tag:theconversation.com,2011:/au/topics/poison-1128/articles
Poison – 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>
<figcaption>
<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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</figure>
<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>
</figcaption>
</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>
<hr>
<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>
<hr>
<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/199251
2023-03-21T12:42:41Z
2023-03-21T12:42:41Z
Poisons are a potent tool for murder in fiction – a toxicologist explains how some dangerous chemicals kill
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515276/original/file-20230314-2595-90gnm9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2121%2C1412&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Poisons are often not so clearly labeled.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/poison-bottle-with-a-skull-royalty-free-image/1319519485">Josefe Photography/iStock via Getty Images Plus</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>People have used poisons <a href="https://accesspharmacy.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?bookid=2462&sectionid=194918294">throughout history</a> for a variety of purposes: to hunt animals for food, to <a href="https://theconversation.com/poison-or-cure-traditional-chinese-medicine-shows-that-context-can-make-all-the-difference-163337">treat diseases</a> and to achieve nefarious ends like murder and assassination.</p>
<p>But what is a poison? Do all poisons act in the same way? Does the amount of the poison matter in terms of its toxicity?</p>
<p><a href="https://www.engr.colostate.edu/cbe/people/brad-reisfeld/">I am a toxicologist</a> who studies how chemicals affect human health, particularly when they cause harmful effects. As a fan of mystery and detective stories, which often feature the use of poisons, I’ve noticed a few poisons that turn up repeatedly in books, television and movies. How they really work is as fascinating as how they’re deployed toward evil ends in fiction.</p>
<h2>What is a poison?</h2>
<p>The 16th-century <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27214290/">physician–alchemist Paracelsus</a>, considered to be the father of toxicology, once wrote: “What is there that is not poison? All things are poison and nothing is without poison. Solely the dose determines that a thing is not a poison.” By this adage, any substance can be a poison with the appropriate amount.</p>
<p>Many people intentionally expose themselves to chemicals like ethanol through alcoholic beverages, nicotine through tobacco products and botulinum toxin through botox treatments at relatively low doses and suffer minimal adverse effects. However, at <a href="https://accesspharmacy.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?bookid=2462&sectionid=194918464">sufficiently high doses</a>, these chemicals can be lethal. The body’s response often depends on how the chemical interacts with receptors within or on the surface of cells, or how it binds to enzymes used for biological processes. Frequently, higher concentrations of the substance <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tox.2013.04.007">lead to stronger responses</a>.</p>
<p>Despite Paracelsus’ dictum, in popular culture the term “poison” is often reserved for chemical compounds that are not normally encountered in daily life and can lead to detrimental health effects even in relatively small amounts.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515278/original/file-20230314-3245-vk99ad.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Person dispensing white pills from a bottle into hand." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515278/original/file-20230314-3245-vk99ad.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515278/original/file-20230314-3245-vk99ad.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515278/original/file-20230314-3245-vk99ad.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515278/original/file-20230314-3245-vk99ad.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515278/original/file-20230314-3245-vk99ad.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515278/original/file-20230314-3245-vk99ad.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515278/original/file-20230314-3245-vk99ad.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">At a high enough dose, any chemical could be poisonous.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/young-man-spilling-multiple-pills-in-his-hand-royalty-free-image/1432823897">Malorny/Moment via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Poisons in books, TV and film</h2>
<p>Novel writers and television and movie screenwriters have exploited numerous poisons in their works, including those that are chemical elements, such as <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090422045609/http://www.agathachristie.com/story-explorer/stories/450-from-paddington/">arsenic</a> and <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7737528/">polonium</a>, and those derived from animals, such as <a href="https://www.mrsherlockholmes.com/adventures/the-speckled-band/">snake venom</a> and <a href="https://columbophile.com/2019/11/24/episode-review-columbo-murder-under-glass/">blowfish poison</a>. Many poisons derived from plants have also been used for villainous purposes in fiction.</p>
<p>In the AMC TV series “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0903747/">Breaking Bad</a>,” high school chemistry teacher Walter White uses a compound called ricin to murder the business executive Lydia Rodarte-Quayle. <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK441948/">Ricin is a very potent poison</a> derived from the castor bean <em>Ricinus communis</em> and can be especially lethal if inhaled. Once this compound gets inside a cell, it <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms20051181">damages a structure called a ribosome</a> that’s responsible for synthesizing proteins essential to the cell’s function. Ingesting ricin could result in intestinal bleeding, organ damage and death.</p>
<figure>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">It wasn’t Stevia that Lydia sweetened her tea with in ‘Breaking Bad’.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Sometimes, particular organs are much more susceptible to the effects of a poison. Physicians use <a href="https://cen.acs.org/articles/83/i25/Digoxin.html">digitalis medicines like digoxin</a>, which are derived from members of the foxglove family of plants, to treat congestive heart failure and heart rhythm problems. When administered in sufficiently high doses, however, they can lead to heart failure and death. By interfering with a protein in heart cells called the <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/6328127/">sodium-potassium pump</a>, they can decrease the rate of electrical impulses in the heart and increase the strength of its contractions. This can result in a dangerous type of irregular heartbeat called ventricular fibrillation and lead to death.</p>
<p>The villain of the James Bond film “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0381061/">Casino Royale</a>,” Le Chiffre, has his girlfriend attempt to kill Bond by poisoning his martini with digitalis. At high doses, digitalis drugs can alter the activity of the autonomic nervous system, which controls unconscious bodily functions like heart pumping. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3jQbXuvGR5o?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Poison is one way to win a poker game.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>TV characters are not immune to the dangers of poisonous mushrooms. One particularly potent fungus, <em>Amanita verna</em>, is known as the “destroying angel.” In the ITV TV series “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118401/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0">Midsomer Murders</a>,” puppet show owner and presumed upstanding citizen Evelyn Pope uses this mushroom to fatally poison chef Tristan Goodfellow as part of her murder spree of the inheritors of an estate. This mushroom contains <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wem.2017.10.002">various chemicals called amatoxins</a> that are thought to inhibit the activity of a specific enzyme critical for the production of <a href="https://www.genome.gov/genetics-glossary/messenger-rna">messenger RNA</a>, or mRNA, a molecule essential to protein synthesis in cells. Because ingested amatoxins mainly target the liver, these poisons can severely disrupt the <a href="https://theconversation.com/helping-the-liver-regenerate-itself-could-give-patients-with-end-stage-liver-disease-a-treatment-option-besides-waiting-for-a-transplant-191826">liver’s ability to repair itself</a>, leading to loss of function that will prove fatal without liver transplantation.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_0g3mw6XkRg?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">They don’t call it the “destroying angel” for nothing.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Another highly popular poison in detective and mystery stories is <a href="https://emergency.cdc.gov/agent/strychnine/basics/facts.asp">strychnine</a>. In the Agatha Christie story “<a href="https://www.agathachristie.com/stories/the-mysterious-affair-at-styles">The Mysterious Affair at Styles</a>,” Alfred Inglethorp and his lover Evelyn Howard use this poison to kill Inglethorp’s wife and wealthy country manor owner, Emily Inglethorp.</p>
<p>Strychnine, which comes from seeds of the <em>Strychnos nux-vomica</em> tree, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1039/d1np00079a">affects the nervous system</a> by blocking a neurotransmitter called glycine in the spinal cord and brainstem. Normally, glycine slows down the activity of neurons and prevents muscle contractions. By blocking glycine, strychnine ingestion can result in excessive activation of neurons and muscles, leading to a series of full-body muscle spasms that can become so intense that they cause respiratory arrest and death.</p>
<p>Many more poisons exist in nature than described here. Aside from potentially enhancing the enjoyment of detective and mystery stories, understanding the mechanisms of how these poisons work can provide an added appreciation for the complexity of the effects foreign chemicals have on the human body.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/199251/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brad Reisfeld does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
From ‘Breaking Bad’ to James Bond, certain chemicals are popular options for characters looking to achieve nefarious ends.
Brad Reisfeld, Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Colorado State University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/198270
2023-02-06T13:28:58Z
2023-02-06T13:28:58Z
Is the gruesome fun in Netflix’s ‘Wednesday’ realistic? What science says about getting eaten by piranhas and poisoned by nightshade
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507698/original/file-20230201-10326-3f2ayo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C700%2C467&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Piranhas do bite, but can they kill you?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://pyxis.nymag.com/v1/imgs/38e/7d1/fa450bcea450386b68bbb63d5ceeb5db1d-recaps-wednesday-1.rhorizontal.w700.jpg">Netflix</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Editor’s note: This article contains minor spoilers for the Netflix series “Wednesday.”</em></p>
<p>The popular Netflix series “Wednesday” chronicles the adventures of the Addams family’s teen daughter. After her parents send her to Nevermore Academy, a school for “outcasts,” Wednesday Addams, played by Jenna Ortega, is pulled into a perplexing murder mystery. The show is infused with elements of the supernatural but also contains scenes that may leave viewers wondering, “Could that really happen in real life?”</p>
<p>I’m a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=mN6ZaFkAAAAJ&hl=en">professor of pharmacology and toxicology</a> at the Indiana University School of Medicine, where we study the effects of drugs and poisons on the body. Some of the scenes in “Wednesday” raise intriguing questions about chemical and biological hazards that inspired me to investigate what science has to say about them.</p>
<h2>Piranhas in the pool</h2>
<p>One of the most memorable scenes involves Wednesday exacting revenge on her brother’s bullies by dumping hungry piranhas in their swimming pool. Most of the swimmers escape except for one unlucky guy who gets a wee bit chewed up. What is the likelihood that piranhas would attack someone in a pool?</p>
<p><a href="https://www.britannica.com/animal/piranha-fish">Piranhas</a> are freshwater fish indigenous to South American rivers and lakes. Their reputation as a ferocious carnivore that can reduce their prey to bones in seconds was <a href="https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/50356/how-teddy-roosevelt-turned-piranhas-ferocious-maneaters">popularized by Teddy Roosevelt</a> following his trip to the Amazon. However, the fish he witnessed eating a cow were purposefully starved before the display. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Di310WS8zLk?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Dumping piranhas into a school pool could get you expelled.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In reality, not all piranhas are carnivores, and the rare attack on humans is typically limited to a single bite. <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=ZjGiZ_cAAAAJ&hl=en">Gregory A. Lewbart</a>, a professor of aquatic, wildlife and zoological medicine at North Carolina State University, once swam with piranhas in the Ecuadorian Amazon, as many people do every day without incident. “Fatal attacks are either <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/01650520600630683">extremely rare or have not occurred</a>,” Lewbart told me. “It sounds like the only humans consumed by piranhas are people who already died from drowning.”</p>
<p>Even if Wednesday were able to procure a carnivorous species deprived of food, there’s still the problem of being dumped into a chlorinated pool. Lewbart explained that the chlorine would cause rapid damage to the fish’s gills and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1577/1548-8659(1975)104%3C800:CMIF%3E2.0.CO;2">reduce the ability of their blood to carry oxygen</a>, leading to death. These piranhas would be in shock and unlikely to swim across the length of a pool to mount an unprovoked attack. “I can almost guarantee a piranha or any fish dumped into a swimming pool would not be thinking about feeding,” Lewbart told me.</p>
<h2>Snacking on potpourri</h2>
<p>During a family therapy session, Wednesday’s brother Pugsley, played by Isaac Ordonez, mistakes a bowl of potpourri for candy and begins to devour it. Potpourri is a mixture of dried flower petals, herbs and spices used to fragrance a room. What would happen if someone ate it?</p>
<p>Potpourri is <a href="https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/002716.htm">generally considered</a> to be nontoxic. However, essential oils are commonly added to potpourri to enhance and extend its smell. These highly concentrated plant extracts can potentially cause a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007%2Fs40521-020-00275-7">skin rash</a> or irritation to the eyes, mouth and throat.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507718/original/file-20230201-17228-vyv5pl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Close-up of bowl of potpourri" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507718/original/file-20230201-17228-vyv5pl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507718/original/file-20230201-17228-vyv5pl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507718/original/file-20230201-17228-vyv5pl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507718/original/file-20230201-17228-vyv5pl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507718/original/file-20230201-17228-vyv5pl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507718/original/file-20230201-17228-vyv5pl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507718/original/file-20230201-17228-vyv5pl.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">Potpourri may look delicious, but whether it’s edible is another question.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/bowl-of-pot-pourri-potpourri-royalty-free-image/911657360">Rhys Hayward/Moment via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While ingesting a small amount of potpourri is probably not too dangerous for humans, veterinarians have issued <a href="https://www.bergencountyveterinarycenter.com/potpourri-and-toxicity-to-pets.html">warnings for dogs and cats</a>, as excessive amounts could lead to gastrointestinal problems or adverse liver effects. Beyond a sensitivity to the essential oils, the contents of potpourri can also pose a choking hazard to your pet.</p>
<h2>Blast fishing</h2>
<p>In one scene, the Addams kids go fishing with Pugsley’s “favorite bait”: grenades. After they toss a grenade into the pond, the explosion produces a ready supply of dead fish for the taking. To learn more about “blast fishing,” I consulted with <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=JJKxFDoAAAAJ&hl=en">Rachel Lance</a>, who studies explosives and blast trauma at Duke University.</p>
<p>“The grenade method may technically work,” Lance told me. “Grenades almost certainly could cause swim bladder trauma as a result of the explosive shock wave, which would bring the unfortunate fish to the surface belly up.” </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1Y_8x4TGm3A?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Blast fishing can be harmful for both marine life and people.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Lance added that fish are quite blast-resistant, so a powerful explosive such as an M-80 firecracker, dynamite or homemade bomb would be needed. And even with large explosions, the technique carries far more risk than it’s worth. “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHrlXY9Gd6c">Jacques Cousteau</a> dove underwater after a bout of blast fishing, and he found it to be sadly ineffective, with 90% of the fish that had been killed sinking to the bottom where they could not be easily collected, and a meager 10% rising to the top,” recalled Lance.</p>
<p>Given the danger of explosives, not to mention their inefficiency and collateral damage to the ecosystem, blast fishing is <a href="https://stopillegalfishing.com/issues/blast-fishing/">illegal in many parts of the world</a>.</p>
<h2>Nightshade poisoning</h2>
<p>Nightshade poisoning was deduced as the cause of death for one of the characters based on foaming saliva, dilated pupils, mental confusion and bluish skin. What is nightshade and can it be used as a poison?</p>
<p>Nightshades include many different varieties of plants, some of which are diet staples for many, like tomatoes, potatoes and peppers. Other varieties are to be avoided, such as the aptly named deadly nightshade (<em>Atropa belladonna</em>). Deadly nightshade is a shrub with dark green leaves adorned with purple, bell-shaped flowers and dark purple berries. But don’t let the beauty of this belladonna fool you; ingest any part of this plant, especially the sweet-tasting berries, and it could be your last meal.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507717/original/file-20230201-19-8x5vym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Close-up of flower and berries of Deadly Nightshade" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507717/original/file-20230201-19-8x5vym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507717/original/file-20230201-19-8x5vym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507717/original/file-20230201-19-8x5vym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507717/original/file-20230201-19-8x5vym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507717/original/file-20230201-19-8x5vym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507717/original/file-20230201-19-8x5vym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507717/original/file-20230201-19-8x5vym.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">It’s called a deadly nightshade for a reason.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/flower-and-berries-of-deadly-nightshade-royalty-free-image/523717434">Naturfoto Honal/Corbis Documentary via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>People have been exploiting the poisonous properties of deadly nightshade <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17575737/">since Roman times</a>, but the plant has medicinal and cosmetic uses as well. The berries are rich in <a href="https://www.drugs.com/mtm/atropine-ophthalmic.html">atropine</a>, a chemical that enlarges the pupils by relaxing the muscles in the eye. This became <a href="https://archive.org/details/fritzspieglssick0000spie">a fad among women during the Renaissance</a> and can be used by ophthalmologists to dilate the pupil for an eye exam. Atropine is also included in the <a href="https://list.essentialmeds.org/medicines/10">World Health Organization’s Essential Medicines list</a> to reduce saliva production in surgeries and treat some poisonings and eye conditions.</p>
<p><a href="https://medlineplus.gov/druginfo/natural/531.html">Symptoms of deadly nightshade poisoning</a> include rapid heartbeat, blurred vision, vomiting, hallucinations, seizures and coma. These symptoms take at least 15 minutes to appear; they are not as immediate as depicted in “Wednesday.” And while some victims may have <a href="https://plantura.garden/uk/trees-shrubs/deadly-nightshade/deadly-nightshade-overview">blue-tinged skin</a> because of low oxygen levels in the blood, it is not a hallmark of deadly nightshade poisoning. Other conditions, <a href="https://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/argyria-overview">including silver poisoning</a>, can also cause blue skin.</p>
<p>“Wednesday” is the latest Hollywood hit that exaggerates what’s possible to advance a good story. Even if a show doesn’t quite get the science right, investigating what’s true can be educational.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/198270/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bill Sullivan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
From eating potpourri to blast fishing, Wednesday Addams and her friends and family get involved in a number of grisly hijinks. But could they happen in real life?
