversation.com/nerve-agents-what-are-they-and-how-do-they-work-93079">nerve agent</a>.</p>
<p>The danger to the public is thankfully thought to be minimal, with only a small risk coming from prolonged, repeated exposure to the tiny amounts of the chemical. But how do experts know what the danger really is in a situation like this? In order to assess the situation, they need to consider how much of the chemical was released, how it came into contact with people, and how it spreads and degrades in the environment.</p>
<p>We can be exposed to chemicals through our skin, by breathing them in, eating them, or injecting them into our blood. And the exact route can make a huge difference, just as breathing in oxygen keeps us alive but injecting <a href="https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Air-embolism/">it can kill us</a>. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-five-most-poisonous-substances-from-polonium-to-mercury-29619">most toxic compounds</a> are lethal even in tiny doses. For example, the botulinum toxins, the most toxic substances ever discovered, can kill with just a few nanograms per kilogram of bodyweight if injected into veins or muscles. If inhaled, the lethal dose is in the tens of nanograms per kilogram of bodyweight.</p>
<p>Many of the best-known lethal substances, such as cyanide or arsenic, must be ingested to take effect. But other deadly compounds can be absorbed simply by touching them. This was what happened in <a href="https://www.acsh.org/news/2016/06/06/two-drops-of-death-dimethylmercury">the case of Katrin Wetterhahn</a>, a professor in analytical chemistry who accidentally dropped a small amount of dimethylmercury onto her latex gloved hand. As this compounds easily diffused through latex, it was taken up by her body through the skin. She died of mercury poisoning five months later.</p>
<p>Sergei Skripal was poisoned with one of a class of nerve agents <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-we-know-about-novichok-the-newby-nerve-agents-linked-to-russia-93264">known as Novichok</a> agents and chemically described as organophosphorus compounds. They act as an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor, which means that they <a href="https://theconversation.com/nerve-agents-what-are-they-and-how-do-they-work-93079">disrupt the central nervous system</a>. These compounds can come in solid, liquid or gas form, and we know nerve agents work when ingested or inhaled. But it’s not yet clear what specific chemical compound was used in this case and how it was administered. Because of this, we don’t know how much of the agent was needed or how the victims were exposed.</p>
<p>How dangerous a chemical can be also depends on how easily it can spread and contaminate the environment. The physicochemistry of a substance plays an important role here. Arsenic has a melting point of over 600°C so if it were sprinkled into food it would be unlikely to travel far from the plate because it is solid at room temperature. </p>
<p>But lethal compounds dispersed as gases, like the alleged use of chlorine gas in the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-42675657">Syrian civil war</a>, can result in the instant spread of the chemical across a wide area. This means they can affect many more people, although as they become more widely dispersed they become less harmful to individuals because the doses people receive are lower. Similarly, poisons in liquid or aerosol form, or <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/06/alexander-litvinenko-and-the-most-radioactive-towel-in-history">radioactive solutions</a> can be <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/blog/shortsharpscience/2006/12/newton-explains-litvinenko-mystery.html">easily transferred</a> from one surface to another.</p>
<p>Once they’ve entered the environment, chemicals often begin to change or break down, rendering them less harmful over time. For example, when chlorine gas comes into contact with an oxidisable material, such as wood or clothing, it changes into a harmless, inert chloride compound.</p>
<h2>Radioactive materials</h2>
<p>In the case of radioactive material, how long the substance is dangerous depends on how quickly its atoms lose energy, a process known as radioactive decay and measured by what’s called a half-life. When another former Russian spy, Alexander Litvinenko, was assassinated in the UK in 2006, the murder weapon was radioactive polonium-210 put into his cup of tea. Polonium-210 has a half life of 138 days, meaning after this time half of its atoms have emitted an alpha particle and decayed into lead-206 atoms.</p>
<p>This alpha radiation emitted inside his body after he had drunk the poisoned tea was what made Litvinenko ill and eventually <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-33678717">killed him a month later</a>. But those who came into close contact with him, such as his nurses, would have been much less exposed to the radiation. Alpha particles do not travel a long way and are stopped by even minor obstacles such as a piece of paper or human skin.</p>
<p>Organophosphorus nerve agents including Novichok and sarin, which was used in the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-asia-18455007/archive-nerve-gas-attack-shocks-tokyo">Tokyo subway attack</a> that resulted in 13 deaths, are unstable and break down gradually over time or when exposed to water. This is why washing your clothes after being exposed to such a compound could be enough to get rid of it. In fact, organophosphorus-based nerve agents are so unstable that they are often stored as two or more separate compounds and then combined when needed.</p>
<p>The ability to react easily with other substances is what makes lethal chemicals so dangerous, to both their intended victims and innocent bystanders. As a result, these aggressive substances do not typically linger for long. But if they encounter something that holds them on its surface until it releases them again, this can extend their potentially damaging lifetime. Metallic door handles are a good example for the transfer of material from one person to another.</p>
<p>For those cleaning up a contaminated site, all these factors are vital to understanding what they are facing and how they can prevent anyone else falling victim to a deadly chemical.</p>
<p><em>This article has been amended to state that polonium-210 has a half-life of 138 days and decays into lead-206, not 139 days and polonium-206 as originally stated.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/sergei-skripal-and-the-long-history-of-assassination-attempts-abroad-93021">Sergei Skripal and the long history of assassination attempts abroad</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/93309/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Vera Thoss does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Hundreds of people have been warned after former Russian spy Sergei Skripal was poisoned with Novichok nerve agent.