Bill Sullivan, Professor of Pharmacology & Toxicology, Indiana University
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/180534
2022-04-12T18:53:05Z
2022-04-12T18:53:05Z
Russia isn’t likely to use chemical weapons in Ukraine – unless Putin grows desperate
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457741/original/file-20220412-36930-p0rmfb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Ukrainians walk in the besieged city of Mariupol, where there are reports of a possible chemical attack. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/residents-walk-near-a-damaged-building-in-mariupol-april-10-2022-picture-id1239925917?s=2048x2048">Victor/Xinhua via Getty Images)</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Reports emerged from Ukraine on April 11, 2022, alleging that Russia had <a href="https://www.marketwatch.com/story/mariupol-mayor-says-10-000-civilians-have-been-killed-in-russian-siege-as-new-reports-circulate-of-chemical-weapons-use-01649713619">used a drone</a> to drop an unknown chemical agent in the besieged southern city of Mariupol. </p>
<p>There has been no official confirmation of these reports as of April 12. But the <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/11/pentagon-monitoring-reports-of-possible-russian-chemical-weapons-attack-in-mariupol.html">Pentagon has said</a> the news reflects U.S. concern about Russia’s “potential to use a variety of riot control agents, including tear gas mixed with chemical agents, in Ukraine.”</p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.dhs.gov/publication/chemical-attack-fact-sheet">chemical weapon</a> can be any chemical that is used to harm people, including to injure or kill them. Many substances have been used as chemical weapons. Nerve agents are the deadliest, because they require a smaller dose to be fatal.</p>
<p>As an <a href="https://nonproliferation.org/experts/jeffrey-knopf/">expert</a> who has studied the use of chemical weapons <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09636412.2020.1859130">in Syria’s civil war</a>, I have thought since Russia first attacked Ukraine that the likelihood of Russia using chemical weapons there is low. Russia has little political or military motivation to use them and would face strong international rebuke and possible military consequences for this kind of attack. </p>
<p>But as recent reports might indicate, Russian use remains a possibility under certain circumstances. This is particularly true if Russian President Vladimir Putin believes chemical weapons are the only way to break a stalemate in a key battle zone.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457736/original/file-20220412-54572-a27ze0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A row of dead children, covered in white cloth, is shown, as adults look over them" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457736/original/file-20220412-54572-a27ze0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457736/original/file-20220412-54572-a27ze0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457736/original/file-20220412-54572-a27ze0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457736/original/file-20220412-54572-a27ze0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457736/original/file-20220412-54572-a27ze0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457736/original/file-20220412-54572-a27ze0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457736/original/file-20220412-54572-a27ze0.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"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">More than 1,400 people, including children, were killed in a chemical weapons attack in Ghouta, Syria, in 2013.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/mother-and-father-weep-over-their-childs-body-who-was-killed-in-a-picture-id524299852?s=2048x2048">NurPhoto/Corbis via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Chemical weapons in Syria</h2>
<p>The ongoing <a href="https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/civil-war-syria">Syrian civil war</a> offers the most recent example of widespread chemical weapons attacks on civilians.</p>
<p>There have been reports of <a href="https://www.gppi.net/media/GPPi_Schneider_Luetkefend_2019_Nowhere_to_Hide_Web.pdf">more than 300</a> chemical attacks in Syria since the war began in 2012. A joint team from the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons investigated some of the larger attacks, and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/08/world/middleeast/syria-assad-chemical-weapons.html">conclusively attributed </a>several to the Assad regime. </p>
<p>Russia, an ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/linda-thomas-greenfield-bashar-assad-russia-chemical-weapons-damascus-ecc424a46e17b0b39c5e5cf029851733">continued supporting</a> the Syrian government despite these attacks. </p>
<p>The Assad regime used chemical weapons on its own people because it <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09636412.2020.1859130">feared what would happen if it lost</a> the war. Assad would lose power if rebel parties defeated him. Assad and his associates also worried they could be killed.</p>
<p>In August 2012, President Obama warned Syria against chemical weapon use, stating it would be “<a href="https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2012/08/20/remarks-president-white-house-press-corps">a red line</a>” for the U.S. </p>
<p>By the end of 2012, <a href="https://www.armscontrol.org/factsheets/Timeline-of-Syrian-Chemical-Weapons-Activity">reports</a> began to emerge of the Syrian military’s carrying out chemical attacks.</p>
<p>In August 2013, Syrian forces carried out the largest chemical attack of the war. They fired rockets containing the nerve agent sarin <a href="https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2013/08/30/government-asseSsment-syrian-government-s-use-chemical-weapons-august-21">into Ghouta</a>, a Damascus suburb, killing an estimated <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/nearly-1500-killed-in-syrian-chemical-weapons-attack-us-says/2013/08/30/b2864662-1196-11e3-85b6-d27422650fd5_story.html">1,400 people</a>, including children.</p>
<p>Russia increased its support for Assad after these strikes. </p>
<p>Russia did, however, work with the U.S. to persuade a reluctant Assad in 2013 to sign the <a href="https://www.armscontrol.org/factsheets/cwcglance">Chemical Weapons Convention</a>, an international treaty that outlaws both possession and use of such weapons. <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10736700.2020.1766226">Putin feared</a> that without this deal, a possible U.S. military response could grow into an effort to prompt regime change in Damascus and make Russia lose its closest ally in the Middle East. </p>
<p>The deal led to <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/598586/red-line-by-joby-warrick/">destruction of more</a> than 1,300 tons of Syrian chemical agents by early 2016. It also persuaded the Obama administration to refrain from military action in Syria.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, in 2014, <a href="https://www.gppi.net/media/GPPi_Schneider_Luetkefend_2019_Nowhere_to_Hide_Web.pdf">Syria resumed attacks</a> using chlorine, which can be deadly. Syria later also returned to occasional use of sarin.</p>
<p>Russian forces never used chemical weapons themselves, but they did conduct massive airstrikes – similar to the ones used on multiple cities in Ukraine – that <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/12/01/russia/syria-war-crimes-month-bombing-aleppo">destroyed significant portions</a> of the Syrian city of Aleppo in 2016.</p>
<h2>Political rationale</h2>
<p>Chemical weapons were first <a href="https://www.un.org/disarmament/wmd/chemical/">used in World War I</a> by nearly all major combatants. Opposing armies <a href="https://www.sciencehistory.org/distillations/a-brief-history-of-chemical-war">used mustard gas,</a> chlorine and phosgene as part of battlefield operations. </p>
<p>In the Syrian war, chemical weapons were part of a counterinsurgency campaign by Assad to hurt rebel forces and their civilian supporters. </p>
<p>Syria had two clear objectives for using chemical weapons. </p>
<p>First, most attacks served a <a href="https://www.gppi.net/media/GPPi_Schneider_Luetkefend_2019_Nowhere_to_Hide_Web.pdf">psychological purpose</a>. They were intended to terrify civilian populations so they would stop hiding rebel forces in their communities. Second, some of the larger attacks aimed to drive rebel forces out of areas they controlled. </p>
<p>These chemical attacks were <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09636412.2018.1483640">not necessarily effective</a> at reaching this military goal.</p>
<p>Instead, they were largely a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09636412.2020.1859130">function of desperation</a>. Assad escalated chemical attacks when his army began to run short on manpower and conventional munitions – especially in areas where his regime was losing control.</p>
<h2>Russia and chemical weapons</h2>
<p>Russia is believed <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/03/19/russia-chemical-weapons-ukraine/">to possess chemical weapons</a> despite having signed the <a href="https://www.opcw.org/about-us/member-states/russian-federation">Chemical Weapons Convention</a>. </p>
<p>Russia has twice been accused of using chemical weapons in attempted political assassinations. </p>
<p>In 2018, Russia poisoned a former Russian double agent living in the U.K., <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/21/world/europe/skripal-arrest.html">Sergei Skripal</a>, and his daughter with Novichok, a nerve agent developed by the Soviet Union in the final years of the Cold War. </p>
<p>The Skripals survived, but two other people who accidentally came in contact with the Novichok died as a result. </p>
<p>In 2020, Russia also attempted to poison opposition leader <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/03/1086012">Alexei Navalny</a> with Novichok. Navalny was hospitalized and almost died, but he ultimately recovered. </p>
<p>Russia has <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/International/russian-denial-secret-nerve-agent-program-seemingly-contradicted/story?id=53882997">never admitted possessing</a> Novichok. But the two assassination attempts show that Russia likely retains elements of a chemical weapons program.</p>
<p>There are other examples of Russia’s using chemicals in law enforcement operations that turned deadly. In October 2002, after Chechen militants held more than 900 people in a <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-20067384">Moscow theater</a> hostage, Russian security services pumped a gas into the theater. </p>
<p>The potency of the gas killed more than 100 of the hostages. Russia never revealed the gas it used, but experts believe it was a form of the <a href="https://www.history.com/news/opioid-chemical-weapons-moscow-theater-hostage-crisis">opioid fentanyl</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457738/original/file-20220412-37987-7atn7s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is pictured sitting in a hospital bed, surrounded by women in scrubs and face masks." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457738/original/file-20220412-37987-7atn7s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457738/original/file-20220412-37987-7atn7s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=597&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457738/original/file-20220412-37987-7atn7s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=597&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457738/original/file-20220412-37987-7atn7s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=597&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457738/original/file-20220412-37987-7atn7s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457738/original/file-20220412-37987-7atn7s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457738/original/file-20220412-37987-7atn7s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was hospitalized in 2020 after he was allegedly poisoned by the Russian government, but has since recovered.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/photo-shared-on-russian-opposition-leader-alexey-navalnys-instagram-picture-id1228522858?s=2048x2048">Alexei Navalny Instagram Account / Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Implications for Ukraine</h2>
<p>It is clear that Putin would have no moral issue with using chemical weapons. But at the moment, Russia likely feels no pressing need to use them.</p>
<p>The conditions that motivated the Assad regime – a shortage of conventional forces and fear of being overthrown – do not apply to Russia’s situation in Ukraine. </p>
<p>Although Russian forces face <a href="https://www.rferl.org/a/russians-confront-costs-casualties-war/31795043.html">rising casualty numbers</a> in Ukraine, Russia still has the military capacity to continue fighting at a conventional level. And because the war is not taking place inside Russia, Putin is not at risk of being toppled by Ukrainian forces if they win the conflict.</p>
<p>Russia’s ability to terrorize civilians – a major goal of chemical weapons use – might also be limited. </p>
<p>A chemical attack may not have the intended psychological effect of demoralizing civilians. Putin appears to have <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/04/11/putin-misjudged-ukraine-hubris-isolation/">misjudged Ukrainian civilians’</a> fortitude. Ukrainians would likely want to keep fighting even if Russia used chemical weapons against them. </p>
<p>This situation could change if the Russian military is on the brink of a decisive defeat. Then, desperation might lead Putin to consider a chemical option. </p>
<p>Although the risk of chemical weapon use, and especially large-scale use, remains low, it does remain possible.</p>
<p>[<em>The Conversation’s Politics + Society editors pick need-to-know stories.</em> <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?nl=politics&source=inline-politics-need-to-know">Sign up for Politics Weekly</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/180534/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jeffrey W. Knopf received past funding for research on Syria from the U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency.</span></em></p>
There are unconfirmed reports that Russia has used chemical weapons in Ukraine. Syria’s recent chemical weapons use offers context for understanding this tactic. Chemical weapons terrify civilians.
Jeffrey William Knopf, Professor and Program Chair Nonproliferation and Terrorism Studies, Middlebury
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/176237
2022-02-27T13:09:00Z
2022-02-27T13:09:00Z
Dying for makeup: Lead cosmetics poisoned 18th-century European socialites in search of whiter skin
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/447705/original/file-20220222-21-167vach.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5472%2C3628&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An actor wearing a contemporary version of 18th-century lead-based makeup.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Eighteenth-century socialites have been depicted as vain, silly women who were poisoned by their <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2151541/Vanity-mirror-used-tragic-18th-century-society-beauty-27-died-make-poisoning-sells-300-000.html">white lead makeup</a>. The Countess of Coventry, Maria Gunning — a society hostess reknowned for her beauty — is said to have refused to stop wearing foundation containing white lead, <a href="https://historyofyesterday.com/deadly-fashion-trends-from-the-georgian-era-58d120dad1c6">even as she lay dying</a>. Why would women of that era knowingly choose to wear makeup that was killing them? Was beauty worth dying for? Or was the makeup not to blame?</p>
<p>I am a scientist who has been studying lead poisoning for 30 years, with a particular interest in women’s exposure to lead. My research shows that women metabolize lead differently from men, women exposed to lead as children have <a href="https://doi.org/10.1136/oem.57.7.465">elevated blood lead levels 20 years later</a>, and women exposed to lead are at <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/ajim.10096">risk of hypertension</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.7386">early menopause</a>. </p>
<p>The stories about white lead makeup poisoning did not make sense to me, so two years ago, <a href="https://www.insauga.com/killer-beauty-mcmaster-researchers-study-mysterious-18th-century-death/">I decided to start studying these cosmetics</a>.</p>
<figure>
<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/484190477" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen="" mozallowfullscreen="" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Dying to be Beautiful: Exploring the look and toxicity of 18th century makeup.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Historical techniques</h2>
<p>My research group makes white lead makeup from recipes dating from the 16th to 19th centuries. If you look around the makeup counters of a department store, you will see words such as “illuminate,” “radiance,” “glow” and “luminous.” You’ll also see products that promise to reduce shine or blur imperfections. These modern products change the way light is reflected from the skin, which is perceived as enhancing beauty. </p>
<p>We wanted to know if white lead makeup had some of these properties, so we studied the colour and level of light reflected by the makeup using an optical spectrometer.</p>
<p>Our most surprising finding has been that white lead makeup can look quite pretty and natural. It does not look like the bright white mask that we have seen depicted on screens and stages — it is generally much more subtle and sophisticated. </p>
<p>We test the makeup on ethically sourced pigskin. The pigs we use have a pale complexion that is very close to the lightest colour of human skin, which burns easily and does not tan well. The white lead makeup usually does not change the colour of this skin much at all.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Three petri dishes with bare pigskin, pigskin with titanium-based makeup and pigskin with lead makeup." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446392/original/file-20220214-17-1pygpfy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446392/original/file-20220214-17-1pygpfy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=222&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446392/original/file-20220214-17-1pygpfy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=222&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446392/original/file-20220214-17-1pygpfy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=222&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446392/original/file-20220214-17-1pygpfy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=279&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446392/original/file-20220214-17-1pygpfy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=279&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446392/original/file-20220214-17-1pygpfy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=279&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A comparison of bare skin with makeup made with white lead and with titanium dioxide replacing the lead carbonate. Modern recipes that use a titanium replacement look whiter and more opaque than the ‘softer’ yellow-white of lead makeup.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(F.E. McNeill)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Titanium oxide is the modern substitute for white lead. When we used titanium oxide in the makeup recipes, the colour change was dramatic. There was a shift towards blue, and the makeup appeared startlingly white. Actors wearing makeup formulations made from old white lead recipes with a titanium substitute are wearing the wrong colour.</p>
<h2>Colour changes</h2>
<p>We tested different historical makeup recipes to see how the colour would be affected. One recipe made no measurable change to the colour, while another changed yellow tones slightly. Adding a yellow tone to pale skin is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0032988">perceived as more attractive</a>, due to its connection to fruit and vegetable consumption. A third makeup mixture reduced redness in the skin, something that today’s colour-correcting foundation makeup attempts to correct.</p>
<p>All the white lead makeups we tested increased the amount of light the skin reflected — referred to as its reflectance. Skin becomes <a href="https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/b2/24/aa/e19ac6d3eb268f/US10281267.pdf">less reflective as women age</a>, and more reflective skin is associated with a youthful complexion. </p>
<p>Specifically, the makeups increased the diffuse reflectance of the skin. Light reflection occurs in two ways. First, light can reflect, as from a mirror. It comes in at an angle and is reflected at that same angle. We call this specular reflection. Objects with a high specular reflection look glossy or shiny. </p>
<p>Second, light can reflect or scatter off rough surfaces in several directions. This is diffuse reflection. Objects with high diffuse reflection look blurred or slightly out-of-focus. The increased diffuse reflectance from the white lead makeup gives the skin a “softer” appearance, blurring blemishes — another effect produced by modern cosmetics.</p>
<p>The recipes we re-create in our lab create a soft-focus look that blurs wrinkles and blemishes, or the look of a youthful, dewy complexion.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/448246/original/file-20220224-2513-1kfkdp1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="an array of liquid and powder foundations and blushes" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/448246/original/file-20220224-2513-1kfkdp1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/448246/original/file-20220224-2513-1kfkdp1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448246/original/file-20220224-2513-1kfkdp1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448246/original/file-20220224-2513-1kfkdp1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448246/original/file-20220224-2513-1kfkdp1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448246/original/file-20220224-2513-1kfkdp1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448246/original/file-20220224-2513-1kfkdp1.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">Modern makeup promotes even skin tone and a glow, achieved by altering the skin’s reflectance.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The ugly price of beauty</h2>
<p>However, prettiness does come with an ugly side: the celebration of white skin. While the overall measured colour shifts on pale skin are small, spectral changes do make the skin look lighter. These were products that would have enhanced the whiteness of skin. </p>
<p>Historians, anthropologists and sociologists have long studied skin whitening and the reasons people may choose to do this. Our science shows how white lead makeup could achieve this in a subtle way, like an earlier version of <a href="https://www.beautypackaging.com/contents/view_online-exclusives/2021-10-07/how-nomakeup-natural-looks-fail-to-discourage-the-use-of-cosmetics/">“no-makeup” makeup</a>.</p>
<p>We have also been testing whether some makeup formulations allow lead to be absorbed through the skin. White lead cannot be absorbed easily through skin, it is only toxic if eaten or inhaled. However, if the makeup formulations changed the form of the lead, or softened the outer layer of the skin, some lead could diffuse through. This would make those makeup formulations more poisonous. </p>
<p>Our research is showing some evidence of differences in skin absorbance, meaning some recipes were more toxic than others. It is possible that some recipes could have been used with little problem. Other recipes, which made <a href="https://collections.nlm.nih.gov/catalog/nlm:nlmuid-101636361-bk">young women deathly ill</a>, were probably so poisonous because the lead was absorbed through the skin. </p>
<p>So far, our research suggests that most white lead makeup recipes probably didn’t kill 18th century socialites by being absorbed through the skin. But some recipes were more toxic than others.</p>
<p>The most toxic mixture we have observed so far is the very simple formulation said to have been used by England’s Queen Elizabeth I: a mixture of <a href="http://www.elizabethancostume.net/makeup.html">white lead and vinegar</a>. This mixture passed lead through the skin in much higher quantities than other recipes. This raises the question of whether it is worth revisiting whether <a href="https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/topics/little-known-or-unknown-facts-regarding-queen-elizabeth-death">some of Elizabeth I’s health problems were due to, or exacerbated by, lead poisoning</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/176237/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Fiona E. McNeill receives funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.</span></em></p>
Historic white lead makeup is depicted today as a thick white mask, but recent studies have found that some formulations create a more natural, youthful look.