Vera Thoss, Lecturer in Sustainable Chemistry, Bangor University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/89406
2017-12-21T10:54:44Z
2017-12-21T10:54:44Z
Chocolate can be your dog’s Christmas nightmare – here’s the science
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/200181/original/file-20171220-5004-15npnei.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/confirm/506022721?src=8x_1iydCU2rr7S4BeBkKTg-1-14&size=medium_jpg">Amy Laurel Photography/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>There is a significant increase in the risk of chocolate poisoning in dogs over the festive period, our <a href="http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/lookup/doi/10.1136/vr.104762">latest study</a> reveals. Chocolate contains a caffeine-like chemical called theobromine that is toxic to dogs (and cats) because they cannot metabolise it as quickly as humans do. </p>
<p>Mildly toxic doses will cause vomiting, diarrhoea, bloating and restlessness, but higher doses will cause hyperactivity, imbalance and tremors. At very high doses, theobromine poisoning can cause seizures, coma and even death. Intoxication can also cause increases in both blood pressure and body temperature. These signs usually become apparent six to 12 hours after a pet has ingested chocolate.</p>
<p>For our study we used data from SAVSNET, the Small Animal Veterinary Surveillance Network, a collection of anonymised health records from a large network of veterinary practices across the UK. This type of research, called health informatics, is ideal for understanding how common particular diseases are in our pets, when they are most at risk, and which animals are most likely to suffer.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/200184/original/file-20171220-5004-nbnqrr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/200184/original/file-20171220-5004-nbnqrr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200184/original/file-20171220-5004-nbnqrr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200184/original/file-20171220-5004-nbnqrr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200184/original/file-20171220-5004-nbnqrr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200184/original/file-20171220-5004-nbnqrr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200184/original/file-20171220-5004-nbnqrr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Don’t leave these lying around.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/confirm/535639432?src=fhC81o3G4RMNtlqQeFknkQ-1-7&size=medium_jpg">margouillat photo/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Using data from 229 veterinary practices between 2012 and 2017, we identified 386 cases of potential chocolate toxicity affecting 375 individual dogs. In many of the cases, the amount of chocolate consumed was eventually considered non-toxic by the attending veterinary surgeon. </p>
<p>The most common clinical signs reported were vomiting (64 cases), very high heart rate (28 cases) and agitation/tremors (12 cases). Our analysis also showed that younger dogs – less than four years old – were more likely to be brought to the vet with suspected chocolate poisoning. Fortunately, there were no fatal cases in the SAVSNET study. </p>
<p>Overall, dogs were four times more likely to be brought to a vet with suspected chocolate poisoning around Christmas than at other time of year, including Easter, Valentine’s Day and Halloween. The chocolate that dogs ate included Santa Claus figurines, Advent calendars and chocolate oranges. One case involved a hot chocolate drink.</p>
<h2>Nom nom nom, barf</h2>
<p>Although rare, chocolate toxicity can be severe and often requires affected dogs to be given an emetic to make them sick. This is very unpleasant for the dog and can be expensive for the owner. </p>
<p>Thankfully, there are things owners can do to reduce the likelihood of chocolate toxicity, especially over Christmas. Owners should make sure everyone knows that chocolate can be poisonous for dogs and put chocolate in places their pets can’t reach.</p>
<p><iframe id="j9rtz" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/j9rtz/2/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>If you think your dog could have eaten a toxic dose of chocolate, you should speak to your veterinary surgeon as soon as possible. Be prepared to tell your vet how much chocolate you think your dog might have eaten and the type of chocolate as this will help your vet work out how much theobromine may have been consumed.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/89406/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alan Radford receives funding from BBSRC, the Veterinary Medicines Directorate and the British Small Animal Veterinary Association. </span></em></p>
Advent calendars, chocolate Santa decorations … there are lots of tempting treats that could make your pooch very ill this Christmas.
Alan Radford, Professor of Veterinary Health Informatics, University of Liverpool
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/53514
2016-01-21T11:50:23Z
2016-01-21T11:50:23Z
Litvinenko poisoning: polonium explained
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/108864/original/image-20160121-9754-u1yg2t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=53%2C0%2C951%2C640&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Polonium is found naturally in uranium ore</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/radioactiverosca/6862869951/in/photolist-bss18Z-74EqwM-7X1Ctf-2vVkpu-8cojGg-BRguip-BNXQpL-BhKABH-ankEnr-8crVfL-8cs5CU-ano7ky-atboEb-ati1uT-atboq5-at8LCr-atbpaN-6A9vPB-6vprqz-47snbL-7Xfo1h-dwnaWo-8gK8FW-8JA7k7-DqF9E-qpkBr9-bx8d9i-bXbo54-ankp9t-Bgbxok-atkxnq-atkwqy-qrBHpr-athPhc-atkrt3-atkua3-athLq4-atkBHs-atbpVs-cuhvHf-ceMcPq-atbpHy-at8M7n-atbqn9-DqFnW-DqFjp-DqFfd-DqF4Z-DqF6C-DqF3K">Rui Costa/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The murder of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko was one of the most high-profile assassinations of the decade. It particularly captured the public imagination because Litvinenko was <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/11371940/Alexander-Litvinenko-was-poisoned-twice-with-polonium-210-inquiry-hears.html">killed using polonium-210</a>, a rare but deadly substance that was thought to have been slipped into Litvinenko’s tea. Now a UK public inquiry has <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/21/alexander-litvinenko-was-probably-murdered-on-personal-orders-of-putin">issued its findings</a> on the case. But what is polonium?</p>
<h2>Rare and radioactive</h2>
<p>Polonium is a radioactive element that occurs naturally in tiny amounts (which are harmless to us). It was <a href="http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/themes/physics/curie/">discovered in 1898</a> by Marie Curie, during her research on pitchblende, an ore of uranium. It has the chemical symbol “Po” and Curie named it after Poland, her native country. If you look at a periodic table, you’ll find polonium at the bottom of the group headed by oxygen and sulfur.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/108865/original/image-20160121-9754-1h72kx6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/108865/original/image-20160121-9754-1h72kx6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=763&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/108865/original/image-20160121-9754-1h72kx6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=763&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/108865/original/image-20160121-9754-1h72kx6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=763&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/108865/original/image-20160121-9754-1h72kx6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=959&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/108865/original/image-20160121-9754-1h72kx6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=959&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/108865/original/image-20160121-9754-1h72kx6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=959&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Marie Curie.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Marie_Curie#/media/File:Marie_Curie_(Nobel-Chem).jpg">Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There are around 30 different isotopes of polonium ranging in atomic mass from 194 to 218, only differing from each other in their neutron number. The important one is polonium-210, which happens to be the one discovered by Curie.</p>
<p>Uranium atoms slowly decay into other atoms, eventually ending up as lead but with polonium as one stop on the way. Because of this radioactive decay, polonium atoms are continually being formed and decomposed so the element does not naturally accumulate in any significant amount.</p>
<p>Although polonium-210 was first isolated from uranium ores, today it can be artificially made by bombarding atoms of the metal bismuth with neutrons. According to <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/11/substance-used-to-poison-litvinenko-could-only-have-come-from-russia-inquiry">an expert who testified</a> to the Litvinenko enquiry, only one place in the world had a polonium “production line” – a closed nuclear facility in Sarov, just under 500 miles south-east of Moscow – and the sample used in the murder was highly likely to have come from here.</p>
<h2>Highly toxic</h2>
<p>Polonium is one of the <a href="http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/58088.php">most toxic substances</a> known. According to some sources, it is up to a <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=j-Xu07p3cKwC&pg=PA332&lpg=PA332&dq=polonium+trillion+times+toxic&source=bl&ots=luQYfE41Kl&sig=fXHD19Rt_O9qaHFJA4-XZn8s0A0&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj38v3M1LrKAhUBnBQKHQPpA-8Q6AEIIzAB#v=onepage&q=polonium%20trillion%20times%20toxictrillion&f=false">trillion times</a> more toxic than hydrogen cyanide. It is radioactive because it emits alpha particles (helium ions). Because these are easily absorbed by other materials, even by a few thin sheets of paper or by a few centimetres of air, polonium has to be inside your body to damage you.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/108867/original/image-20160121-9766-bc4z6r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/108867/original/image-20160121-9766-bc4z6r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/108867/original/image-20160121-9766-bc4z6r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/108867/original/image-20160121-9766-bc4z6r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/108867/original/image-20160121-9766-bc4z6r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/108867/original/image-20160121-9766-bc4z6r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/108867/original/image-20160121-9766-bc4z6r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Polonium can be produced from bismuth.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/play4smee/3605159933/in/photolist-hotYTE-uoAsXs-vk8xa-uKWEd-fyjRFb-fyjRCq-fyjRyq-fyjRuu-zLpkH-zoEx8-tYALv-eiWpPC-eiWpN3-eiWpMY-eiQFrX-eiQFrR-ek23do-ek23cd-z7vCj-cqUg2f-Cz27p-9fC6DH-7HSSUu-5cViiR-47thP5-9iDk6f-kydBF6-ceLMJ5-ejVZ3z-4dD29X-ceLMYQ-ceLM1b-hucaBo-6uDAoL-6uzorT-6uDAa3-hUDyjb-fFd2P7-7vZHsp-fFdLHb-dbrK4B-rym5wk-fFdMAy-fEVrr2-4vPx1v-fFd1aG-8JPat2-bmMReq-xZdQj-zmkuJa">play4smee/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It’s this radiation that has made minuscule traces of polonium useful in anti-static brushes, which are used to remove static charge from sensitive equipment. The fact that its alpha particles are so easily absorbed also make it hard to detect by radiation detectors such as Geiger counters, so polonium is probably easier to smuggle than some other lethal agents.</p>
<p>If polonium is known to have entered the body very recently, there is a <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15563650902956431?journalCode=ictx20&">chance of removing it</a> by gastric aspiration (sucking out the stomach contents) or lavage (washing the stomach out with water). Chelating chemical agents, the sort that are used to treat heavy metal poisoning, can also remove polonium from the body if administered very quickly. But once it gets into the blood, it is likely to cause acute radiation syndrome and you will die of <a href="http://www.news-medical.net/news/2007/03/06/22431.aspx">multiple organ failure</a>.</p>
<h2>Effect on the body</h2>
<p>The alpha radiation breaks apart the chemical bonds in living cells, damages DNA and creates lots of very reactive free radical ions that can do further damage. <a href="http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0952-4746/27/1/001/pdf">One specific result</a> is a reduction in your white blood cell count which, apart from anything else, can make you more susceptible to infection and requires blood and platelet transfusions.</p>
<p>The liver, kidneys, spleen and bone marrow are particular targets and are massively damaged by the alpha-radiation. The rapid damage to the gastrointestinal tract causes nausea and vomiting. Bone marrow failure can result in days. One other target is hair follicles, which is why Litvinenko lost his hair <a href="https://www.clintox.org/documents/WMDSIG/AACT-WMD-Death_Polonium.pdf">before he died</a>. </p>
<p>Alexander Litvinenko is not the first casualty of polonium. In 1956, Marie Curie’s scientist daughter <a href="http://www.rsc.org/diversity/175-faces/all-faces/irene-joliot-curie">Irène Joliot-Curie</a> died of leukaemia that she is believed to have contracted through exposure to polonium years before. There <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-we-could-learn-from-yasser-arafats-exhumation-11030">have also been claims</a> that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat may have been exposed to it in a similar way to which Litvinenko was.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/53514/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Simon Cotton does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Polonium’s chemical properties made it the ideal secret weapon for the assassins of Alexander Litvinenko.