Fiona E. McNeill, Professor, Physics and Astronomy, McMaster University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/167257
2021-10-28T15:39:12Z
2021-10-28T15:39:12Z
Chocolate: From witchcraft to miracle worker in early modern Europe
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/425291/original/file-20211007-25-so558a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=20%2C6%2C4580%2C3442&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">When Spain first imported chocolate, the medical community was concerned about the drink and its potential side effects.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>We don’t generally think of chocolate as scary, despite its close ties to Halloween and all the miniature ghosts, skeletons and witches that will be out asking for a treat in lieu of a trick on Oct. 31. And even then, the threat of receiving a chocolate bar that has been tampered with is not enough to frighten most of us, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/halloween-candy-tampering-urban-legend-truth-1.5341734">and has been largely discredited as a hoax</a>. </p>
<p>So, was there ever a time when chocolate was frightening? Not exactly. But there was a time when it was unknown <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.org/topics/resource-library-mesoamerica/?q=&page=1&per_page=25">outside of Mesoamerica</a>. </p>
<p>As I relay in my book, <a href="https://utorontopress.com/9781487527204/chocolate/"><em>Chocolate: How a New World Commodity Conquered Spanish Literature</em></a>, its introduction into Europe generated concerns about the otherworldly nature of the drink, which was the only way it was consumed at the time.</p>
<h2>When chocolate made its way to Europe</h2>
<p>Spain <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-americas/history-of-chocolate">was the first European country to import chocolate</a> and there was growing alarm in the medical community about the drink and <a href="https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo/A19160.0001.001?rgn=main;view=fulltext">its potential side effects</a>.</p>
<p>The origins of the drink in Latin America raised suspicion among both <a href="http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1669/2/cacao-cravings-europes-assimilation-and-europeanization-of-chocolate-drinking-from-mesoamerica-1492-1700-ce">religious and medical professionals</a>. From a European perspective, the lack of a recognizable religion on the continent meant that the inhabitants must have been under the <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315108995-3/devil-new-world-jorge-ca%C3%B1izares-esguerra">influence of Satan</a>. This misconception tainted anything coming out of the Americas. </p>
<p>Well-known satirist Francisco de Quevedo <a href="https://delanceyplace.com/view-archives.php?p=3737">labelled tobacco and chocolate as demons</a> sent to Spain to punish the colonial forces for the atrocities committed against Indigenous Peoples by making them weak and ill. </p>
<p>This was in line with medical practitioners of the period, who expressed concern that this new food from such a different climate could have a <a href="https://academic.oup.com/ahr/article/115/3/688/41267">severe effect on the Spanish constitution</a>. In the church, clergy complained that chocolate would break the fast, still an important part of Catholicism at the time. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Cacao bean sand raw chocolate sit piled in the centre of the frame" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/425294/original/file-20211007-25-17wc9r6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/425294/original/file-20211007-25-17wc9r6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/425294/original/file-20211007-25-17wc9r6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/425294/original/file-20211007-25-17wc9r6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/425294/original/file-20211007-25-17wc9r6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/425294/original/file-20211007-25-17wc9r6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/425294/original/file-20211007-25-17wc9r6.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 satirist labelled chocolate as a demon.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Anxieties around chocolate</h2>
<p>Many of the anxieties around the uses of chocolate can be attributed to the preparation of the drink. While we now concern ourselves with the percentage of cacao in a chocolate bar, there were concerns then about the purity of the chocolate being sold. </p>
<p>In one instance, the <a href="https://utorontopress.com/9781487527204/chocolate/">Order of Doctors of Madrid blamed a string of unexpected deaths</a> on the use of low-quality ingredients by chocolatiers who were facing supply-chain issues alongside increased demand. They then recommended that the court control the quality of imported chocolates, as well as restrict prices and regulate ingredients.</p>
<p>Seventeenth-century consumers not only had to concern themselves with quality issues, but also the threat of poisoning and witchcraft. It was common knowledge that the bitter taste and tendency to include spices and other ingredients made chocolate <a href="https://books.google.ca/books/about/Relaci%C3%B3n_Verdadera_del_Gran_Serm%C3%B3n.html?id=ejD6jgEACAAJ&redir_esc=y">the perfect vehicle for hiding some of the more repulsive additives required to make potions</a>. </p>
<p>Rumour had it that the last Hapsburg King, Carlos II (also known as “el hechizado” or “the cursed one”), was poisoned by his mother, by slipping some tissue from a dead man’s brain into his beloved cup of chocolate. Allegedly, <a href="https://www.abebooks.com/book-search/title/supersticiones-los-siglos-xvi-y-xvii-y-hechizos-carlos-ii/">this rendered him unable to lead or produce an heir, allowing her to continue to reign as his guardian</a>. We now know that his issues were much more likely the outcome of generations of intermarriage. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Chocolate and cacao beans" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/425280/original/file-20211007-19107-nicdfh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=14%2C0%2C3313%2C2375&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/425280/original/file-20211007-19107-nicdfh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/425280/original/file-20211007-19107-nicdfh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/425280/original/file-20211007-19107-nicdfh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/425280/original/file-20211007-19107-nicdfh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/425280/original/file-20211007-19107-nicdfh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/425280/original/file-20211007-19107-nicdfh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The bitter taste of chocolate made it the perfect vehicle for hiding some of the more repulsive additives required to make potions.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Tetiana Bykovets/Unsplash)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>From mask for poison to cure all</h2>
<p>Literary works that use chocolate as a theme also mention its magical powers; in one instance it is used as a sleeping potion, while elsewhere it is seen as a miracle cure. </p>
<p>In the play, <a href="https://books.google.ca/books?id=QjBeAAAAcAAJ&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=santa+rosa+del+per%C3%BA+agustin+moreto&source=gbs_navlinks_s"><em>Santa Rosa del Perú</em></a>, a servant convinces the future Saint Rosa that chocolate is a better cure-all than anything you would find in a pharmacy. When they drink it, she recovers from a stomach-ache and he fixes a rotten tooth. </p>
<p>In the anonymous book <a href="https://books.google.ca/books/about/Relaci%C3%B3n_Verdadera_del_Gran_Serm%C3%B3n.html?id=ejD6jgEACAAJ&redir_esc=y"><em>The Great Sermon</em></a>, chocolate is used in a variety of situations to cure foreign leaders in the hopes that they will be converted to Christianity. </p>
<p>In it, a Japanese king is cured of pain through chocolate, but instead of finding God, he becomes convinced of his sexual prowess and is sure that he will charm women of all ages, from virgins to widows. In another instance, a priest attempts to cure and baptise the leader of a region known as Tartary. The religious portion of the plan fails again, but the leader is miraculously cured through chocolate. <em>The Great Sermon</em> succeeds in demonstrating the ridiculous claims of the missionaries, thus criticizing Spain’s use of religion to justify the destruction and colonization of Latin America.</p>
<p>Chocolate’s trajectory from Mesoamerica to Spain was not direct or smooth, but ultimately chocolate has survived and thrived in European and American societies. Despite the early connections to witchcraft, chocolate quickly becomes tied to a different kind of magic, that of the miracle. </p>
<p>Ultimately, chocolate is incorporated into the daily diet of Spain and continues to be an important part of the cultural and culinary legacy on both sides of the Atlantic.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/167257/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Erin Alice Cowling 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>
From devil to potion to miracle drug, chocolate’s arrival in Europe was a wild ride.
Erin Alice Cowling, Associate Professor of Spanish, Department of Humanities, MacEwan University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/168660
2021-10-17T19:14:16Z
2021-10-17T19:14:16Z
People want to use bleach and antiseptic for COVID and are calling us for advice
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/425387/original/file-20211008-21-ofpnwd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C1%2C1000%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/man-gargling-throat-holding-galss-1797736726">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Through our work at the <a href="https://www.poisonsinfo.nsw.gov.au">New South Wales Poisons Information Centre</a>, we’re used to receiving calls from concerned parents about what to do if their child has accidentally drunk some cleaning product. We also take calls from health professionals for advice on how to manage poisonings.</p>
<p>But over the past 18 months, we’ve seen an increasing number of people calling us about home remedies to prevent or cure COVID-19, particularly during an outbreak. They’re calling for advice before using items such as bleach or disinfectant. Or they’re calling to ask about side-effects after gargling, spraying or bathing in them.</p>
<p>When asked about the reason for using such products, callers say they did not know they could be harmful. Some say they thought it was better to do something, rather than nothing. </p>
<p>We’re concerned about the use of unproven COVID-19 home remedies. Here are some of the more common ones people have called our 24-hour poisons information service about, the types that can need medical care.</p>
<h2>1. Inhaling hydrogen peroxide</h2>
<p>Hydrogen peroxide is used in household disinfectants, chlorine-free bleaches, stain removers and hair dyes. And people have been calling about inhaling products containing hydrogen peroxide as a fine mist (called <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-are-nebulisers-and-how-could-they-help-spread-covid-19-155032">nebulising</a>).</p>
<p>Hydrogen peroxide (1-1.5%) mouthwashes <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34196047/">have been recommended</a> as an antiseptic before a dental procedure. However, results about whether it kills SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34399189/">are conflicting</a>.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1446942764235698177"}"></div></p>
<p>Nebulising hydrogen peroxide <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15298493/">can cause</a> irritation and swelling to the nose, throat and lungs. People can develop a cough and become short of breath; it can cause persistent damage to the lungs. These symptoms can be misinterpreted as a lung infection. If you have COVID-19, nebulising hydrogen peroxide can make you sicker and prolong your recovery. </p>
<p>People also report nausea and vomiting after nebulising hydrogen peroxide. The risk is increased with solutions of higher concentrations, although we do not believe any concentration is safe.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/thinking-of-trying-ivermectin-for-covid-heres-what-can-happen-with-this-controversial-drug-167178">Thinking of trying ivermectin for COVID? Here's what can happen with this controversial drug</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>2. Gargling or swallowing antiseptics</h2>
<p>People have also called about gargling or swallowing strong antiseptics. These can cause irritation, swelling and pain to the mouth, as well as vomiting, diarrhoea and stomach pains. </p>
<p>Gargling or swallowing <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32348645/">corrosive</a> household cleaning products, such as the type you’d use in your kitchen or bathroom, is <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30689457/">particularly unsafe</a>. This can lead to life-threatening injuries, including rupture and bleeding of the upper gut, between the mouth and stomach.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/betadine-anti-vaxxer-covid-treatment-iodine-1225438/">recently promoted</a> home remedy is gargling antiseptics containing povidone-iodine.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1439996535815684105"}"></div></p>
<p>Some low concentration (0.5-1%) of products containing povidone-iodine can be gargled. And povidone-iodine (0.5%) mouthwash has been recommended before a dental procedure to <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34561086/">prevent transmission</a> <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34399189/">of SARS-CoV-2</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34628705/">Small pilot studies</a> have suggested that similar low-strength gargle and nasal sprays may shorten the survival of SARS-CoV-2 in the nose and mouth. But these results should be confirmed in larger studies. </p>
<p>Although some people are allergic to povidone-iodine, low concentration solutions are <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32520599/">usually safe</a> when applied in the nose or mouth for a few months. </p>
<p>However, many products contain much higher concentrations of povidone-iodine and other chemicals designed for use on the skin. </p>
<p>So swallowing, gargling or inserting these products in the nose is not recommended.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/gargling-with-iodine-wont-stop-you-getting-covid-167946">Gargling with iodine won't stop you getting COVID</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>3. Bathing in bleach or disinfectant</h2>
<p>Bathing in household cleaning products (such as bleach or disinfectant), or applying them directly to the skin, can cause mild-to-moderate irritation and rashes.</p>
<p><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30689457/">Burns</a> <a href="https://pmj.bmj.com/content/59/693/472">can occur</a> <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7529601/">with stronger products</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/bleach-bonfires-and-bad-breath-the-long-history-of-dodgy-plague-remedies-137658">Bleach, bonfires and bad breath: the long history of dodgy plague remedies</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>4. Spraying face masks</h2>
<p>Routinely spraying disinfectants into face masks, and then breathing in the fumes and residue for a prolonged period, can also harm.</p>
<p>This can result in irritation to the throat and lungs, dizziness, headache and nausea.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/425389/original/file-20211008-13-wdygg9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Person spraying disposable face mask" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/425389/original/file-20211008-13-wdygg9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/425389/original/file-20211008-13-wdygg9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/425389/original/file-20211008-13-wdygg9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/425389/original/file-20211008-13-wdygg9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/425389/original/file-20211008-13-wdygg9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/425389/original/file-20211008-13-wdygg9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/425389/original/file-20211008-13-wdygg9.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">If you spray your face mask, you’ll breathe in the fumes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/hand-woman-spraying-alcohol-on-medical-1737708047">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>5. Taking high-dose vitamins</h2>
<p>Taking over-the-counter supplements, including vitamins, for a prolonged period is also a concern as high doses can have <a href="https://www.nps.org.au/australian-prescriber/articles/the-safety-of-commonly-used-vitamins-and-minerals">side-effects</a>:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>vitamin C can cause kidney stones</p></li>
<li><p>zinc can cause loss of taste or smell</p></li>
<li><p>vitamin D can cause high concentrations of calcium in the blood, with effects including headache, thirst and, uncommonly, seizures.</p></li>
</ul>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/vitamins-and-minerals-arent-risk-free-here-are-6-ways-they-can-cause-harm-165399">Vitamins and minerals aren't risk-free. Here are 6 ways they can cause harm</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>It’s a confusing time</h2>
<p>COVID-19 is arguably the most confusing time in recent history for making decisions about our health care. While people debate if any of these proposed home remedies work, it is essential to also consider their potential harms. </p>
<p>Deaths and other complications are <a href="https://www.nps.org.au/australian-prescriber/articles/covid-19-and-the-quality-use-of-medicines-evidence-risks-and-fads">reported in people overseas</a> due to well-meaning use of proposed treatments and home remedies. We hope to avoid this in Australia. </p>
<hr>
<p><em>If this article raises concerns for you or for someone you know about a COVID-19 home remedy, call the <a href="https://www.poisonsinfo.nsw.gov.au/">Poisons Information Hotline</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/168660/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/pharmacologist at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and St Vincent’s Hospital (Sydney).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicole Wright is the Acting Department Head, NSW Poisons Information Centre</span></em></p>
They’re calling for advice before using bleach or disinfectant. Or they’re calling to ask about side-effects after gargling, spraying or bathing in them. It’s a worry.