Simon Cotton, Senior Lecturer in Chemistry, University of Birmingham
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/50842
2016-01-13T19:11:00Z
2016-01-13T19:11:00Z
Little shop of horrors: the Australian plants that can kill you
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/106215/original/image-20151216-25624-1lovqtc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The national flower of Zimbabwe, the Glory Lily, is also found in Queensland where it's more famously known as a noxious weed that's highly poisonous to humans.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/johnske/8213403234/in/photolist-dUdxyR-7BZFmg-2kumWS-PfzQp-PfDUV-2iXTMq-ZqCUH-2c5zYC-ip2C6s-xtDaA-q6duat-dvMQCA-9ZyxfF-9akoSc-8jQzaX-931xu7-iWrEJE-4oVSA9-db4SpL-22fiwC-6VEJJn-6mS577-2jD21h-2duVi6-NYPC2-8HiWgF-Sweeh-dugbVG-hV5Y21-6itcVH-21jbQN-Swe9S-hpy1zn-981EdA-TiXYa-YtLW9-6NuXJA-6NuWsd-9xVKgH-od8ktK-qa8htf-9ex8am-9yst5k">JohnSkewes/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Australia is so famous for its dangerous creatures that visitors often arrive fearful that everything that moves is out to get them. In a land where snakes, spiders, shells and even one of the iconic mammals – the platypus – can bite or sting, should we all be worried about plants as well? </p>
<p>Plants around the world produce a staggering diversity of chemicals and many of these are potentially toxic to animals including humans, sometimes even upon contact. Many of these toxins have evolved to protect plant roots, leaves and unripe fruits from being eaten by herbivores, particularly insects and browsing mammals. </p>
<p>Australia’s toxic plants are not terribly appealing or nutritious for humans. If someone is poisoned, it’s usually accidental, and <a href="http://www.schn.health.nsw.gov.au/parents-and-carers/fact-sheets/poisonous-plants">many victims are curious children</a>. </p>
<p>There are <a href="http://anpsa.org.au/APOL7/sep97-4.html">many historical records</a> of plant poisoning in Australia involving early explorers and settlers who were short of supplies or looking for new sources of food. Today, though, plant poisoning accounts for <a href="http://www.austin.org.au/Assets/Files/VPIC%20Annual%20Report%202014.pdf">less than 1% of calls</a> to poisons information lines in Australia. </p>
<h2>Animals beware</h2>
<p>The threat of poisoning to livestock is <a href="http://www.mla.com.au/Research-and-development/Animal-health-welfare-biosecurity/Poisonings/Toxic-plants">much more substantial</a> and causes significant economic and animal welfare impacts. </p>
<p>It’s in the interests of cattle and sheep to become expert botanists, but even experts can get things wrong when confronted with something they’ve never seen before. Most livestock poisonings occur when animals are moving through new country or are put into new paddocks with unfamiliar plants.</p>
<p>Native plants that kill significant numbers of livestock include Cooktown ironwood in northern Australia (as little as 50 grams of leaf can contain a quantity of alkaloids that can kill a bull) and the poison peas and heart-leafed poison bush of Western Australia and Queensland respectively (<em>Gastrolobium</em>), which contain a deadly metabolic poison, sodium fluoroacetate.</p>
<p>Elsewhere, introduced pasture weeds such as fireweed, <em>Senecio madagasciarensis</em>, and Paterson’s curse, <em>Echium plantagenium</em>, pose significant threats to cattle, sheep and horses.</p>
<h2>It’s in the dose</h2>
<p>The adage that “the poison is in the dose” is correct in that small amounts of most poisonous plants are unlikely to cause permanent damage or death, although there are exceptions. Indeed, most herbivores have to tolerate some exposure to plant poisons because they’re so widespread among the plants they eat. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/108120/original/image-20160114-2365-yr2vsl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/108120/original/image-20160114-2365-yr2vsl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=2058&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/108120/original/image-20160114-2365-yr2vsl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=2058&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/108120/original/image-20160114-2365-yr2vsl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=2058&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/108120/original/image-20160114-2365-yr2vsl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=2586&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/108120/original/image-20160114-2365-yr2vsl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=2586&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/108120/original/image-20160114-2365-yr2vsl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=2586&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Small amounts of some toxic compounds can even be beneficial and sometimes have traditional or medical uses. Aboriginal people, for instance, used <em>Duboisia hopwoodii</em> and other native tobacco species (<em>Nicotiana</em>) to produce a powerful and widely traded stimulant, pituri, the active ingredient of which is the potent alkaloid, nicotine. </p>
<p>Similarly, atropine, an alkaloid found in Angels’ trumpets and thorn-apple (<em>Brugmansia</em> and <em>Datura</em> species) is a powerful hallucinogen and toxin. But it’s also a valuable drug used to treat some heart and nervous conditions, as well as poisoning by some other plant alkaloids and cardiac glycosides. </p>
<p>Knowing what dose of poison a plant contains is not always easy. How much toxin an individual plant contains can vary with season, the age of the plant, soil type, drought and the plant’s genes. Just as you may be tall and your next-door neighbour short, two plants of the same species growing alongside can vary in how much toxin they produce. </p>
<p>On top of that, different animal species and individual people and animals can also vary in their ability to tolerate poisons. This makes ingesting toxic plants a little like Russian roulette: there’s a strong element of chance.</p>
<h2>Deadly relatives</h2>
<p>A significant number of Australia’s more than 20,000 plants are potentially toxic. In many cases, Australia has species or subspecies of plants that are closely related to well-known toxic plants from elsewhere. But their relative toxicity is not well established. </p>
<p>The Indian suicide tree, <em>Cerbera odollum</em>, has been described as the “<a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn6701-suicide-tree-toxin-is-perfect-murder-weapon/">perfect murder weapon</a>”, for instance, but the toxicity of our native <em>Cerbera manghas</em> is less well understood, despite the fact it possesses the same cardiac poisons. </p>
<p>Similarly, how our native strychnine bushes <em>Strychnos lucida</em> and <em>S. psilosperma</em> compare to the better-known strychnine tree <em>S. nux-vomica</em> from India is not well known, but they do also produce strychnine. </p>
<p>Unless you’re a hungry ruminant, you’re probably unlikely to suffer death by plant poisoning in Australia, but the risk is nonetheless real. It pays to realise that garden plants and even common indoor plants are sometimes just as dangerous as what lurks in the bush. Parents and outdoorsy types should be aware of the risks posed by contact with or ingestion of plants.</p>
<p><em>This article is part of our series <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/deadly-australia">Deadly Australia</a>. Stay tuned for more pieces on the topic in the coming days.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/50842/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ben Moore receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p>
It’s not just Australia’s animals that can be deadly, there are plenty of dangerous plants too.