Darren Roberts, Conjoint Associate Professor in clinical pharmacology and toxicology, UNSW Sydney
Nicole Wright, Clinical Educator, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Sydney
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/163337
2021-08-23T12:04:24Z
2021-08-23T12:04:24Z
Poison or cure? Traditional Chinese medicine shows that context can make all the difference
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415906/original/file-20210812-24899-jszn8m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2121%2C1412&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Poisons have been used in traditional Chinese medicine for over two millennia.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/chinese-herbal-medicine-royalty-free-image/157691909">4X-image/E+ via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Poisons today typically evoke notions of harm and danger – the opposite of medicines for healing. Yet <a href="http://bioinf-applied.charite.de/supertcm/">traditional Chinese medicine</a>, which has been in practice for <a href="http://cup.columbia.edu/book/traditional-chinese-medicine/9780231175012">over two millennia</a>, used a large number of poisons to treat a variety of illnesses. Chinese doctors knew that what makes a drug therapeutic isn’t just its active ingredient – it depends on how you use it.</p>
<p>Biomedical researchers <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-01726-1">skeptical of the safety and efficacy of traditional Chinese medicine</a> might not be surprised that Chinese doctors historically prescribed poisons. Some believe that the drugs used in traditional Chinese medicine often contain <a href="https://theconversation.com/are-traditional-chinese-medicines-safe-and-legal-6373">hidden toxic ingredients detrimental to health</a>.</p>
<p>But this blurred boundary between poison and medicine is not unique to traditional Chinese medicine. <a href="https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324002505">Chemotherapy</a> uses toxic drugs to treat cancer. And the <a href="https://www.drugabuse.gov/drug-topics/opioids/opioid-overdose-crisis">U.S. opioid epidemic</a> offers a sobering reminder of how a class of FDA-approved medicines used to treat chronic pain became lethal poisons through improper administration. Conversely, <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/529343/how-to-change-your-mind-by-michael-pollan/">certain psychedelics</a> deemed illegal today have ignited new interest in the medical community as potential treatments for anxiety, addiction and depression.</p>
<p>I am a <a href="https://yan-liu.net/">medical historian</a> who examined the <a href="https://uwapress.uw.edu/book/9780295748993/healing-with-poisons/">therapeutic use of poisons in Chinese medicine</a> in my recent book. Based on my research, I believe that Chinese doctors in the past recognized the healing capacity of poisons while being fully aware of their potential to kill. Understanding this practice compels modern biomedicine to reconsider how “medicine” is defined today.</p>
<h2>What is an active ingredient?</h2>
<p>The debate on the safety and efficacy of traditional Chinese medicine often centers on the <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/06/140605093305.htm">active ingredient</a> of a drug. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration <a href="https://www.fda.gov/drugs/drug-approvals-and-databases/drugsfda-glossary-terms#A">defines an active ingredient</a> as “any component that provides pharmacological activity or other direct effect in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease, or to affect the structure or any function of the body of man or animals.”</p>
<p>In other words, the active ingredient is a specific chemical considered to make up the essence of a drug. Because it carries the responsibility of curing a target disease, it’s <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1111%2Fj.1476-5381.2010.01127.x">used as the gold standard</a> to evaluate the utility of a drug in modern pharmaceutics.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415920/original/file-20210812-25200-1qj4ufq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two traditional Chinese medicine practitioners weigh and wrap herbs at Tong Ren Tang." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415920/original/file-20210812-25200-1qj4ufq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415920/original/file-20210812-25200-1qj4ufq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415920/original/file-20210812-25200-1qj4ufq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415920/original/file-20210812-25200-1qj4ufq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415920/original/file-20210812-25200-1qj4ufq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415920/original/file-20210812-25200-1qj4ufq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415920/original/file-20210812-25200-1qj4ufq.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">Understanding the poison-medicine paradox opens up more doors for treatment.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/the-preparation-of-traditional-chinese-medicine-at-the-news-photo/527442670">Mike Kemp/Corbis News via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There is value to identifying active ingredients in drug discovery, including those in traditional Chinese medicine. Scientist <a href="https://theconversation.com/is-the-2015-nobel-prize-a-turning-point-for-traditional-chinese-medicine-48643">Tu Youyou won the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine</a> for isolating malaria drug artemisinin from an herb used in traditional Chinese medicine. In the same vein, medical researcher <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11427-013-4487-z">Zhang Tingdong and his team</a> identified arsenic trioxide as an effective treatment for leukemia by studying drug formulas in traditional Chinese medicine.</p>
<p>Despite these success stories, reducing a medicine to a single molecule is rather limited. This reductionist approach ignores the context in which a drug is used, which plays a crucial role in its end effects. To appreciate this perspective, it is necessary to go back in history to see how poisons were understood and used in premodern China.</p>
<h2>Poisons in traditional Chinese medicine</h2>
<p>The Chinese word for poison is <a href="https://www.zdic.net/hans/%E6%AF%92">“du” (毒)</a>. Unlike its negative meaning today, ancient texts written 2,000 years ago <a href="https://uw.manifoldapp.org/read/healing-with-poisons-d74f2492-5f8c-4898-8cd1-546023f82ab8/section/aaaebb7f-02be-48d2-a705-63f8cfc4e7c9">used the word to denote potency</a>, or the ability to both harm and heal. There was no categorical distinction between poisons and nonpoisons in traditional Chinese medicine – they acted in a continuum defined by level of potency.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410863/original/file-20210712-27-cocyqt.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Historical illustration of a plant with leaves and large tubers" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410863/original/file-20210712-27-cocyqt.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410863/original/file-20210712-27-cocyqt.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=796&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410863/original/file-20210712-27-cocyqt.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=796&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410863/original/file-20210712-27-cocyqt.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=796&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410863/original/file-20210712-27-cocyqt.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1000&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410863/original/file-20210712-27-cocyqt.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1000&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410863/original/file-20210712-27-cocyqt.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1000&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Aconite is a poisonous herb that was used to treat cold symptoms in ancient Chinese medical practice.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.loc.gov/resource/lcnclscd.2012402216.1A010/?sp=3">Library of Congress, Asian Division, Chinese Rare Books</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The dual potential of poisons laid the foundation for their use in medicine. Chinese doctors strategically deployed potent poisons to cure everything from blood clots to abdominal pain to epidemic diseases. For example, <a href="https://www.gbif.org/species/8244887">aconite (“fuzi” 附子), a highly poisonous herb grown in southwest China</a>, was one of the most often prescribed medicines in the medieval era. <a href="https://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/n7034/html/08-fluid-being/index.html">Mercury</a> was another poison used regularly in both medicine and alchemy to eliminate worms and prolong life. Overall, <a href="https://doi.org/10.34758/yazp-kz74">poisons consistently made up about 20% of the drugs</a> in the ever-expanding Chinese pharmacopeia throughout the imperial era, speaking to their crucial role in healing.</p>
<p>One way Chinese doctors used poisons for healing was through the principle of <a href="https://uw.manifoldapp.org/read/healing-with-poisons-d74f2492-5f8c-4898-8cd1-546023f82ab8/section/23b03b49-e064-4226-bd75-cb7ab99e6353">using poison to attack poison (“yi du gong du” 以毒攻毒)</a>. In their eyes, these powerful substances could target and eliminate specific disease entities like worms inside the body. They believed the strong sensations induced by poisons marked a process of purifying the body of its harmful burdens.</p>
<h2>The context in which a drug is used matters</h2>
<p>Chinese doctors in the past were not looking for an active ingredient that defined the usefulness of any given substance. Rather, they considered the effect of each drug highly malleable. No better example illustrates this way of thinking than the medical use of poisons. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410870/original/file-20210712-38010-1mwxo4g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Illustration of a master surrounded by his disciples who are processing drugs" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410870/original/file-20210712-38010-1mwxo4g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410870/original/file-20210712-38010-1mwxo4g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=876&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410870/original/file-20210712-38010-1mwxo4g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=876&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410870/original/file-20210712-38010-1mwxo4g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=876&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410870/original/file-20210712-38010-1mwxo4g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1101&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410870/original/file-20210712-38010-1mwxo4g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1101&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410870/original/file-20210712-38010-1mwxo4g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1101&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Illustration of drug processing in a 16th-century pharmaceutical text.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://wellcomecollection.org/works/exgqkteq">Wellcome Collection</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Doctors in China were keenly aware of how the effect of a poison varied greatly depending on how it was prepared and administered. Accordingly, they <a href="https://uw.manifoldapp.org/read/healing-with-poisons-d74f2492-5f8c-4898-8cd1-546023f82ab8/section/69b5c6b9-093c-4946-8c17-3fd351944c06">developed a variety of methods</a> – such as dosage control, mixing with other ingredients and other drug processing techniques – to mitigate a poison’s potency but still preserve its efficacy.</p>
<p>Chinese doctors were also aware that poisons worked differently from person to person. The same drug could have different effects depending on the patient’s gender, age, setting, emotional status and lifestyle. For example, <a href="https://www.happygoatproductions.com/sun-simiao-">eminent 7th-century physician Sun Simiao (孫思邈)</a> offered remedies specific to women and the elderly.</p>
<p>Using a poison outside of its prescription often proved deadly. For instance, <a href="https://uw.manifoldapp.org/read/1abfa74f-92a6-4b5c-aec9-c2ab99bc1f74/section/49ca5b73-2a40-4fb1-88bd-412d8677e2c4">Five-Stone Powder, or “Wushi San” (五石散)</a>, a psychedelic drug that contains arsenic, was one of the most popular medicines in medieval China. Despite medical recommendation that it be used only as a last resort to treat emergencies, many at the time regularly consumed it to invigorate their bodies and illuminate their minds. Unsurprisingly, this misuse led to numerous deaths. Going beyond its restricted usage, a poison could easily kill.</p>
<h2>Beyond the active ingredient</h2>
<p>The paradox of healing with poisons in traditional Chinese medicine reveals a key message: There is no essential, absolute or unchanging core that characterizes a medicine. Instead, the effect of any given drug is always relational – it is contingent on how the drug is used, how it interacts with a particular body and its intended effects.</p>
<p>[<em>Over 100,000 readers rely on The Conversation’s newsletter to understand the world.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=100Ksignup">Sign up today</a>.]</p>
<p>Medicines are fluid substances that defy stable categorization. Looking beyond the biomedical standard of the active ingredient could help doctors and researchers pay more attention to the context of how medicines are used. This will allow for a more nuanced understanding of healing.</p>
<p>Ultimately, there is more to a medicine than its active ingredient. Poisons in traditional Chinese medicine, I hope, teach a compelling lesson.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/163337/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Yan Liu does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The usefulness of a drug is typically measured by its active ingredient. But traditional Chinese medicine shows that there’s more to healing than using the right chemical.
Yan Liu, Assistant Professor of History, University at Buffalo
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/160151
2021-06-07T12:34:52Z
2021-06-07T12:34:52Z
Why are some mushrooms poisonous?
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/402428/original/file-20210524-17-1a7bsu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3870%2C2570&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Poisonous or edible?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/collection-of-poisonous-and-edible-mushrooms-from-royalty-free-image/1019817860">Ekaterina Morozova/iStock via Getty Images Plus</a></span></figcaption></figure><figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/curious-kids-us-74795">Curious Kids</a> is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to <a href="mailto:curiouskidsus@theconversation.com">curiouskidsus@theconversation.com</a>.</em></p>
<hr>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>Why are some mushrooms poisonous and some are not? – Alice T., age 11</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p>You may have noticed that mushrooms pop up in your yard or in parks right after a rain but don’t last for long. </p>
<p>A mushroom is the above-ground part of a fungus. Most of the time, fungi live as threadlike structures called hyphae underground or in materials like wood. For fungi to reproduce, a mushroom must form above ground.</p>
<p>Some mushrooms are poisonous for the same reason some plants are poisonous – to protect themselves from being eaten so they can reproduce. Other mushrooms use the opposite strategy. They need animals to eat them in order to spread spores through poop. Still other mushrooms have completely different game plans.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/402432/original/file-20210524-17-1r89xz1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Finger shaped fungi release spores that look like smoke." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/402432/original/file-20210524-17-1r89xz1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/402432/original/file-20210524-17-1r89xz1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402432/original/file-20210524-17-1r89xz1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402432/original/file-20210524-17-1r89xz1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402432/original/file-20210524-17-1r89xz1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402432/original/file-20210524-17-1r89xz1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402432/original/file-20210524-17-1r89xz1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=518&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 candlestick fungus, <em>Xylaria hypoxylon</em>, releases its spores.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/xylaria-hypoxylon-candlestick-fungus-royalty-free-image/1286089348">Jasius/Moment via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Spreading spores</h2>
<p>Mushrooms develop when the temperature is right and there is enough water. They usually consist of a cap and a stalk. On the underside of the cap, mushrooms produce spores that, like the seeds of plants, produce new fungi. </p>
<p>If you peek under a variety of mushroom caps, you will notice they are not all the same. </p>
<p>Some mushrooms have gills that look like a pleated sheet of paper. Some have pores that look like sponges. And some have toothlike structures. All of these surfaces produce spores. To create a new generation of fungi, spores need to get to new areas – and there are many fascinating ways mushrooms accomplish this. </p>
<p>For some mushrooms, spores simply fall from their caps and are carried to new homes by air currents.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/402426/original/file-20210524-23-b4szbm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A cluster of mushrooms glow in the dark." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/402426/original/file-20210524-23-b4szbm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/402426/original/file-20210524-23-b4szbm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402426/original/file-20210524-23-b4szbm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402426/original/file-20210524-23-b4szbm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402426/original/file-20210524-23-b4szbm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402426/original/file-20210524-23-b4szbm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402426/original/file-20210524-23-b4szbm.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 ghost fungus, <em>Omphalotus nidiformis</em>, at night in an Australian driveway.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/omphalotus-nidiformis-or-ghost-fungus-royalty-free-image/1188626849">Louise Docker Sydney Australia/Moment via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Other mushrooms attract insects by <a href="https://www.treehugger.com/bioluminescent-fungi-mushrooms-that-glow-in-the-dark-4868794">glowing at night</a>. The glow from fungi in the woods at night can be very strong and is sometimes called foxfire. Insects, which are attracted to the light, inadvertently pick up spores as they investigate the glow and carry them elsewhere when they move on. </p>
<p>Some mushrooms never form an above-ground structure. Instead the mushroom stays underground and is eaten by squirrels and mice, which spread the spores by taking pieces back to their nests and by pooping. Such mushrooms are called truffles, and sometimes people will pay a lot of money for them. </p>
<h2>A window of opportunity</h2>
<p>Since mushrooms don’t last long, it’s important they spread their spores quickly. This is where poisons and toxins can come in. </p>
<p>Mushrooms are pretty tasty to snails, some insects, beetles, chipmunks, squirrels, deer and people. If an animal eats a mushroom, usually its spores are lost – unless they’re the type encased in a protective covering meant to be carried to a new neighborhood in poop.</p>
<p>Scientists have figured out that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/0031-9422(95)00773-3">insects and snails avoid eating mushrooms that contain poison</a>. Some mushroom poisons may make the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00988513">eater only sick enough to avoid that species in the future</a>, but some can be fatal. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/402424/original/file-20210524-17-1wprn4k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A white gilled mushroom lies on its side in the grass." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/402424/original/file-20210524-17-1wprn4k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/402424/original/file-20210524-17-1wprn4k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=887&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402424/original/file-20210524-17-1wprn4k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=887&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402424/original/file-20210524-17-1wprn4k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=887&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402424/original/file-20210524-17-1wprn4k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1115&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402424/original/file-20210524-17-1wprn4k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1115&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402424/original/file-20210524-17-1wprn4k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1115&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 deadly poisonous mushroom, <em>Amanita virosa</em>.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/gails_pictures/8552148482">gailhampshire/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There are many different mushroom poisons. One kind belongs to a group of very beautiful mushrooms, the amanitas, also called “destroying angels” because they are both pretty and deadly. Amanitas are often mistaken for mushrooms that can be eaten, and they <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanita_phalloides">cause several deaths worldwide each year</a>. </p>
<p>People use some mushroom poisons in medicine. The poison of the ergot fungus, for example, was developed into a drug <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11916-003-0011-7">used to prevent migraine headaches</a>. </p>
<p>Approximately <a href="http://www.mushroomthejournal.com/greatlakesdata/TopTen/Quest19.html">1%-2% of mushrooms are poisonous to humans</a>. The common term for such a mushroom is a “toadstool,” but there is no easy way to distinguish a poisonous mushroom from one that is edible. So it’s not a good idea to eat mushrooms you find, because it’s hard to be sure whether they’re poisonous or not. </p>
<p>Many mushrooms are healthy and delicious. Just make sure you get them from a store or from someone who is a mushroom expert. </p>
<hr>
<p><em>Hello, curious kids! Do you have a question you’d like an expert to answer? Ask an adult to send your question to <a href="mailto:curiouskidsus@theconversation.com">CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com</a>. Please tell us your name, age and the city where you live.</em></p>
<p><em>And since curiosity has no age limit – adults, let us know what you’re wondering, too. We won’t be able to answer every question, but we will do our best.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/160151/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Karen Hughes receives funding from the U.S. National Science Foundation and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. </span></em></p>
Poison can be a deadly defense that helps a mushroom make sure its spores are spread to new places to grow into baby mushrooms.