Ben Moore, Senior Lecturer in Ecology, Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/52060
2015-12-21T06:23:58Z
2015-12-21T06:23:58Z
Why the health threat from asbestos is not a thing of the past
<p>“<a href="http://www.channel4.com/news/calais-jungle-camp-littered-with-asbestos">Calais Jungle Camp littered with asbestos</a>”; “<a href="http://www.cityam.com/218700/buckingham-palace-could-be-vacated-remove-asbestos-upkeep-presents-significant-financial">Buckingham Palace could be vacated to remove asbestos</a>”; “<a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-11-30/refugees-removing-nauru-asbestos-without-proper-protection/6985292">Safety concerns for refugees and workers as Nauru asbestos removal programme kicks off</a>”.</p>
<p>Such headlines occur with monotonous regularity. Widespread asbestos use throughout much of the 20th century has ensured that the next contamination scandal is never far off. Despite this, asbestos has not captured the public imagination as a public health threat – at least, not in comparison with other threats such as excessive sun exposure and drink driving.</p>
<h2>Useful but deadly</h2>
<p>Asbestos is a versatile, fibrous mineral that can be cheaply mined and has unusual fire resistance and durability. Use exploded in the 20th century and it was included in such diverse products as automobile brake linings, pipe insulation, ceiling and floor tiles, textured paints, concrete, mattresses, electric blankets, heaters, ironing boards and even piano felts. </p>
<p>However, it has long been known that inhaling asbestos dust can cause cancer and other lung diseases. There is no safe threshold for exposure, and even <a href="https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2011/195/5/increasing-incidence-malignant-mesothelioma-after-exposure-asbestos-during-home">single exposures to dust</a> have been linked to cancer. Rates of asbestos-related cancer <a href="http://www.scielosp.org/scielo.php?script=sci_abstract&pid=S0042-96862011001000010&lng=en&nrm=iso&tlng=en">have recently been on the rise</a> in Europe and Japan and look set to climb in many developing countries where <a href="http://mosaicscience.com/story/killer-dust">the material is still being widely used, often without safety precautions</a>. According to WHO estimates, <a href="http://www.who.int/ipcs/assessment/public_health/asbestos/en/">asbestos now causes more deaths globally</a> than <a href="http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/notes/2006/np16/en/">excessive sun exposure</a>. In the UK it is estimated to <a href="http://www.britishasbestosnewsletter.org/ban93.htm">cause almost three times as many deaths</a> as road traffic accidents. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105132/original/image-20151209-15564-f95tu4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105132/original/image-20151209-15564-f95tu4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105132/original/image-20151209-15564-f95tu4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105132/original/image-20151209-15564-f95tu4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105132/original/image-20151209-15564-f95tu4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105132/original/image-20151209-15564-f95tu4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105132/original/image-20151209-15564-f95tu4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105132/original/image-20151209-15564-f95tu4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Take heed.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/orinrobertjohn/3058328612/in/photolist-eezi5q-9K6jS8-dHiZtd-pxqcRQ-6imjsj-6imjmE-jESpP-3VS1qA-5EfJxE-zj2QvH-6GVGdA-dsZwe1-bFioD4-789bHr-9K9kb5-9drEEL">OrinZebest/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Yet awareness about the threat it poses is often low, even in high-risk groups <a href="http://annhyg.oxfordjournals.org/content/51/2/113">such as plumbers</a>. </p>
<p>Huge efforts have been made in recent decades to educate the public on many other health threats, such as those from UV radiation, unsafe sex and drink driving. Asbestos has, relatively speaking, been neglected.</p>
<h2>Real and present</h2>
<p>One factor in the lack of public education and understanding may be the perception that asbestos is a disease of the past: many current asbestos-related deaths are due to exposure that occurred before the 1980s, when strict regulations in developed countries began to bite. However, asbestos remains a pervasive presence in <a href="https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2011/195/5/increasing-incidence-malignant-mesothelioma-after-exposure-asbestos-during-home">homes</a>, <a href="http://www.hsa.ie/eng/Publications_and_Forms/Publications/Chemical_and_Hazardous_Substances/asbestos_guidelines.pdf">workplaces</a> and <a href="http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1742-6596/151/1/012023/pdf">schools</a>, and demolitions, <a href="https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2011/195/5/increasing-incidence-malignant-mesothelioma-after-exposure-asbestos-during-home">renovation and DIY work can lead to significant exposures</a>. In a recent Australian survey, <a href="https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2013/199/6/asbestos-exposure-during-home-renovation-new-south-wales">over 60% of DIY home renovators</a> reported having been exposed to asbestos during renovation work, and this may underestimate true exposure, given low awareness of the range of applications in which asbestos has been used. </p>
<p><a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/defending-the-indefensible-9780199534852?cc=gb&lang=en&">It had previously been thought</a> that only workplace exposure was sufficient to cause cancer, but it is now estimated that, in industrialised counties, non-occupational exposure <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3499908/">accounts for around 20% of cases of mesothelioma</a>, <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S014067369590462X">an especially deadly form of cancer</a>. </p>
<h2>Explosion in developing countries</h2>
<p>More worryingly, the <a href="http://ibasecretariat.org/lka-latest-global-asbestos-data.php">use of asbestos is exploding and is largely unregulated</a> in many developing countries including <a href="http://www.ctvnews.ca/business/banned-in-much-of-the-developed-world-asbestos-going-strong-in-india-1.1955931">India</a>, Indonesia and Thailand. </p>
<p>Until as recently as 2011, Canada, historically the largest producer of asbestos, was still mining the substance and <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2012/s3548789.htm">exporting it to India</a>, even though its use was all but banned at home. Russia, Kazakhstan and Brazil continue to mine and export chrysotile (white) asbestos, the only type of asbestos still being commercially used. There is a risk that the asbestos-related cancer epidemic currently affecting much of Europe and Australasia will be repeated elsewhere, and perhaps on a larger scale.</p>
<h2>Correcting the neglect</h2>
<p>Asbestos cannot be set aside as a 20th century problem. So what explains it’s relative neglect as a public health threat?</p>
<p><a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/defending-the-indefensible-9780199534852?cc=gb&lang=en&">A powerful asbestos industry</a> that has consistently cast doubt on the health risks posed by the substance has surely played a role, particularly in countries with significant asbestos industries such as the US, UK, Australia, Italy, Belgium and Canada. The association of asbestos with “boring” workplace health and safety measures may have also helped to prevent the risk capturing the public imagination. And the perception of asbestos-related disease as a problem for the working classes may also have contributed to a lack of attention from predominantly middle-class politicians and officials. </p>
<p>Yet though these factors might explain the relative neglect of asbestos, they do nothing to justify it. Asbestos should get the attention that its devastating health costs warrant. </p>
<p>The developing world should be the top priority here. All countries must promote good practice in the handling of asbestos and lend their support to a worldwide ban on its use. </p>
<p>But more should be done in rich countries too. There is a strong case for widely-publicised home testing services that are made freely available to all tradespeople and home renovators. There is also a need for broad public health campaigns of the sort that have been used to fight road deaths, melanoma and sexually transmitted infections. Australia has recently <a href="http://ibasecretariat.org/lka-blogzxa104.php">taken significant steps in this direction</a>, introducing an asbestos awareness month and creating resources to help homeowners identify asbestos. Other countries should follow suit, and go further. Asbestos has proven itself dangerous enough to warrant a place in the public eye.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/52060/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tom Douglas is a Senior Research Fellow in the Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics, a Lead Research in the Oxford Martin School, and a Golding Fellow at Brasenose College, University of Oxford. He gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the Uehiro Foundation on Ethics and Education and the Wellcome Trust, and the assistance of Laura Van den Borre and Laurie Kazan-Allen in researching this post. All deficiencies remain attributable to the author. </span></em></p>
Asbestos is not a thing of the past, far from it – it’s use is exploding in the developing world and many others are still at risk.
Tom Douglas, Senior Research Fellow , University of Oxford
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/41930
2015-05-19T12:33:32Z
2015-05-19T12:33:32Z
Russian whistleblower poisoned with heartbreak grass – an ancient perspective
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82203/original/image-20150519-30494-vrrt54.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Arthur Conan Doyle himself was also poisoned by heartbreak grass – but this was self-inflicted, and not fatal.</span> </figcaption></figure><p>An expert in plant toxicology has <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/may/18/russian-whistleblower-traces-poison-stomach-plant-expert-says-alexander-perepilichnyy-inquest">found traces of a rare plant poison</a> in the stomach of Russian whistleblower Alexander Perepilichny, who collapsed and died outside his Surrey home in 2012 after warning that he had received death threats from the Kremlin.</p>
<p>The extremely poisonous species of gelsemium detected is known as “heartbreak grass”. Such an evocative name is bound to whet the imaginations of many the world over – poisons fascinate us all, especially when they have their roots in the natural world. Just think of the endless cases in literature, from Shakespeare’s <a href="http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/romeoscenes.html">Romeo and Juliet</a> to Agatha Christie’s <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=CVBObgUR2zcC">And Then There Were None</a>. And a new <a href="http://powerofpoison.co.uk/the-exhibition/">exhibition</a> centred on the allure of poisons has just opened in London.</p>
<p>No less than Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the author of the Sherlock Holmes whodunnits, experimented with heartbreak grass. In a letter to the British Medical Journal sent on September 20, 1879, Conan Doyle recounted how a neuralgia led him to consume a tincture of gelsenium. He then decided to self-experiment on himself to see how much he could take without overdosing. He suffered from dizziness and severe diarrhoea as a result.</p>
<p>So what makes poisons so captivating? It could be the instinctive knowledge that we could all experience poisoning. Many of us will have spent several unpleasant hours courtesy of some contaminated food (usually meat); many of us will have had side-effects from prescription or recreational drugs; many of us will have reacted strongly to the bite of a mosquito or the sting of a wasp. All these afflictions are cases of poisoning: cases where our body cannot cope with an external substance. </p>
<h2>The dose makes the poison</h2>