Karen Hughes, Professor of Mycology, University of Tennessee
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/154267
2021-02-22T04:57:30Z
2021-02-22T04:57:30Z
Book review: The Husband Poisoner is about lethal ladies and dangerously tasty recipes
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385446/original/file-20210222-15-4ziosl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=47%2C15%2C5271%2C3141&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1601125928262-690b15f78ac6?ixid=MXwxMjA3fDB8MHxwaG90by1wYWdlfHx8fGVufDB8fHw%3D&ixlib=rb-1.2.1&auto=format&fit=crop&w=2338&q=80">Unsplash/Sunbeam Photography</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Book review: <a href="https://www.hachette.com.au/tanya-bretherton/the-husband-poisoner-suburban-women-who-killed-in-post-world-war-ii-sydney">The Husband Poisoner</a>, by Tanya Bretherton (Hachette).</em></p>
<p>Agatha Christie’s first novel, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16343.The_Mysterious_Affair_at_Styles?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=XgXrOOyLdT&rank=1">The Mysterious Affair at Styles</a> (1920), introduces her iconic Belgian detective, <a href="https://www.agathachristie.com/characters/hercule-poirot/the-creation-of-hercule-poirot">Hercule Poirot</a>, and features her famous quip: “poison is a woman’s weapon”.</p>
<p>Of course, poison — sometimes referred to as <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20663752-the-inheritor-s-powder">Inheritor’s Powder</a> — is not gender specific. Rather, poison can simply be the preferred means of murder for clever criminals. Those who, as sociologist and author Tanya Bretherton points out: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>… believed the perfect murder was possible if it could be made to look like something else entirely and no one even realised that a crime had been committed.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The title of Bretherton’s fourth book, <a href="https://www.hachette.com.au/tanya-bretherton/the-husband-poisoner-suburban-women-who-killed-in-post-world-war-ii-sydney">The Husband Poisoner: Suburban women who killed in post-World War II Sydney</a> (2021), suggests a work focused on damaged, disgruntled or daring wives in the early 1950s who were looking for the perfect solution to an immediate problem. But she goes further to look at how other family members were also targeted. She also gives some clues to explain why seemingly ordinary women decided to try their hand at murder.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-from-convicts-to-contemporary-convictions-200-years-of-australian-crime-fiction-98845">Friday essay: from convicts to contemporary convictions – 200 years of Australian crime fiction</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Fact versus fiction</h2>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/382376/original/file-20210204-20-1auc3hu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/382376/original/file-20210204-20-1auc3hu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=918&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382376/original/file-20210204-20-1auc3hu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=918&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382376/original/file-20210204-20-1auc3hu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=918&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382376/original/file-20210204-20-1auc3hu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1153&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382376/original/file-20210204-20-1auc3hu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1153&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382376/original/file-20210204-20-1auc3hu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1153&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In a novel, writers usually ensure death by foul means is quickly established and everyone is a suspect. In real life, the poisoner’s goal for such a scheme is to make sure the idea of murder is never considered, death is something that is just … well, just unfortunate. Nobody is a suspect. </p>
<p>Poison is available to men and women, as the poisoner and the poisoned. This is a fact showcased when Emily Inglethorp, mistress of Agatha Christie’s Styles Court, unknowingly consumes strychnine. Yet, there is an unsettling number of examples of fictional and real-life female villains dispensing with people as easily as they might deal with a bug. This has long generated anxiety around the type of woman who might poison her husband instead of going through a messy divorce. </p>
<p>Some of this anxiousness is because there is a very specific type of malevolence present when one person decides to poison another. Poison requires planning — the methodical undertaking of procurement, delivery and the hiding of evidence. A show of grief or shock is helpful, but there is plenty of time for that. Poison is often slow. </p>
<p>Bretherton is an excellent story teller. Indeed, this book reads like good crime fiction with dialogue deployed to push the stories forward. From Yvonne Fletcher’s disposal of two husbands to Caroline Grills and her four victims, the women are vivid. You can see their desperation, their motivation, their living conditions, their terrible taste in fashion and their wickedness.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/from-crime-fighters-to-crime-writers-a-new-batch-of-female-authors-brings-stories-that-are-closer-to-home-123770">From crime fighters to crime writers — a new batch of female authors brings stories that are closer to home</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>These women also have something crucial in common: they chose <a href="https://www.medicinenet.com/thallium/article.htm">thallium</a>. Discovered in the mid-1800s, thallium — a colourless, odourless tasteless metal — is highly toxic and indiscriminate when it comes to killing insects, rats, and people. </p>
<p>Another thing these women share is a strange mix of cowardice and bravado. Sure, poison might circumvent an ugly confrontation, but it is a brutal way to kill somebody. To sit and watch, and to wait it out. Bretherton does not hold back in describing how the victims suffered. </p>
<p>Bretherton’s interest in the social context of crime is clear, as is her understanding of social change in Australia across the 20th century. The time frame for this work showcases a world that was changing rapidly, but one in which progress on women’s rights was painfully slow. This was a period that pre-dated <a href="http://www.familycourt.gov.au/wps/wcm/connect/fcoaweb/family-law-matters/family-law-in-australia/no-fault-divorce/">no-fault divorce</a> and saw <a href="https://www.equalpayday.com.au/pay-equity">women’s minimum wages</a> set at only 75% of men’s wages. </p>
<p>It was also a time when rats presented a serious <a href="https://collection.maas.museum/object/11002">public health issue</a> in Sydney, and so rat poison was easy to buy. For some, these conditions would inspire murderous plans. Although there were several high profile cases and prosecutions in the 1950s, we may never know how many people fell victim to rat poison.</p>
<p>The Sydney crime wave also inspired the 2011 television movie <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1948134/?ref_=ttpl_pl_tt">Recipe for Murder</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385443/original/file-20210222-17-1aphov4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Newspaper clipping" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385443/original/file-20210222-17-1aphov4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385443/original/file-20210222-17-1aphov4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=647&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385443/original/file-20210222-17-1aphov4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=647&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385443/original/file-20210222-17-1aphov4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=647&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385443/original/file-20210222-17-1aphov4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=812&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385443/original/file-20210222-17-1aphov4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=812&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385443/original/file-20210222-17-1aphov4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=812&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 Fletchers in happier times.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://unknownmisandry.blogspot.com/2011/11/australian-murderess-of-2-husbands.html">Truth newspaper</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A recipe for murder</h2>
<p>Bretherton sets this work apart from most other true crime texts through her integration of recipes. Poison is not easily administered in neat doses via a teaspoon. It needs a vehicle. </p>
<p>In exploring how women served up thallium in beverages and meals, she reinforces the subterfuge required to poison somebody by including recipes from a family cookbook compiled by her own mother. If you enjoy a good, home-made split-pea soup, then it is possible you might have a slightly uncomfortable moment the next time that dish is served. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385439/original/file-20210222-23-pz1tdv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Dead rat's tail" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385439/original/file-20210222-23-pz1tdv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385439/original/file-20210222-23-pz1tdv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385439/original/file-20210222-23-pz1tdv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385439/original/file-20210222-23-pz1tdv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385439/original/file-20210222-23-pz1tdv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385439/original/file-20210222-23-pz1tdv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385439/original/file-20210222-23-pz1tdv.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">Not just for rats …</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/close-portrait-dead-body-die-death-664601725">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This is one of the great fears of poison that Bretherton makes plain — it is so very domestic. All the killer really needs to do is concentrate on staying calm and pretending everything is normal. Set the table. Put out a potato and bacon pie. Ask, “Another cup of tea, dear?” </p>
<p>Typically, food in true crime is evidence for a timeline: the suspect was seen leaving a particular restaurant around 11pm; or the victim, based on stomach contents, was thought to have died between this hour and that hour. But the women in Bretherton’s book take familiar comforts and turn them into weapons. The “crime and dine” approach, more commonly seen in <a href="https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-the-meaning-of-food-in-crime-fiction-98005">crime fiction</a>, is very effective in The Husband Poisoner.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-the-meaning-of-food-in-crime-fiction-98005">Friday essay: the meaning of food in crime fiction</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The cases included have obviously been well researched, and there are several pages of endnotes. The book would have benefited from an index.</p>
<p>Bretherton’s work on the “thallium craze” offers a fascinating, if fiendish, cut of Sydney’s chaotic social fabric in the mid-20th century. Those who enjoyed her previous volumes and those interested in some of our darker histories will quickly devour The Husband Poisoner. Although, you might want to make your own cup of tea before curling up to do a bit of reading.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/154267/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rachel Franks 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>
A new book, about the suburban women who poisoned their husbands in post-war Sydney, explores their cold-blooded modus operandi and the hot dinners they prepared.
Rachel Franks, Conjoint Fellow, School of Humanities and Social Science, University of Newcastle
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/150042
2020-12-09T13:18:01Z
2020-12-09T13:18:01Z
Bitter battles between stinkbugs and carnivorous mice could hold clues for controlling human pain
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/373125/original/file-20201204-21-rfpuq6.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2365%2C1408&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Small but fierce: Grasshopper mice can eat prey that are toxic to other mice. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lauren Koenig</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s hard to appreciate the value of pain when we feel it, but most living things would not survive without it. Pain is a signal that something is causing harm to your body and that you <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-the-best-sense-scientists-are-still-battling-it-out-113598">need to take action</a>. </p>
<p>One way to learn about pain receptors is by studying species in which these receptors seem to be absent. As an example, many animals regularly eat toxic food without suffering reactions that would cause pain in other species: <a href="https://www.wmmga.org/content.aspx?page_id=22&club_id=101643&module_id=235634">goats</a>, deer, and black bears will all happily browse on poison ivy without developing itchy rashes.</p>
<p>I have a long-standing appreciation for bizarre biology, so I wanted to learn about one of the most specialized predators in the animal kingdom: the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/profiles/5zDVkCVFKMm8mG1NsjZ4WdC/grasshopper-mouse">grasshopper mouse (Onychomys torridus)</a>. These tiny rodents have a big appetite for prey that other mice prefer to leave alone because of their quarry’s chemical defenses. <a href="https://rowelab.oucreate.com/">Ashlee Rowe and Matt Rowe</a>, whose lab I worked in while they were based at Michigan State, are investigating how grasshopper mice can consume dangerous food. Understanding this ability may provide insights into pain pathways and help scientists seeking to find new, nonaddictive treatments for blocking pain signals. </p>
<h2>Mice vs. beetles</h2>
<p>To uncover more about grasshopper mouse predatory behavior, I traveled to the Sonoran Desert in southern Arizona with Olivia Guswiler, Victoria Rose, and Matt Rowe. The desert is beautiful but hostile. </p>
<p>Many animals there have developed extreme adaptations, including venoms and poisons, that help them catch food and defend themselves from predators. This makes it the perfect natural lab for studying rodents and how they’ve specialized to handle desert life.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/370384/original/file-20201119-23-1wjrxjy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Desert research site in Arizona" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/370384/original/file-20201119-23-1wjrxjy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/370384/original/file-20201119-23-1wjrxjy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370384/original/file-20201119-23-1wjrxjy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370384/original/file-20201119-23-1wjrxjy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370384/original/file-20201119-23-1wjrxjy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370384/original/file-20201119-23-1wjrxjy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370384/original/file-20201119-23-1wjrxjy.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 Santa Rita Experimental Range research site in the Sonoran Desert.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lauren Koenig</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We focused on three related species of mice with different dietary preferences. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peromyscus">Deer mice (<em>Peromyscus</em>)</a> are omnivores, known for supplementing a diet of insects with whatever they find in kitchens all over North America. Peanut-shaped <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert_pocket_mouse">pocket mice (<em>Chaetodipus penicillatus)</em></a> prefer to eat seeds and grain, but will eat insects as a last resort. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/370391/original/file-20201119-15-mjkhve.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Scorpion under a blacklight" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/370391/original/file-20201119-15-mjkhve.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/370391/original/file-20201119-15-mjkhve.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370391/original/file-20201119-15-mjkhve.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370391/original/file-20201119-15-mjkhve.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370391/original/file-20201119-15-mjkhve.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=628&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370391/original/file-20201119-15-mjkhve.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=628&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370391/original/file-20201119-15-mjkhve.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=628&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Grasshopper mice are fully capable of eating this venomous scorpion, which fluoresces under a blacklight.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lauren Koenig</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In contrast, southern grasshopper mice are voracious carnivores. At sunset they let out long cries, like muted teakettles, that have been described as “<a href="https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/157954/files/tb145.pdf">wolf howls in miniature</a>.” Their stubby legs and tan-and-white patterned coats make them look like tiny corgis, but belie their aggressive nature. Grasshopper mice attack and eat anything that moves, including centipedes, tarantulas, scorpions and even other mice. They have an astounding <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1236451">immunity to scorpion venom</a>, which kills deer mice in minutes.</p>
<p>We wanted to see how grasshopper mice, deer mice and pocket mice ate different types of insects, so we trapped over 80 of them and tested their feeding behavior. We gave each mouse a cricket, which is largely defenseless, and a stink beetle (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinacate_beetle"><em>Eleodes longicollis</em></a>). These bugs are like the chocolate-covered pretzels of the desert – high-calorie treats that contain contrasting tastes. </p>
<p>But to get to the juicy center, a predator must overcome a hard outer shell and a burning, acrid spray that the beetle squirts from its rear end. The spray contains <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1,4-Benzoquinone">benzoquinone chemicals</a>, which release fumes similar to bleach and can damage the eyes, nose, mouth and skin with prolonged exposure. I can personally attest to its bitter, stinging taste and the brown stains it leaves on clothes and skin.</p>
<h2>Taste tests</h2>
<p>In a typical battle, most grasshopper mice immediately attacked the beetle but were repulsed by a face full of chemical spray. Eyes closed, they would turn to rub their head in the sand, seemingly trying to brush the spray off their fur. But then, remarkably, each mouse returned to bite the beetle’s head until it was subdued. Crunching followed as the mouse held the beetle like a sandwich, working its way down the body until all that remained were six legs and an empty shell.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cR1s7U-of68?wmode=transparent&start=4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The battle between grasshopper mice and desert stink beetles.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The other contenders were total wimps. Deer mice sniffed around the beetles like a restaurant customer contemplating whether to order spicy chili. They all eventually gave up, although many ate the milder crickets. Some curious pocket mice inspected the insects, but remained vegetarian.</p>
<h2>Carnivorous rodents as pharmaceutical models</h2>
<p>Grasshopper mice have special skills that make them extremely efficient predators. We saw them deploy attack behaviors designed to quickly incapacitate a beetle by biting it on the head rather than the abdomen. We also saw them exhibit defense behaviors, like rubbing their face or trying to bury the beetle in the sand, suggesting that the mice likely contracted benzoquinones in their eyes, noses and mouths. Yet they relentlessly pursued the beetles in spite of this superficial discomfort. As the Rowes have suggested, this behavior may hint at some underlying form of chemical tolerance. </p>
<p>Since deer mice did not show these behaviors, they may not have the necessary adaptations for eating the same type of food. It is possible that grasshopper mice have sensory receptors that are less sensitive to benzoquinone. To address this question, the Rowe lab is currently investigating sensory receptors in deer mice and grasshopper mice.</p>
<p>But we do know that these animals show <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1236451">reduced sensitivity</a> to other chemicals that trigger pain sensation. There’s even some evidence that they <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1439-0310.1981.tb01290.x">don’t show aversive conditioning to stink beetles</a>, meaning that grasshopper mice never learn to associate beetles with pain, even after they have a negative experience with the spray. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/370383/original/file-20201119-22-1jvt51q.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=33%2C0%2C3190%2C2254&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A Grasshopper mouse eats a stink beetle headfirst." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/370383/original/file-20201119-22-1jvt51q.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=33%2C0%2C3190%2C2254&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/370383/original/file-20201119-22-1jvt51q.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370383/original/file-20201119-22-1jvt51q.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370383/original/file-20201119-22-1jvt51q.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370383/original/file-20201119-22-1jvt51q.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370383/original/file-20201119-22-1jvt51q.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370383/original/file-20201119-22-1jvt51q.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=533&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 victorious grasshopper mouse eats a stink beetle headfirst.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lauren Koenig</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Future research may find even more clues in the grasshopper mouse brain about how pain sensations can be blocked. Human medications like Advil and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs reduce pain by <a href="https://www.webmd.com/arthritis/features/pain-relief-how-nsaids-work">blocking production of certain chemicals in the body that inflame tissues</a>. Similarly, drugs that mimic keys intended to fit the shape of sensory receptor locks might stop those receptors from sending pain signals. By <a href="https://www.scienceinschool.org/2014/issue28/natural_products">copying natural examples of pain resistance</a>, scientists can design treatments to alleviate pain or identify which part of the pain pathway might be malfunctioning in chronic pain patients.</p>
<p>[<em>Understand new developments in science, health and technology, each week.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/science-editors-picks-71/?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=science-understand">Subscribe to The Conversation’s science newsletter</a>.]</p>
<h2>You are what you eat</h2>
<p>Learning more about pain and taste receptors in grasshopper mice may also help us understand how they became so different from other mice in the first place. Many carnivores have <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1118360109">fewer taste receptors than herbivores</a>, possibly because they don’t need to detect which plants are toxic. Marine mammals that swallow their food whole, like sea lions and dolphins, lack most taste receptors altogether. </p>
<p>Other animals, like <a href="https://doi.org/10.1006/anbe.2003.2059">vampire bats</a>, seem incapable of conditioned taste aversion – the tendency to avoid a food that has made you feel sick in the past. Such behavior would be useless for animals that follow a strict diet of mammalian blood and rarely encounter toxic food.</p>
<p>Perhaps genetic changes in the grasshopper mouse taste receptors helped them <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/0735-7036.108.4.394">to outcompete other rodents</a> for limited food in the desert. By eating insects and arachnids that no one else can handle, grasshopper mice occupy a unique dietary niche that helps them survive in one of the harshest environments on Earth.</p>
<p>Considering that humans and mice are so genetically similar, these ferocious carnivores may someday be a leading prototype for designing drugs that relieve human suffering.</p>
<p><em>Editors note: This story has been updated to better reflect the contributions of Ashlee and Matt Rowe.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/150042/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lauren Koenig receives funding from the National Science Foundation. </span></em></p>
Animals that regularly dine on toxic food may hold clues for designing new drugs to treat persistent pain in humans.
Lauren Koenig, PhD Candidate in Integrative Biology, Michigan State University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/145765
2020-09-28T19:59:51Z
2020-09-28T19:59:51Z
Does Australia really have the deadliest snakes? We debunk 6 common myths
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360213/original/file-20200928-18-zezqar.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C24%2C4031%2C2993&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A red-bellied black snake </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Damian Michael</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>As we settle into spring and temperatures rise, snakes <a href="https://about.unimelb.edu.au/newsroom/news/2018/september/snake-season-no-cause-for-alarm-if-youre-prepared">are emerging</a> from their winter hideouts to bask in the sun. But don’t be alarmed if you spot one, it’s hard to imagine a more misunderstood group of animals than snakes. </p>
<p>Our interactions with snakes are conversation starters, with yarns told and retold. But knowing what’s fact and fiction gets harder with each retelling. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/ive-always-wondered-who-would-win-in-a-fight-between-the-black-mamba-and-the-inland-taipan-129906">I've always wondered: who would win in a fight between the Black Mamba and the Inland Taipan?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>As is so often the case with wildlife, the myths pale in comparison to what science has shown us about these incredible creatures. So let’s debunk six misconceptions we, as wildlife ecologists, often hear. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360212/original/file-20200928-22-sdai57.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A snake warning sign" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360212/original/file-20200928-22-sdai57.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360212/original/file-20200928-22-sdai57.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360212/original/file-20200928-22-sdai57.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360212/original/file-20200928-22-sdai57.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360212/original/file-20200928-22-sdai57.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360212/original/file-20200928-22-sdai57.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360212/original/file-20200928-22-sdai57.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">With snakes on the move this season, people and pets are more likely to spot them.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>1. Black snakes and blue tongue lizards keep brown snakes away</h2>
<p>This is a <a href="https://www.thecourier.com.au/story/3545112/snake-1-blue-tongue-0/">common old wives’ tale</a> in southern Australia. The myth goes that if you see a red-bellied black snake or a blue-tongue lizard on your property, you’re unlikely to see the highly venomous brown snake, because black snakes keep brown snakes at bay. </p>
<p>This myth probably originates from observations of black snakes eating brown snakes (which <a href="https://researchoutput.csu.edu.au/en/publications/a-case-of-predation-by-an-adult-red-bellied-black-snake-pseudechi">they do</a>).</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/T6BrH_yvvlA?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>But it’s not one-way traffic. There are many reported examples of brown snakes <a href="https://www.thecourier.com.au/story/4986213/farmer-discovered-its-a-snake-eat-snake-world/?cs=2452#slide=2">killing black snakes</a>, too. Overall, no scientific evidence suggests one suppresses the other. </p>
<p>There is also no evidence blue-tongue lizards prey upon or scare brown snakes. In fact, many snakes feed on lizards, including brown snakes which, despite <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3892162?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents">a preference for mammal prey</a> as adults, won’t hesitate to have a blue tongue for lunch.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/60kOWFtumc0?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<h2>2. Snakes are poisonous</h2>
<p>While the term poisonous and venomous are often used interchangeably, they mean quite different things. If you eat or ingest a toxic plant or animal, it’s said to be poisonous, whereas if an animal stings or bites you and you get sick, it’s venomous. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-are-some-snakes-so-venomous-22821">Why are some snakes so venomous?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><a href="https://www.science.org.au/curious/people-medicine/poison-vs-venom">Venom is a specialised type of poison</a> that has evolved for a specific purpose. For venom to work, it needs a wound to enter the body and into the bloodstream. Snakes, therefore, are generally venomous, not poisonous.</p>
<p>But there are <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/B:JOEC.0000045585.77875.09">exceptions</a>. For example, the American garter snake preys on the rough-skinned newt which contains a powerful toxin. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360204/original/file-20200928-14-1iyamxo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A black and red garter snake." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360204/original/file-20200928-14-1iyamxo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360204/original/file-20200928-14-1iyamxo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360204/original/file-20200928-14-1iyamxo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360204/original/file-20200928-14-1iyamxo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360204/original/file-20200928-14-1iyamxo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360204/original/file-20200928-14-1iyamxo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360204/original/file-20200928-14-1iyamxo.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"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The toxins from the rough-skinned newt can stay in a garter snake’s liver for up to a month.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Steve Jurvetson/Wikimedia</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The newt’s toxin accumulates in the snake’s liver, and effectively makes this non-venomous snake species poisonous if another animal or human eats it. Remarkably, these snakes can also assess whether a given newt is <a href="https://meridian.allenpress.com/herpetologica/article-abstract/59/2/155/32411/COEVOLUTION-OF-DEADLY-TOXINS-AND-PREDATOR?redirectedFrom=fulltext">too toxic for them to handle</a>, and so will avoid it.</p>
<h2>3. Australia has the deadliest snakes in the world</h2>
<p>Approximately 20% of the world’s 3,800-plus snake species are venomous. Based on the median lethal dose — the standard measurement for how deadly a toxin is — the Australian inland taipan is ranked number one in the world. Several other Australian snakes feature in the top 10. But does that make them the deadliest? </p>
<p>It depends on how you define “deadly”. Death by snake bite in Australia is very uncommon, with just <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.5694/mja17.00094">two per year</a>, on average, compared to <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS0140-6736(19)31232-2.pdf">81,000-138,000 deaths</a> from snakes annually worldwide.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/yes-australian-snakes-will-definitely-kill-you-if-youre-a-mouse-51809">Yes, Australian snakes will definitely kill you – if you're a mouse</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>If we define “deadly snakes” as those responsible for killing many people, then the list would be topped by snakes such as the Indian cobra, common krait, Russell’s viper and the saw-scaled viper, which occur in densely populated parts of India and Asia. </p>
<p>A lack of <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(18)31224-8/fulltext">access to antivenoms and health care contribute</a> substantially to deaths from snake bites.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360206/original/file-20200928-18-1b4r07v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An Indian cobra upright on a log" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360206/original/file-20200928-18-1b4r07v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360206/original/file-20200928-18-1b4r07v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360206/original/file-20200928-18-1b4r07v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360206/original/file-20200928-18-1b4r07v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360206/original/file-20200928-18-1b4r07v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360206/original/file-20200928-18-1b4r07v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360206/original/file-20200928-18-1b4r07v.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">Indian cobra’s are one of the deadliest snakes in the world.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>4. Snakes have poor eyesight</h2>
<p>Compared to other reptiles, such as monitor lizards, most snakes have poor eyesight, especially species that are active <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/9780470015902.a0026519">at night or burrow in soil</a>. </p>
<p>However, snakes that are active by day and feed on fast-moving prey have relatively good vision. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/WR/pdf/WR98043">One study</a> in 1999 showed people are less likely to encounter eastern brown snakes when wearing clothing that contrasted with the colour of the sky, such as dark clothing on a bright day. This suggests they can see you well before you see them. </p>
<p>Some snakes such as the American coachwhip <a href="https://jeb.biologists.org/content/216/22/4190.full">can even improve their eyesight</a> when presented with a threat by constricting blood vessels in the transparent scale covering the eye. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360208/original/file-20200928-14-1o0em9d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A sea snake dives underwater" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360208/original/file-20200928-14-1o0em9d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360208/original/file-20200928-14-1o0em9d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360208/original/file-20200928-14-1o0em9d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360208/original/file-20200928-14-1o0em9d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360208/original/file-20200928-14-1o0em9d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360208/original/file-20200928-14-1o0em9d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360208/original/file-20200928-14-1o0em9d.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">An olive sea snake can actually detect light through their tail.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>And then there’s the olive sea snake, whose “<a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/1446454?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents">phototactic tails</a>” can sense light, allowing them to retract their tails under shelter to avoid predation. </p>
<h2>5. Young snakes are more dangerous than adults</h2>
<p>This myth is based on the idea juvenile snakes can’t control the amount of venom they inject. No evidence suggests this is true. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-should-you-do-if-youre-bitten-by-a-snake-34238">Explainer: what should you do if you're bitten by a snake?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>However, research shows the venom of <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6651/8/11/309">young and old snakes can differ</a>. A <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1532045617300923">2017 study</a> showed the venom of young brown snakes is different to adults, probably to facilitate the capture of different types of prey: young brown snakes feed on reptiles, <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3892162?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents">whereas</a> adult brown snakes predominantly feed on mammals. </p>
<p>But it’s not just age — <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1874391918301398">venom toxicity can vary</a> among <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1096495901004225">individuals of the same population</a>, or among <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1081/TXR-120019018">populations</a> of the same species. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360196/original/file-20200928-24-1gekeb0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A black snake with white stripes on a rock." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360196/original/file-20200928-24-1gekeb0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360196/original/file-20200928-24-1gekeb0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360196/original/file-20200928-24-1gekeb0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360196/original/file-20200928-24-1gekeb0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360196/original/file-20200928-24-1gekeb0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360196/original/file-20200928-24-1gekeb0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360196/original/file-20200928-24-1gekeb0.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"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bandy Bandy (<em>Vermicella annulata</em>). Defensive behaviours are often misinterpreted as aggression.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Damian Michael</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>6. Snake are aggressive</h2>
<p>Perhaps the most pervasive myth about snakes is they’re aggressive, probably because defensive behaviours are often misinterpreted. </p>
<p>But snakes don’t attack unprovoked. Stories of snakes chasing people are more likely cases where a snake was attempting to reach a retreat site behind the observer. </p>
<p>When threatened, many snakes give a postural warning such as neck flaring, raising their head off the ground, and opening their mouths, providing clear signals they feel threatened. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TXNxMCRBTkA?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>It’s fair to say this approach to dissuade an approaching person, or other animal, works pretty well. </p>
<p>Rhesus macaques display <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/eth.12293">more fearful behaviour</a> when confronted with snakes in a striking pose compared to a coiled or elongated posture. And showing Japanese macaques <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0114258">images of snakes in a striking posture</a> sets of a flurry of brain activity that isn’t evoked when they’re shown images of snakes in nonthreatening postures. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/new-research-reveals-these-20-australian-reptiles-are-set-to-disappear-by-2040-145385">New research reveals these 20 Australian reptiles are set to disappear by 2040</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The same is true for humans. Children and adults detect images of snakes in a striking posture <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0015122">more rapidly</a> than a resting posture. And a <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-63619-y">study</a> from earlier this year found human infants (aged seven to 10 months) have an innate ability to detect snakes. </p>
<p>Snakes are amazing, but shouldn’t be feared. If you encounter one on a sunny day, don’t make sudden movements, just back away slowly. Never pick them up (or attempt to kill them), as this is often when people are bitten.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/145765/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Damian R. Michael receives funding from the Commonwealth Environmental Water Office and has received funding from the National Environmental Science Program Threatened Species Recovery Hub. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dale Nimmo receives funding from the Australian Research Council, The Hermon Slade Foundation, the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, the National Environmental Science Program Threatened Species Recovery Hub and the Australian Academy of Science</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Skye Wassens receives funding from the Commonwealth Environmental Water Office and has received funding from the New South Wales Department of Planning, Industry and Environment.</span></em></p>
The weather is warming up, and snakes are coming out to bask in the sun. But we don’t need to tell tall tales to appreciate snakes – the truth is far more fascinating.
Damian R. Michael, Senior research fellow, Charles Sturt University
Dale Nimmo, Associate Professor in Ecology, Charles Sturt University
Skye Wassens, Associate Professor in Ecology, Charles Sturt University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/139880
2020-06-14T08:13:41Z
2020-06-14T08:13:41Z
What’s behind hundreds of vulture deaths in Guinea-Bissau. And what can be done
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/339715/original/file-20200604-67393-cz30d5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A Hooded Vulture </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">JOHN THYS/AFP via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>More than <a href="https://africageographic.com/stories/648-vultures-dead-in-guinea-bissau/">2,000</a> critically endangered Hooded Vultures are reported to have died in Guinea-Bissau since 2019. They were deliberately poisoned with an agricultural pesticide. These killings are the largest incident of mass vulture deaths in the world. Dr Beckie Garbett explains why people are targeting the vultures and what must be done to stop it.</em></p>
<p><strong>How big is the vulture population in the region?</strong></p>
<p>There are six resident vulture species in West Africa: the Palm-nut Vulture, White-backed Vulture, Ruppell’s Vulture, Hooded Vulture, White-headed Vulture and Lappet-faced Vulture. All but the Palm-nut Vulture are either endangered or critically endangered due to populations being decimated by human activities, mainly poisoning. Some species have declined by <a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/conl.12182">as much as 97%</a> in recent years. Some of the largest declines have occurred even within protected areas. </p>
<p>It’s not known exactly how many vultures there are in West Africa, but some countries are certainly regional strongholds, meaning that they hold a significant proportion of the entire species’ population. For example, Guinea-Bissau <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Hooded-Vulture-range-population-trends-and-value-of-information-from-range-countries_fig1_233170924">holds important</a> global populations of Hooded and White-backed Vultures. Both are critically endangered species.</p>
<p><strong>Why are vultures being poisoned in Guinea-Bissau and does it happen often?</strong></p>
<p>The information we have has come from field teams, <a href="https://www.von.gov.ng/conservation-organisations-launch-online-petition-against-vulture-killings/">led by</a> a national NGO – the Organisation for the Defence and Development of Wetlands in Guinea-Bissau. They report that over 2,000 vultures have died in the various incidents across Guinea-Bissau since 2019. Many of the dead vultures were beheaded, which suggests that the body parts were harvested for ‘medicinal’ or belief-based purposes. </p>
<p>Belief-based use is <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0190594">essentially</a> traditional or superstitious use of wildlife products, in this case vulture body parts. These beliefs about medicinal or magical qualities are not founded on evidence. Belief-based use of wildlife is a practice that is <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/229392791_Major_declines_in_the_abundance_of_vultures_and_other_scavenging_raptors_in_and_around_the_Masai_Mara_ecosystem_Kenya">prevalent</a> in West Africa. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/339215/original/file-20200602-133851-uas8t9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/339215/original/file-20200602-133851-uas8t9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/339215/original/file-20200602-133851-uas8t9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/339215/original/file-20200602-133851-uas8t9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/339215/original/file-20200602-133851-uas8t9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/339215/original/file-20200602-133851-uas8t9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/339215/original/file-20200602-133851-uas8t9.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">Hooded Vultures wait for scraps of meat at Guinea-Bissau’s main slaughter house.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo by JOHN WESSELS/AFP via Getty Images</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In each case of poisoning, <a href="http://www.birdlifebotswana.org.bw/blb-statement-vulture-poisoning-incidents-motshereganyi-virat-kootsositse-director-%E2%80%93-birdlife">hundreds</a> or <a href="https://www.4vultures.org/biggest-ever-vulture-mortality-event-in-the-world-unfolds-in-guinea-bissau-estimates-of-over-2000-hooded-vultures-poisoned-to-death-due-to-belief-based-use/">thousands</a> of vultures can be wiped out in one go. These recent incidents however are some of the worst I’ve seen.</p>
<p><strong>What does it mean for the species as a whole in the region?</strong></p>
<p>The poisoning incident in Guinea-Bissau represents a loss of <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5791984/">around 5%</a> of the estimated national population of Hooded Vultures, which represents <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22695185/118599398">22%</a> of the entire global population. Losses of this magnitude of a species already on the brink of extinction are unfathomable. It’s a huge setback for conservation efforts across Africa, and severely threatens the persistence of regional populations of this species. </p>
<p>Hooded Vultures aren’t the only species at risk in West Africa. Other endangered and critically endangered species such as Lappet-faced Vultures and White-backed Vultures are also regularly found <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/C3FEA745D94B56C84E7B4BB46E3A4A1D/S0030605315000514a.pdf/div-class-title-trade-of-threatened-vultures-and-other-raptors-for-fetish-and-bushmeat-in-west-and-central-africa-div.pdf">in trade markets</a> across the region. </p>
<p>Almost all African vulture species are in steep decline. To save them, poisoning for any purpose has to stop.</p>
<p><strong>What can be done to put a stop to it?</strong></p>
<p>There are a few steps that must be taken: raise awareness, involve the community and deal with the method of poisoning.</p>
<p>In Guinea-Bissau, BirdLife – a global partnership dedicated to the conservation of birds – is supporting the roll-out of an <a href="http://www.birdlife.org/worldwide/news/investigating-mystery-behind-guinea-bissaus-mass-vulture-deaths">Emergency Action Plan</a> in response to the recent poisoning incidents through a national partner organisation. This aims to gather circumstantial information and mortality data through social surveys. It will also raise awareness of the vulture killings and impacts of wildlife poisoning. </p>
<p>But there are only limited resources and Guinea-Bissau is politically unstable. This means that responsive actions are limited, but hopefully can be developed with additional support from NGOs such as BirdLife and other International Agencies. </p>
<p>For instance, in Nigeria, BirdLife is <a href="https://www.ncfnigeria.org/component/k2/item/342-ncf-launch-a-2-year-vulture-conservation-project">working with</a> its national partner, the Nigerian Conservation Foundation, to address the same threat: belief-based use and illegal trade of vultures. They work with traditional healers’ associations, hunters and traders of wildlife products to advocate for the use of plant-based alternatives to vultures. They also support law enforcement agencies in dealing with illegal trade. This has proven to be a <a href="https://allafrica.com/stories/202002120620.html">very successful</a> approach. Getting buy-in from key people involved in the sourcing, sales and use of vultures and wildlife products in general is essential for making a meaningful and sustainable impact.</p>
<p>With regard to tackling the method of killing – poisoning – ongoing work by conservation NGOs, such as Nature Kenya (BirdLife Partner in Kenya), has established <a href="https://www.birdlife.org/worldwide/news/saving-sentinels-skies-kenyas-rapid-response-vulture-unit">a model</a> that can be rolled out into other areas. This involves creating anti-poisoning networks within local communities to rapidly detect and respond to poisoning incidents in poison hotspot areas. The response protocol streamlines responses from multiple stakeholders, as well as providing guidelines for preservation and collection of forensic evidence in order to facilitate identification of substances used in poisonings and aid apprehension and prosecution of offenders of wildlife crimes. </p>
<p>In addition to the protocol, in January 2019, the Kenyan government <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2019/11/vultures-saved-poisoning-kenya/">amended</a> the 2013 Kenyan Wildlife Act to make wildlife poisoning a standalone crime punishable with a fine of about $50,000 or five years in prison.</p>
<p>In Kenya, vulture poisoning is being increasingly detected and mitigated because of this model. The Kenya Wildlife Service has officially mainstreamed the wildlife poisoning response protocol into its operations policy. </p>
<p>Addressing the complex threats to African vultures requires a multi-pronged approach that has integrated local-level actions at its core.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/139880/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Beckie Garbett 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 poisoning incident in Guinea-Bissau represents a loss of around 5% of the estimated national population of Hooded Vultures, which makes up 22% of the entire global population.