<p>Conversely, we know that many poisons can heal when taken in the right amount: “the dose makes the poison,” as the adage goes. Although that aphorism is often attributed to Paracelsus (16th-century CE), the principles behind it were empirically observed well before, perhaps even from the beginnings of humanity. Animals can instinctively differentiate between poisonous and non-poisonous plants (although there is of course no foolproof method – individuals will die in the process), and humans are no different from other mammals in that respect. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82194/original/image-20150519-30494-i6ovrf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82194/original/image-20150519-30494-i6ovrf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82194/original/image-20150519-30494-i6ovrf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=776&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82194/original/image-20150519-30494-i6ovrf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=776&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82194/original/image-20150519-30494-i6ovrf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=776&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82194/original/image-20150519-30494-i6ovrf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=975&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82194/original/image-20150519-30494-i6ovrf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=975&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82194/original/image-20150519-30494-i6ovrf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=975&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mandrake being pulled up by dog, 1250.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">© Wellcome Library, London</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The botanical writings of the philosopher Theophrastus of Eresus (fourth century BCE) represent an important step in the theoretical definition of poisons. Theophrastus tells us that edible plants tend to be sweet to the taste; whereas poisonous and medicinal ones tend to be bitter. So the bitter taste of wormwood (<a href="https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/all/artemisia-spp/"><em>Artemisia spp</em>.</a>) is indicative of its medicinal qualities when taken in the right amount and its poisonous ones when taken in excess. There are, however, exceptions to the “bitter taste” rule – dangerous exceptions such as mandrake root (<a href="http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Mandragora+officinarum"><em>Mandragora officinarum L</em>.</a>), whose taste is sweet. In small amounts mandrake can be used medicinally but in larger quantities it kills. </p>
<p>Then again, humans and other animals can build a resistance to some poisons by habituating themselves to them, that is, by taking increasingly large amounts of that poison daily. In the ancient Greek and Roman world, cow’s milk was primarily used as a purge, a means to empty the stomach and bowels. In other words, cow’s milk was a poison, albeit not a lethal one. Today, in the Western world, most people can drink relatively large amounts of cow’s milk without adverse effect, although the proportion of people who are – or claim to be – lactose intolerant is not negligible. </p>
<p>Another substance often used as a purge in Greek and Roman antiquity was hellebore. Theophrastus tells us the story of a drug-seller who boasted about his ability to eat sprigs of hellebore without being purged. Then came along a shepherd who turned the drug-seller into ridicule by publicly ingesting an entire bunch of hellebore sprigs.</p>
<h2>The poison master</h2>
<p>In French, the technical word for habituation to poison is “<em>mithridatisation</em>”, which is derived from the name of an ancient king: Mithradates VI of Pontus (134-63 BCE). He was one of the fiercest enemies of Rome, and no less than three wars – the Mithridatic Wars – were waged against him. There are several stories of alleged poisoning in Mithradates’s family; in particular, his father died in circumstances that are not entirely clear. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82191/original/image-20150519-30501-aj1da4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82191/original/image-20150519-30501-aj1da4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82191/original/image-20150519-30501-aj1da4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=836&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82191/original/image-20150519-30501-aj1da4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=836&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82191/original/image-20150519-30501-aj1da4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=836&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82191/original/image-20150519-30501-aj1da4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1051&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82191/original/image-20150519-30501-aj1da4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1051&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82191/original/image-20150519-30501-aj1da4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1051&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Large jar for holding mithridatum, early 18th century.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">© Wellcome Library, London</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Mithradates lived in dangerous times when dynastic killings, often by means of poison, were common. And so in preparation for his probable eventual poisoning, he started to take small doses of poison every day. At the same time, he worked on developing an antidote that would protect him. The success of that enterprise depended on gaining as much knowledge as possible about poisons and antidotes. The king therefore surrounded himself with famous physicians who informed him about the latest pharmacological discoveries. He also gathered plant knowledge from all his subjects. The story goes that he mastered well over ten languages and addressed all his subjects in their native tongue, thus gaining invaluable expertise from them. </p>
<p>Eventually, the king developed a particularly successful antidote. It was so effective that, when Mithradates was finally defeated by the Romans, and when he tried to take his life by ingesting poison, he failed to die, even though all his family members had succumbed to the effects of the deadly substance. Finally, the king asked one of his servants to kill him with a sword. How the mighty fall!</p>
<p>The Roman general who defeated Mithradates took hold of his specimen collections and writings and brought them to Rome. There they were translated into Latin, and the antidote of Mithradates, allegedly following the original recipe created by the deadly king, became one of the bestselling drugs of all time: <a href="http://triggered.edina.clockss.org/ServeContent?rft_id=info:doi/10.1124/mi.6.2.1">Mithridatium</a>, a remedy that allegedly treated all cases of poisoning and cured many diseases beside.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/41930/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Laurence Totelin has received funding from the Wellcome Trust.</span></em></p>
There’s much that Perepilichny could have learned from Arthur Conan Doyle, and him in turn from an ancient king called Mithradates.
Laurence Totelin, Lecturer in Ancient History, Cardiff University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/19961
2013-11-07T05:58:09Z
2013-11-07T05:58:09Z
Arafat may have been poisoned, but what is polonium?
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/34655/original/mkcpfct7-1383801575.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Nine years after his death, Yasser Arafat's remains have produced even more questions.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Magh</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A Swiss <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/investigations/killing-arafat/swiss-forensic-report-arafat-death-201311671255163780.html">forensic report</a> of the exhumed remains of ex-Palestinian leader <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasser_Arafat">Yasser Arafat</a> today suggests <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-24838061">polonium poisoning</a> may have been the cause of death – but what is polonium, and why is it so deadly?</p>
<p>First, we need to understand the basics of radioactivity.</p>
<p>Radioactivity is the (term given to the) emission of certain particles or electromagnetic waves caused by the breakdown of nuclei in atoms. Elements can vary so they have different numbers of neutrons within their nuclei; these are called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isotope">isotopes</a>.</p>
<p>An isotope’s half-life is the time that it takes for half of the starting material in a sample to be converted, or decayed, into another product (after this time half of the starting material is gone). The radioactivity of a material is inversely proportional to the material’s half-life (if something has a long half-life, the amount of radiation it releases per second is lower).</p>
<h2>High radioactivity, high lethality</h2>
<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polonium">Polonium</a> is a highly radioactive heavy metal. It is arguably the most lethal known material. Although it has some minor industrial uses it is best known for links with possible assassinations. It is also used to produce neutrons in the core of nuclear weapons.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/34658/original/nkpgws3v-1383802170.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/34658/original/nkpgws3v-1383802170.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/34658/original/nkpgws3v-1383802170.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=849&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/34658/original/nkpgws3v-1383802170.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=849&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/34658/original/nkpgws3v-1383802170.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=849&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/34658/original/nkpgws3v-1383802170.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1066&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/34658/original/nkpgws3v-1383802170.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1066&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/34658/original/nkpgws3v-1383802170.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1066&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Marie Curie.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Nobel Foundation</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Discovered by <a href="http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1903/marie-curie-bio.html">Marie Curie</a>, the element was named after her home country of Poland. Polonium is element 84 in the periodic table, and all of its isotopes are radioactive. Their half-lives vary between a few millionths of a second to 103 years.</p>
<p>When polonium is discussed in the media, it is usually in the context of the polonium-210 isotope (<a href="http://www.iaea.org/Publications/Factsheets/English/polonium210.html"><sup>210</sup>Po</a>). This isotope has a half-life of 138 days, so while the material has very high radioactivity, it is stable enough to be transported (usually from a location with nuclear reactors or other high level scientific equipment).</p>
<p><sup>210</sup>Po has been suggested as a method of assassination. The two most famous suspected cases being KGB-agent-turned-journalist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Litvinenko">Alexander Litvinenko</a> in 2006 and – as mentioned above – Yasser Arafat. </p>
<p>As air reacts with alpha particles, the polonium must be ingested (or be injected) into the assassination target. In the case of Litvinenko it is alleged that was given to him in a cup of tea.</p>
<p>The 138-day half-life of <sup>210</sup>Po is short, so the element is very radioactive. While it has a melting point of 254°C, it is so radioactive that if you made 1g piece of <sup>210</sup>Po it would create so much heat it would melt itself. The liquid would appear to glow blue due to the interaction of the alpha particles with the surrounding air.</p>
<h2>Polonium’s effects</h2>
<p>The toxicity of radioactive materials is usually measured in terms of the radiation emitted and/or absorbed. However, to compare with more conventional toxins, the median lethal dose (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Median_lethal_dose">LD50</a>) for <sup>210</sup>Po that is usually quoted is about 1μg, or one millionth of a gram.</p>
<p>That is one ten thousandth the dose of <a href="http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/831760-overview">VX</a> – the most potent nerve gas. </p>
<p>Contamination is treated in the same way as other heavy metal poisoning, with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelation">chelating</a> agents that bind to the metal and make it more likely to be excreted. However, once a victim shows the symptoms of <sup>210</sup>Po poisoning, the effects are likely to be fatal.</p>
<p>The type of radiation is also a factor in how dangerous a material is. The radiation released by <sup>210</sup>Po is called an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polonium#Alpha_counting">alpha particle</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/34660/original/ghmssztt-1383802836.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/34660/original/ghmssztt-1383802836.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/34660/original/ghmssztt-1383802836.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/34660/original/ghmssztt-1383802836.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/34660/original/ghmssztt-1383802836.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/34660/original/ghmssztt-1383802836.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=513&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/34660/original/ghmssztt-1383802836.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=513&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/34660/original/ghmssztt-1383802836.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=513&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Alpha decay.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The alpha particle is a helium nucleus (two protons and two neutrons). This relatively large particle will not travel far through air and is stopped by a piece of paper. However, it pulls electrons out of other elements (ionising them). In turn, the ionised elements are highly reactive and able to undergo reactions that would not normally occur in a human body. </p>
<p>So unlike the image of radiation damaging DNA and causing cancer, alpha particles act more like a normal poison, but damaging many different biological systems rather than targeting one type of molecule.</p>
<p>The effects of polonium poisoning are effectively those of <a href="http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/coping/radiation-therapy-and-you/page8">acute radiation poisoning</a>. These occur within one day of exposure to a large dose of ionising radiation. The effects are all based on damage occurring to the body’s fast-growing cells:</p>
<ul>
<li>bone marrow – a drop in number of blood cells causing tiredness</li>
<li>gastrointestial cells – causing vomiting and nausea</li>
<li>follicular cells – causing hair loss.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Detecting polonium</h2>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/34653/original/sbv29q39-1383801349.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/34653/original/sbv29q39-1383801349.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/34653/original/sbv29q39-1383801349.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/34653/original/sbv29q39-1383801349.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/34653/original/sbv29q39-1383801349.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/34653/original/sbv29q39-1383801349.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/34653/original/sbv29q39-1383801349.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Benjamin Deutsch</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Due to polonium’s high radioactivity, it is usual to detect it by making use of the way it decays. The speed (energy) of alpha particles produced by radiation is specific to the isotope that emits them and leaves a kind of signature, with which the original isotope can be identified. </p>
<p>A sample of fluid suspected of containing polonium is dried onto a surface and the energy of the emitted particles is measured. The number of particles with a particular energy is directly proportional to the amount of that isotope in the sample.</p>
<p>The short half-life makes <sup>210</sup>Po very hard to study. It is particularly hard to look for the remains of <sup>210</sup>Po contamination once a significant amount of time has passed.</p>
<p>Measurement of ratios of stable breakdown products of the various isotopes of polonium could give some insight into if poisoning has occurred, but this depends on the initial composition of the polonium sample and it is susceptible to contamination.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/19961/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Martin Boland has received funding from and collaborates with the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation.</span></em></p>
A Swiss forensic report of the exhumed remains of ex-Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat today suggests polonium poisoning may have been the cause of death – but what is polonium, and why is it so deadly…
Martin Boland, Research Fellow, The University of Melbourne
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