Beckie Garbett, Doctoral student at the Percy Fitzpatrick Institute, University of Cape Town
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/107004
2019-02-18T19:05:53Z
2019-02-18T19:05:53Z
How Australia made poisoning animals normal
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/258978/original/file-20190214-1721-6igdy2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Colonial graziers found it more effective to poison dingoes than rely on convict shepherds to protect their flocks.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source"> Justine Philip/AMMRIC 2017</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>One of the many difficulties faced by the pioneers of Australia’s sheep industry was finding a reliable shepherd. Among the convict labour available, for every two experienced farm labourers there were five convicted sheep, horse, cattle or poultry thieves. </p>
<p>The conditions were demanding. Convicts returning from pasture with fewer sheep than they left with faced a penalty of up to 100 lashes – close to a death sentence. Going bush was the only option for those unwilling to submit to the punishment back “inside”, as the settlements were called. Sheep were lost through negligence and misadventure, others to hungry dingoes.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/dingo-dinners-whats-on-the-menu-for-australias-top-predator-103846">Dingo dinners: what's on the menu for Australia's top predator?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Eradicating dingoes therefore had a double benefit for the graziers: they would reduce stock losses, and eliminate the need for (unreliable) convict labour. </p>
<p>Reverend Samuel Marsden announced the first plan for the destruction of the native dog in Sydney Town, 1811. On offer was a <a href="http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article628174">generous bounty</a> of one gallon of spirits for each complete skin of a fully grown native dog.</p>
<p>(Incidentally, Marsden went on to <a href="http://www.enzb.auckland.ac.nz/document/?wid=539&page=0&action=null">introduce sheep to New Zealand</a>, followed by the mysterious disappearance of the Maori kuri dog in following decades.) </p>
<p>Three years later, the first instance of using poison to eradicate the dingo was recorded in the Sydney Gazette. A “gentleman farmer” with extensive stock in the Nepean District initiated the operation. By applying arsenic to the body of a dead ox on his property, he managed to eradicate all the wild dogs from his landholding. The technique gathered a quiet following, though there were concerns that in the wrong hands this venture could inadvertently backfire on the penal colony. </p>
<h2>Revolutionising toxicology</h2>
<p>In 1818 French scientist Pierre Joseph Pelletier successfully extracted beautiful but sinister crystals from the plant nux vomica. This discovery revolutionised toxicology: it enabled mass production of a highly toxic, stable and cheap poison known as strychnine. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/258924/original/file-20190214-1754-151hs17.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/258924/original/file-20190214-1754-151hs17.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/258924/original/file-20190214-1754-151hs17.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=808&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258924/original/file-20190214-1754-151hs17.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=808&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258924/original/file-20190214-1754-151hs17.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=808&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258924/original/file-20190214-1754-151hs17.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1016&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258924/original/file-20190214-1754-151hs17.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1016&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258924/original/file-20190214-1754-151hs17.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1016&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Strychnos Nux vomica, Köhler’s Medizinal-Pflanzen 1887 (Plate 107).</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The crystals were soon to be exported en masse around the world. Strychinine became an essential item in the Australian farmer’s toolkit, and by 1852 its use on landholdings was <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/book/2423/">mandatory</a> to control unwanted wildlife. In 1871 author Anthony Trollope wrote in his observations of Australian life:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>On many large runs, carts are continually being taken round with (strychnine) baits to be set on the paths of the dingo. In smaller establishments the squatter or his head-man goes about with strychnine in his pocket and lumps of meat tied up in a handkerchief.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Over the course of the 19th century, the Australian economy became irreversibly dependent on this industrial agrochemical farming system.</p>
<p>The pace of Australia’s agricultural revolution was rapid; between 1822, when fine wool became NSW’s major export product, and 1850, the national flock numbers increased from 120,000 to 16 million. By 1892 the Australian sheep flock numbered 106 million.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/258925/original/file-20190214-1717-1l5xsih.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/258925/original/file-20190214-1717-1l5xsih.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/258925/original/file-20190214-1717-1l5xsih.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258925/original/file-20190214-1717-1l5xsih.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258925/original/file-20190214-1717-1l5xsih.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258925/original/file-20190214-1717-1l5xsih.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=512&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258925/original/file-20190214-1717-1l5xsih.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=512&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258925/original/file-20190214-1717-1l5xsih.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=512&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Fluctuations in the size of the Australian sheep flock 1800-2017.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Australian Bureau of Statistics</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A central Australian dingo extermination campaign was launched in 1897, to eradicate dingo and rabbit populations from South Australia’s arid zone. Described as the “<a href="http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article163802318">Party of Poisoners</a>”, the team travelled from Gawler Range to Wilpena Pound, covering an area 1,000km long by 480km wide. It took five months.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-the-wa-government-is-wrong-to-play-identity-politics-with-dingoes-102344">Why the WA government is wrong to play identity politics with dingoes</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The poisoners dispensed phosphorised pollard and strychnine sticks and laid poisoned grain in lightly covered furrows. Meat baits were placed around the bases of the red and white mallee bush. Billabongs were poisoned. All species that might have competed for the scarce resources were effectively eliminated – carnivore and herbivore. Farming ultimately failed in the region. The natural biodiversity <a href="http://www.publish.csiro.au/rj/RJ01014">never recovered</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/258926/original/file-20190214-1745-op2hr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/258926/original/file-20190214-1745-op2hr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/258926/original/file-20190214-1745-op2hr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=561&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258926/original/file-20190214-1745-op2hr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=561&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258926/original/file-20190214-1745-op2hr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=561&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258926/original/file-20190214-1745-op2hr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=705&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258926/original/file-20190214-1745-op2hr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=705&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258926/original/file-20190214-1745-op2hr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=705&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 Hudson Bros. Poison Cart 1883: initially designed to dispense dingo baits, by 1920 the.
devices were being used in the thousands, to eradicate herbivores.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Powerhouse Museum</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The legacy of Australia’s chemical-dependent farming over the past 200 years remains largely unacknowledged in conversations about the current biodiversity crisis. Australia has around <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jun/27/senate-inquiry-threatened-species-crisis">500 threatened animal species</a>, and our rate of mammalian extinctions is <a href="https://taronga.org.au/news/2018-07-11/fighting-worst-mammal-extinction-rate-world">unparalleled</a> anywhere in the world. The main drivers of the crisis are attributed to <a href="http://www.australianwildlife.org/wildlife.aspx">introduced species, changed fire regimes, and land clearing</a>. </p>
<p>In the history of agricultural expansion, it was the dingo that was the initial target of eradication campaigns. Land clearing worked in concert with the broad scale application of vertebrate pesticides. The expansion in the application, range, methods of delivery and quantity of poison and poisoned baits applied was rapid, using increasingly sophisticated machinery. </p>
<p>The effects reverberated throughout Australia’s ecosystems: the removal of the dingo, the top order predator, lead to the explosion of herbivore populations, more poisons, the establishment of introduced species and destabilising of the native ecosystem. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/258927/original/file-20190214-1758-at3tpk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/258927/original/file-20190214-1758-at3tpk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/258927/original/file-20190214-1758-at3tpk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258927/original/file-20190214-1758-at3tpk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258927/original/file-20190214-1758-at3tpk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258927/original/file-20190214-1758-at3tpk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=548&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258927/original/file-20190214-1758-at3tpk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=548&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258927/original/file-20190214-1758-at3tpk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=548&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Influence of the dingo on ecosystem function.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Restoration Ecology, Newsome et al. 2015</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the 1870s newspapers were reporting on the impact of herbivore populations including the introduced rabbit. The South Australian Advertiser, wrote in 1877: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>We have destroyed the balance of nature in two ways simultaneously, by destroying the carnivore and introducing a new herbivorous animal of immense reproductive powers.</p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/was-agriculture-the-greatest-blunder-in-human-history-85898">Was agriculture the greatest blunder in human history?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In the 21st century, more vertebrate poisons are dispensed by air in National Parks, than on private land – in efforts to protect biodiversity from invasive species.</p>
<p>My <a href="https://publications.rzsnsw.org.au/doi/abs/10.7882/AZ.2018.025">research</a> examines how poison has been normalised in land management. The use of vertebrate pesticides has been supported by services and systems embedded within Australia’s social, political and legal framework for 200 years.</p>
<p>Applying more vertebrate pesticides to the environment to try and solve the problem, is arguably an extreme case of mistaking the poison for the cure.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/107004/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Justine M. Philip received funding from the Federal Government. This research was completed while on an APA scholarship with UNE.</span></em></p>
As soon as white colonists began farming sheep in Australia, they looked for a way to eradicate dingoes.
Justine M. Philip, Doctor of Philosophy, Ecosystem Management, University of New England
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/99588
2018-07-10T05:09:20Z
2018-07-10T05:09:20Z
Murder investigation to find the source of a second Novichok poisoning
<p>Police in the UK are still <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-44767144">hunting the source</a> of a Novichok poisoning <a href="https://www.wiltshire.police.uk/article/2951/Statement-following-the-death-of-Dawn-Sturgess">as they investigate the murder</a> of a woman <a href="https://www.wiltshire.police.uk/article/2937/Statements-issued-at-multi-agency-press-conference-in-Amesbury-">exposed to the deadly nerve agent</a>.</p>
<p>This is the same type of nerve agent that was <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-43643025">used in March in the poisoning</a> of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury, Wiltshire, UK. They both survived the attack and have since been released from hospital.</p>
<p>But Dawn Sturgess, 44, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-44760875">died in hospital on Sunday evening</a> after falling critically ill on June 30. Her partner Charlie Rowley, 45, who was also exposed to the nerve agent in Amesbury, about 12km north of Salisbury, remains critically ill in hospital.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-novichok-is-different-from-radioactive-poisons-and-what-this-means-for-decontamination-99464">How Novichok is different from radioactive poisons – and what this means for decontamination</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Britain’s <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/amesbury-nerve-agent-incident">Home Secretary Sajid Javid had earlier told MPs</a> that testing by expert scientists in chemical warfare at the Porton Down laboratory confirmed they were exposed to a “nerve agent of the type known as Novichok”.</p>
<p>So was it the nerve agent that was used against the Skripals, and if so, how was the couple exposed to it several months later?</p>
<h2>Two poisonings</h2>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/what-we-know-about-novichok-the-newby-nerve-agents-linked-to-russia-93264">Novichock is not one chemical agent</a>. It is the nickname (it roughly translates as a cute version of “newbie” in Russian) of a group of compounds that <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-russia-scientist/only-russia-could-be-behind-u-k-poison-attack-toxins-co-developer-idUSKCN1GP2ZK">former Russian chemist Vil Mirzayanov said</a> were under development in the Soviet Union. </p>
<p>The first report of any Novichok-like compound being made outside the Soviet Union weapons program was an <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/309093991_Fragmentation_pathways_and_structural_characterization_of_organophosphorus_compounds_related_to_CWC_by_electron_ionization_and_electrospray_ionization_tandem_mass_spectrometry_Mass_spectral_studies_of">Iranian academic paper in 2016</a>. In that research, a group <a href="http://www.spectroscopynow.com/details/ezine/1591ca249b2/Iranian-chemists-identify-Russian-chemical-warfare-agents.html">synthesised</a> a particular subgroup of agents, but not the subgroup found in the UK.</p>
<p>The Russian news agency TASS <a href="http://tass.com/politics/994425">reported in March</a> that the Russian ambassador to the UK claimed the UK had passed information to him claiming the compound used in the Skripal case was identified as <a href="https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/132472361">A-234</a> (the Novichok agents were given code numbers starting “A-”).</p>
<p>That compound isn’t in the Iranian paper. </p>
<p>After the March incident, the UK government said the compound used was a novel agent of military quality. The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (<a href="https://www.opcw.org/">OPCW</a>) was invited to conduct a parallel investigation, and OPCW’s <a href="https://www.opcw.org/fileadmin/OPCW/S_series/2018/en/s-1612-2018_e_.pdf">report supports the UK government conclusions. </a></p>
<p>A classified annex of the OPCW report contains the identification information, but that material has not been publicly released.</p>
<p>So, it seems that no experimental information about the properties of the compound at the centre of this investigation has been published in any open literature.</p>
<h2>Nerve agent in action</h2>
<p>Although almost nothing is publicly confirmed about the compound in question, it is assumed to have similar properties to <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-vx-nerve-agent-and-how-does-it-work-73603">VX nerve agent</a>. This was used in the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/feb/24/kim-jong-nam-north-korea-killed-chemical-weapon-nerve-agent-mass-destruction-malaysian-police">murder of Kim Jong-Nam</a>, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, killed in Kuala Lumpar in 2017. </p>
<p>VX is described as having the texture of clear, almost colourless motor oil. Let’s assume that A-234 has similar properties and think about what may have occurred in the latest incident. How would someone go about dispersing a nerve agent in close quarters, and how could it suddenly pop up 12km away four months later?</p>
<p>In the case of Kim Jong-Nam, <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-10-05/kim-jong-nam-murder-trial-vx-nerve-agent-found/9020186">the solution was to put the nerve agent onto a cloth, and then wiped it onto his face</a>. </p>
<p>In the case of Sergei Skripal it is thought the agent was <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/03/28/russian-hit-squad-put-nerve-agent-sergei-skripals-front-door/">applied to his door</a>, and that he (and the police officer who was taken ill) became contaminated after touching the door. The question then becomes: how did the nerve agent get onto the door? </p>
<p>If we assume that A-234 is similar to VX, that would mean that the same method used on Kim Jong-Nam could work (get a cloth, put some agent on it, wipe the agent on the door).</p>
<p>Once disposed, the cloth and the agent would have been exposed to the atmosphere from March until the end of June. The nerve agent would be exposed to a range of English climatic conditions, which would be expected to cause the compound to degrade. </p>
<p>Trials have been carried out investigating how long VX would persist in a temperate environment. The answer seems to be that the compound may be present on grass in toxic quantities for a <a href="http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/1016093.pdf">couple of weeks</a>. Small amounts can often be <a href="https://undocs.org/A/67/997">found long after</a>, but exposure to very small quantities is not usually hazardous.</p>
<h2>An aerosol delivery?</h2>
<p>One possibility is that the compound could have been placed in a spray bottle, similar to those in which perfumes are contained. Spraying the agent onto a door may not alert someone observing the action.</p>
<p>If that was the case, then the person applying the agent would also be at risk. But by using protective clothing such as gloves and by taking nerve agent pre-treatment (and yes, by being very careful when conducting the application), it may be possible. </p>
<p>British police suggest that the couple interacted with some kind of container, receiving <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/amesbury-couple-exposed-to-high-dose-of-novichok-11431185">a higher dose of agent</a> than either of the Skripals.</p>
<p>Chemical weapons need to be reasonably stable when stored away from air and light, so it is entirely possible that if any container was sufficiently protected from the environment, the agent could survive for the several months between these two incidents. </p>
<p>At the moment, the police are investigating a park close to Salisbury city centre, which the couple are suspected to have visited before becoming ill. It is possible that the container used in the attack on the Skripals was abandoned in the park and lay undisturbed until found by the couple four months later.</p>
<h2>Public concern</h2>
<p>So should the British public be worried that there are containers of nerve agent loose in the English countryside? Probably not. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-vx-nerve-agent-and-how-does-it-work-73603">Explainer: what is VX nerve agent and how does it work?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>This is a very rare agent, even by nerve agent standards, with only one country – Russia – having been suggested to have made it. </p>
<p>If the couple have been exposed to the residue of the material left over from the attack on Sergei Skripal, then once that container has been located, there will be no more danger from Novichok agents being found in the open in the UK.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/99588/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Martin Boland 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 same deadly nerve agent used against a former Russian spy and his daughter could be linked to a second poisoning that killed a 44 year old woman in the UK.
Martin Boland, Senior Lecturer of Medicinal and Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Charles Darwin 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/94922
2018-05-01T04:45:30Z
2018-05-01T04:45:30Z
Australia’s reptiles may be spreading rat poison through the food chain
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/215850/original/file-20180423-75126-1ebnbgf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Gould's goanna is commonly eaten in Indigenous communities, but can contain high levels of rat poison.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Robert A. Davis</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Introduced rats and mice have probably troubled most of us at some time in our lives. These pesky invasive rodents are found around the world. We usually target them with toxic baits to stop them spreading disease and causing environmental or commercial damage. </p>
<p>In some instances rat baits are useful. They can protect crops, reduce the spread of disease, keep the contents of your pantry from disappearing, or even protect endangered wildlife on islands where rats have invaded. </p>
<p>These baits are freely available to homeowners and are used liberally by pest controllers. However, they have potentially deadly consequences for native predatory animals that eat poisoned rats and mice. </p>
<p>Our <a href="https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1WvKGB8ccgYsG">new research</a> shows that this secondary poisoning may be worsened in Australia by reptiles, which are extremely effective at spreading these poisons up the food chain – a process that may even have consequences for human health.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/hidden-housemates-rats-in-the-ranks-59379">Hidden housemates: rats in the ranks</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>While little is known about how well reptiles tolerate rodent baits, several studies have suggested that at least some reptiles are extremely resistant. In a <a href="https://setac.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/etc.2975">toxicity study</a> using one lizard species, all of the test subjects survived an incredibly high dose of the strongest poison on the market – over 4,000 times the poison per body weight needed to kill most rats. </p>
<p>This is probably good news for the lizards, but eating poison-supercharged reptiles may be a serious concern for their predators – and for us.</p>
<h2>Humans eat lizards too</h2>
<p>During a rat eradication program in the Montebello Islands, <a href="https://www.dpaw.wa.gov.au/images/documents/about/science/cswa/articles/104.pdf">one goanna species was seen eating poisoned rats</a> – without apparent ill effect – to the point that the green dye used in the bait was visible in their droppings. Unfortunately, this species of goanna is an important traditional food in Indigenous communities throughout Australia. To make matters worse, these poisons usually build up in commonly eaten parts of the goannas, like fat and liver tissue. </p>
<p>The risks associated with sublethal human exposure to rodent baits are not well known. However, recent studies in some wildlife species show that even mild chronic exposure to the longer-lasting poisons can lead to <a href="http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/285/1871/20172533">dangerous changes in the immune system</a>.</p>
<p>With so many unknowns in a potentially dangerous situation, more research is urgently needed. We need to know how often and how severely the reptiles that humans eat are exposed to poison. Otherwise, some Indigenous people may have to choose between losing traditional hunting practices and risking exposure to rat poison. </p>
<h2>Poison in the food web</h2>
<p>In our research, we reviewed all published examples of wildlife deaths from exposure to rat bait. We found that rat poison has killed members of at least <a href="https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1WvKGB8ccgYsG">32 native wildlife species</a> in Australia. There are probably many more; only a few studies have looked at this problem in Australia, compared with other parts of the world. </p>
<p>We found that a small species of owl called the <a href="http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/species/Ninox-novaeseelandiae">Southern Boobook</a> is exposed to rat poison frequently, and sometimes lethally, in developed areas of Western Australia. Scavengers and prolific predators of rodents are likely to be even worse off – and these predators include a variety of threatened or endangered species such as Masked Owls, Tasmanian Devils and various species of quolls. </p>
<p>Most deaths will occur far from the original bait, as the poison travels through other species in the food web to reach its final destination. Without a better understanding of how baits affect Australian predators, we are unlikely to appreciate the scale of this invisible threat.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/killing-cats-rats-and-foxes-is-no-silver-bullet-for-saving-wildlife-42754">Killing cats, rats and foxes is no silver bullet for saving wildlife</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>At present, powerful rat poisons are available at most supermarkets and hardware stores. The Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority is now <a href="https://apvma.gov.au/node/19286">reviewing how these are regulated</a> because of concerns about human health and impacts on wildlife populations. </p>
<p>Other countries like the United States and Canada have already restricted the stronger poisons to licensed pest controllers. They have banned outdoor use and require lockable bait boxes to keep children and pets away from baits. </p>
<p>These steps might not be enough to overcome Australia’s unique risks, but allowing the current situation to continue is guaranteed to result in more poisonings of wildlife – and possibly unseen and unstudied effects on humans too.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/94922/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Lohr has received funding from The Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment via The Ecological Society of Australia, the BirdLife Australia Stuart Leslie Bird Research Award, the Edith Cowan University School of Science Postgraduate Student Support Award, the Eastern Metropolitan Regional Council’s Healthy Wildlife Healthy Lives program, and the Society for the Preservation of Raptors.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robert Davis 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>
Rat baits are widely used to keep rodent pests at bay. But many Australian reptiles are resistant to the poison, potentially spreading these deadly compounds up the food chain.
Michael Lohr, PhD Student - Wildlife Ecology, Edith Cowan University
Robert Davis, Senior Lecturer in Vertebrate Biology, Edith Cowan University
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/90410
2018-01-30T11:32:08Z
2018-01-30T11:32:08Z
Promising male birth control pill has its origin in an arrow poison
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/203914/original/file-20180130-89590-1n68uqn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=351%2C0%2C2144%2C1470&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Will blue packets replace pink ones soon?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/male-contraceptive-pill-746870245">Aleksandra Berzhets/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>After decades of research, development of a male birth control may now be one step closer. My colleagues and I are working on a promising lead for a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jmedchem.7b00925">male birth control pill based on ouabain</a> – a plant extract that African warriors and hunters traditionally used as a heart-stopping poison on their arrows.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/203915/original/file-20180130-89582-1h4a3d8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/203915/original/file-20180130-89582-1h4a3d8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/203915/original/file-20180130-89582-1h4a3d8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/203915/original/file-20180130-89582-1h4a3d8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/203915/original/file-20180130-89582-1h4a3d8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/203915/original/file-20180130-89582-1h4a3d8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/203915/original/file-20180130-89582-1h4a3d8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/203915/original/file-20180130-89582-1h4a3d8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Hunters want ouabain to be deadly when used on an arrow, but no one wants a fatal contraceptive.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/poison-on-arrow-784275280">PLANET EARTH/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>State of the search</h2>
<p>While the birth control pill has been available to women in the United States for nearly six decades – and FDA-approved for <a href="http://www.mum.org/enovid-e.htm">contraceptive use since 1960</a> – an oral contraceptive for men has not yet come to market. The pill has provided women with safe, effective and reversible options for birth control, while options for men have been stuck in a rut.</p>
<p>Today, <a href="https://doi.org/10.4103/2230-8210.102991">men have just two choices</a> when it comes to birth control: condoms or a vasectomy. Together, these two methods account for just <a href="https://www.malecontraceptive.org/why-male-contraception-dr-john-amory/">30 percent of contraception used</a>, leaving the remaining 70 percent of contraceptive methods to women. An estimated <a href="https://doi.org/10.21037/tau.2017.07.22">500,000 American men opt for a vasectomy each year</a> – a small number given the need for contraception. Vasectomy is an invasive procedure to do that’s also difficult and invasive to reverse.</p>
<p>When it comes to birth control options for men, the need is clear. <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23689167">Unplanned pregnancy rates</a> remain high across the globe. It’s time for more options.</p>
<h2>Hormonal versus nonhormonal</h2>
<p>Researchers are exploring both hormonal and nonhormonal options for male birth control pills. Current <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD004316.pub2">hormonal agents under study</a> involve the sex steroids progestins and testosterone.</p>
<p>While the male hormonal birth control pill option <a href="https://doi.org/10.1210/jc.2016-2141">is in clinical human trials</a> and likely closer to market, it has <a href="https://doi.org/10.1097/MED.0b013e3282fcc30d">several potential side effects</a>: In addition to potentially causing weight gain and changes in libido, it has the ability to lower the levels of good cholesterol (HDL-C) in men, which could negatively affect the heart health of users. The long-term effects of using hormones for male oral contraception are unknown, and it will likely be decades before this information is available.</p>
<p>Here at the University of Minnesota, my colleagues and I have focused on <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pep.2016.01.009">nonhormonal contraception methods</a> that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/cmdc.201700503">work by targeting</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/35098027">sperm motility</a> – biology-speak for the sperms’ ability to move or swim effectively. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sperm_motility">Good motility</a> is a necessary condition for fertilizing a female egg.</p>
<p>In collaboration with <a href="http://www.kumc.edu/school-of-medicine/molecular-and-integrative-physiology/faculty/faculty/v-gustavo-blanco-md-phd.html">Gustavo Blanco</a> at the University of Kansas, we’ve homed in on ouabain: a toxic substance produced by two types of African plants. Mammals also produce ouabain in their bodies, though at lower nonlethal levels that scientists think can help control blood pressure. In fact, physicians have used ouabain in very small doses to treat patients with heart arrhythmias or suffering from heart attacks.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/203870/original/file-20180129-89577-4p34d8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/203870/original/file-20180129-89577-4p34d8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/203870/original/file-20180129-89577-4p34d8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=285&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/203870/original/file-20180129-89577-4p34d8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=285&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/203870/original/file-20180129-89577-4p34d8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=285&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/203870/original/file-20180129-89577-4p34d8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=358&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/203870/original/file-20180129-89577-4p34d8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=358&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/203870/original/file-20180129-89577-4p34d8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=358&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 cross-section of a cell membrane shows how pumps made of protein subunits move sodium and potassium ions in and out of the cell.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:0308_Sodium_Potassium_Pump.jpg">OpenStax</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>From toxin to contraceptive</h2>
<p>Researchers know that ouabain disrupts the passage of sodium and potassium ions through cell membranes; it interferes with the proper function of proteins that transport the ions in and out of cells. Some of the ion-transporting protein subunits targeted by ouabain are found in cardiac tissue – its ability to disrupt proper heart function is what makes ouabain a deadly poison. But ouabain also affects another type of transporter subunit called α4, which is found only in sperm cells. This protein is known to be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1016902108">critical in fertility</a> — at least in male mice.</p>
<p>For 10 years, my colleagues and I have been studying ouabain as a potential breakthrough in our quest for a male birth control pill. However, ouabain by itself isn’t an option as a contraceptive because of the risk of heart damage. So we set out to design ouabain analogs – versions of the molecule that are more likely to bind to the α4 protein in sperm than other subunits in heart tissue.</p>
<p>In the lab, we used the techniques of <a href="https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/careers/college-to-career/chemistry-careers/medicinal-chemistry.html">medicinal chemistry</a> to create a derivative of ouabain that is good at zeroing in on the α4 transporter in sperm cells in rats. Once bound to those cells, it interferes with the sperms’ ability to swim – essential to its role in fertilizing an egg. Our new compound showed no toxicity in rats.</p>
<p>Because the α4 transporter is found only on mature sperm cells, the contraceptive effect should be reversible – sperm cells produced after stopping the treatment presumably won’t be affected. Ouabain may also offer men a birth control pill option with fewer systemic side effects than hormonal options.</p>
<h2>Next steps on the road to drug discovery</h2>
<p>Our results are promising because our candidate molecule, unlike ouabain, is nontoxic in rats. Our modification is a big step forward in the process of developing a nonhormonal male birth control pill. But there’s a lot left to do before men can buy this contraceptive at the pharmacy.</p>
<p>After our ouabain analog showed <a href="https://doi.org/10.1530/REP-09-0495">promise in rat studies</a> at reducing sperm motility, future studies will focus on the effectiveness of our lead compound as an actual contraceptive in animals. We need to prove that a reduction in sperm movement translates into a drop in egg fertilization.</p>
<p>Then, we’ll begin the standard steps in drug discovery such as toxicology and safety pharmacology studies as we advance toward planning and conducting clinical trials. Our team is already taking the next step to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1095/biolreprod.106.057810">test our compound in animal mating trials</a>. If things continue as planned, we hope to get to human clinical trials within five years.</p>
<p>Reversible, effective male birth control is within sight. World Health Organization numbers suggest that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/humupd/dmp048">reducing sperm motility by 50 percent or less</a> is sufficient to temporarily make a man infertile. Our ongoing research brings us one step closer to expanding the options for male birth control, providing the world’s 7.6 billion people with a much-needed option for safe and reversible contraception.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/90410/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This research was funded by the National Institutes of Health Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.</span></em></p>
Medicinal chemists are tweaking a natural molecule that can be a deadly poison – a modified version might work as a nonhormonal male contraceptive.
Gunda Georg, Professor of Medicinal Chemistry and Director of the Institute for Therapeutics Discovery and Development, University of Minnesota
Jon Hawkinson, Research Professor of Medicinal Chemistry and Associate Program Director of the Institute for Therapeutics Discovery and Development, University of Minnesota
Shameem Syeda, Principal Scientist at the Institute for Therapeutics Discovery and Development, University of Minnesota
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/90606
2018-01-25T12:43:41Z
2018-01-25T12:43:41Z
Tide Pod challenge: blaming stupid millennials is the easy way out
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/203432/original/file-20180125-102717-17um5z2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C1700%2C3527%2C2215&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Tide pods: neither delicious, nor nutritious. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelpaul/32597224146/sizes/l">michael.paul/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>An interesting and somewhat bizarre trend recently cropped up on the internet. The “Tide Pod challenge” simply entails filming yourself biting down on a Tide Pod; a laundry detergent capsule, which some say <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/tide-pod-tasty-toxic-laundry">resembles a sweet</a>. </p>
<p>Like many things on the internet, the origins of the challenge are murky and unclear. Some trace it back to a satirical article by <a href="https://www.theonion.com/so-help-me-god-i-m-going-to-eat-one-of-those-multicolo-1819585017">The Onion</a>, others to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pM6wanZOLtk">CollegeHumor</a> videos, and others still to various tweets about the appetising appearance of the capsules. </p>
<p>Various US and UK media outlets have claimed the trend is a “<a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Health/internet-craze-tide-pod-challenge-dangerous-potentially-deadly/story?id=52379523">craze</a>” that is “<a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/5384416/tide-pod-challenge-teens-warned-dangerous-internet-craze-could-destroy-your-insides-and-knock-you-out/">sweeping the internet</a>”. The US Consumer Product Safety Commission <a href="https://twitter.com/USCPSC/status/952692484173332486">warned</a> its 42,000 Twitter followers not to take the challenge. Facebook and YouTube have been busy scrubbing all videos referencing the <a href="https://www.engadget.com/2018/01/18/youtube-facebook-tide-pod-challenge-videos/">challenge from their platforms</a>, and Tide Pod manufacturer Procter & Gamble has recruited New England Patriots player Rob “Gronk” Gronkowski to tell consumers not to eat the pods.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-DrC_PF_3Lg?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>Eating Tide Pods <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/business/consumer/laundry-pods-can-be-fatal-adults-dementia-n773366?cid=par-twitter-feed_20170616">can be fatal</a>, and the Washington Post <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/?utm_term=.ebd0425ebb69">reports that</a> teenagers have been exposed to the capsules 37 times so far this year – only half of which were actually intentional. Yet this data, from the American Association of Poison Control Centers, doesn’t reveal an enormous increase from 2017, when nearly 220 teens were exposed and around 25% of the cases were intentional. </p>
<h2>Hysteria and hand-wringing</h2>
<p>Due in no small part to the press coverage, trends like these are quickly blown out of proportion. As with the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-psychology-behind-why-clowns-creep-us-out-65936">creepy clown sightings</a> of 2016/17, or the <a href="https://splinternews.com/the-horrifying-science-behind-the-kylie-jenner-challeng-1793847303">Kylie Jenner lip challenge of 2015</a>, the mainstream media seems to add to the hysteria surrounding these fads, which only serves to extend their relatively short shelf life. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"676287309042442241"}"></div></p>
<p>Some such coverage mourns the <a href="https://www.maxim.com/news/tide-pod-challenge-vape-2018-1">decline of younger generations</a> – as though millennials and Gen Z-ers have a <a href="http://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/the-tide-pod-challenge-proof-that-humanity-is-doomed-2219604">monopoly on stupidity</a>. But as the brilliant <a href="http://pessimists.co/">Pessimists Archive</a> podcast has shown, hand-wringing over the state of younger generations is nothing new, and there’s no evidence to suggest that today’s young people are inherently more reckless than previous generations. </p>
<p>What is different about today’s young people, though, is that they have the technology to record their stupidity for posterity, as well as a desire to push boundaries and attract viewers to the content they post online. This is the “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxyRf3hfRXg">attention economy</a>” in action, whereby attention is an increasingly scarce resource, which users are desperate to gain as ever greater amounts of content are put online. </p>
<p>At their core, these trends are born and driven by what people do when others might be looking. The attention economy can help to explain the powerful effects of being watched on the way humans understand, conform to, and deviate from what’s “normal”. And this, in turn, gives us a way to make sense of the Tide Pod challenge and other internet phenomena, such as the vlogger <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/01/a-social-media-stars-error/549479/">Logan Paul’s fall from grace</a>. </p>
<h2>Enter the panopticon</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/203395/original/file-20180125-107940-1yj82xz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/203395/original/file-20180125-107940-1yj82xz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/203395/original/file-20180125-107940-1yj82xz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=661&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/203395/original/file-20180125-107940-1yj82xz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=661&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/203395/original/file-20180125-107940-1yj82xz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=661&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/203395/original/file-20180125-107940-1yj82xz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=831&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/203395/original/file-20180125-107940-1yj82xz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=831&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/203395/original/file-20180125-107940-1yj82xz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=831&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bentham’s panopticon prison.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jeremy Bentham</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The panopticon is a theory of surveillance and social conditioning proposed by <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Discipline_and_Punish.html?id=AVzuf-r22eoC">Michel Foucault</a> in the 1970s, and based on a prison design by Jeremy Bentham. It suggests that people will police themselves and conform to social expectations, if they believe that they could be being watched at any moment. Ideas about what is “normal” and “appropriate” take on vast power and significance. </p>
<p>On the face of it, the panopticon seems to apply rather aptly to conversations around digital spaces and our desire to be liked online. In the 21st century, we are constantly being observed by a wide network of “friends” via social media apps, by neighbours and strangers in increasingly crowded cities, and by police through CCTV. In a world where everyone is potentially being watched, there’s great pressure to conform to social expectations – many of which are <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2948410/More-half-women-admit-editing-social-media-photos-posting-despite-two-thirds-thinking-s-wrong-magazines-it.html">unrealistic</a> and <a href="https://www.teenvogue.com/story/signs-social-media-is-making-you-miserable">unattainable</a>, especially when it comes to beauty, wealth or happiness. </p>
<p>But Foucault’s panopticon is based on the idea of a few powerful people watching the many. In the case of social media, the opposite could be true, too – the many are increasingly watching the few. In the “<a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1362480697001002003?journalCode=tcra">synopticon</a>”, society holds up individuals such as the Kardashians as ideal figures of femininity and masculinity.</p>
<p>Instead, the few with power are observed, scrutinised and mimicked. We see this time and time again during celebrity “crises”; whenever Beiber, Lohan or Britney veer away from the norm, their behaviour is discussed, dissected and criticised by the public. So the synopticon also strengthens the conventions that tell people which behaviours are acceptable – and which are not. </p>
<h2>Watch and be watched</h2>
<p>The Tide Pod challenge is not fully explained by either the panopticon or the synopticon. Social media was meant to level the playing field by giving everyone their own personal publishing outlet. But in practice, it means that the general public are now competing with celebrities to be heard and observed. Welcome to the “<a href="https://thesocietypages.org/cyborgology/2013/02/25/liquid-surveillance-social-media-three-provocations/">omniopticon</a>”. </p>
<p>Here, we are all watching and (to varying degrees) being watched: both through <a href="http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheet/social-media/">increased social media use</a>, and by platforms’ algorithms and tracking data. Having so many voices across so many different platforms not only leads us towards conformity, but also towards a culture of one-upmanship in the quest for attention. There has been a shift towards <a href="https://theconversation.com/logan-pauls-dead-body-video-reinforces-call-for-better-child-protection-online-89617">increasingly extreme behaviour</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/feb/15/youtube-pewdiepie-thinks-death-to-all-jews-joke-laughing-yet">problematic publicity stunts</a>. </p>
<p>Logan Paul recently gave us an example. The YouTube star, known for posting prank videos, faced a public backlash after posting a video of himself with a dead body in a known suicide location in Japan. The mounting pressure to outdo oneself and others demands more extreme content, until eventually – inevitably – a line is crossed. </p>
<p>Whether by embodying beauty ideals or eliciting laughs, everyone in the omniopticon is scrambling to be at the centre of attention and hold power and influence, however fleetingly, over what people are talking about. It’s becoming apparent that this competition is leading towards a culture of extremes. People are pushing the limits in order to get noticed, and this includes doing bizarre and even deadly things – like eating laundry detergents.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/90606/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Harry T Dyer 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>
Eating laundry detergent capsules online is not the fault of the younger generation. In modern society, attention is power.
Harry T Dyer, Lecturer in Education, University of East Anglia
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.