First off, toxins and poisons are not always the same thing. There are a few key differences that are important to note, described very well by the author of this next paragraph.
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Difference between Toxic and Poisonous
Key difference: A poison is any substance that is harmful or deadly to someone, essentially to living cells. It may be natural or manufactured. A toxin, on the other hand, is a poison that is produced naturally or biologically by living things. Hence, it can be said that toxins are a sub-category of poisons.
Sometimes a substance is considered toxic, someone else might say that no, it is poisonous, while another will say that it is both toxic and poisonous. So, which is it, toxic or poisonous? And, if the words are synonyms, then how can it be toxic and poisonous, wouldn’t that just be redundant? Actually, they are synonyms in the lay man’s terms. However, there is a slight difference in each one’s connotation.
According to Dictionary.com, a poison is “a substance with an inherent property that tends to destroy life or impair health.” This is a vast definition and can include numerous substances.
Dictionary.com defines a toxin as, “any poison produced by an organism, characterized by antigenicity in certain animals and high molecular weight, and including the bacterial toxins that are the causative agents of tetanus, diphtheria, etc., and such plant and animal toxins as ricin and snake venom.”
Effectively, a poison is any substance that is harmful or deadly to someone, essentially to living cells. It may be natural or manufactured. A toxin, on the other hand, is a poison that is produced naturally or biologically by living things. Hence, it can be said that toxins are a sub-category of poisons.
I didn't include the whole article, simply because that would have made this post extremely long. But there is some very interesting information in there, and I recommend reading it. Link provided here: www.differencebetween.info/difference-between-toxic-and-poisonous
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10 Deadliest Poisons Used By Man
Since time began humans have looked for more and more effective ways of killing and maiming each other. For this end poison has always been a popular, if not a little sophisticated, choice. Even back in ancient times the rich, powerful and unpopular would employ a food taster to check whether their goat’s head soup had been dosed.
Poisoning has long been a popular way to murder those around you and the choice of assassins. It is subtle – hard to detect, effective and the culprit doesn’t even have to be on the scene of the crime. There is also the advantage that you don’t need strength or skill plus it’s great if you are a little squeamish about killing people. This may be why there have been so many documented women poisoners throughout history.
The list I have compiled here is not just a list of the top 10 most toxic substances known to man. That would be too easy and not really relevant to anyone. This list is all those deadly poisons that have, over the years, been used by humans to kill each other; either individually or en masse.
10: Arsenic
Arsenic is one of the classics. Hugely popular up to Victorian times, it was both easy to acquire and effective. It seems they couldn’t get enough of it, being a common ingredient in any number of household products from wallpaper to paints. Arsenic poisoning occurred accidentally from all these and natural sources with notable cases such as the loopy King George III of Britain.
The superficial effects of arsenic poisoning are jaundice and a skin rash, but this tends to be after a long build up. Acute poisoning from a high dose results in intense gastric distress – basically everything goes wrong with your gut causing vomiting, diarrhea and bleeding, along with pain.
Death follows convulsions and coma with circulatory failure being the ultimate cause. This may happen within a few hours of ingestion.
9: Mustard Gas
Mustard gas, or sulfur mustard, shot to popularity in World War I. It was obviously decided that being pounded by heavy artillery in the trenches wasn’t sufficiently unpleasant so German scientists invented the chemical weapon. The name comes from the yellow-brown colour of the gas and the garlic like smell. However, no cooking ingredients were used in its manufacture – the active ingredient is highly reactive chlorine.
Despite only being fatal in around 1% of cases I’m including mustard gas because of its horrific nature. Its mode of action is basically to burn any part of the body it comes into contact with, whether that be skin, eyes or lungs. It forms large blisters on the skin and lungs and can even damage DNA leading to cancer. The gas is also capable of penetrating clothes and remaining active in the soil for prolonged periods.
In fatal cases the cause of death is usually the result of burns or damage to the lungs causing suffocation. There is also a great risk of secondary infections from bacteria as with other serious burns.
8: Cyanide
Cyanide is one of the best known of all poisons. Perhaps best known as the suicide pills reputedly carried by secret agents it was also the active ingredient in the gas (Zyklon B) used by the Nazis in extermination camps such as Auschwitz. There is little doubt as to the effectiveness of this poison with death occurring almost immediately. Cyanide works by preventing cellular respiration; i.e. the body stops producing energy at the very lowest level causing what is termed “internal asphyxia”. This manifests itself in rapid breathing, dizziness, nausea, headache and ultimately convulsions.
Cyanide comes in two main forms hydrogen cyanide which is a gas and potassium cyanide which is a white powder. It occurs naturally in the stones of apricots, several plants and even apple pips. Whatever the source it is recognisable by a bitter-almond smell.
7: Strychnine
Another of the old favourites, Strychnine is infamous for its dramatic and painful effects. It works by attacking the central nervous system causing all the muscles in the body to violently contract at the same time. Such is the intensity of these convulsions that the victim will appear to “jackknife” back and forth in the latter stages of the poisoning.
Death occurs within 2 to 3 hours of ingestion and whilst usually the result of asphyxiation due to paralysis of the respiratory pathways it can also be caused by exhaustion from the convulsions.
Death occurs within 2 to 3 hours of ingestion and whilst usually the result of asphyxiation due to paralysis of the respiratory pathways it can also be caused by exhaustion from the convulsions.
Strychnine is derived from the seed of the dog button plant (Strychnos nux-vomica) which grows in tropical areas. In the past it was used to treat a wide range of medical conditions. These days though its primary use is as a pesticide and rat poison, however, some drug dealers apparently add it to heroine to smooth the effects!
6: Ricin
Whilst castor oil may be touted for its health giving properties the other product of this plant (Ricinus communis) is the polar opposite. A dose of less than a sprinkling of salt will kill an adult. It is derived from the castor bean and it is the part that is left behind after the oil is extracted that is poisonous. Ingestion of ricin is actually not often fatal as it is difficult to digest; it is much more dangerous if inhaled or injected. That said the most common form of poisoning occurs from eating castor beans – why anyone would do this I have no idea but as few as 5 beans could prove fatal.
Ricin acts by preventing protein synthesis. This means cells slowly grind to a halt and essential operations cease as enzymes aren’t produced. It may take up to a day for symptoms to show and these will vary depending on the method of exposure.
Ricin is so good at killing people that both the USA and Russia stockpiled it as a chemical weapon. It is thought to have been used by Sadam Hussein on his own people and is linked to the KGB murder of a Bulgarian writer in London.
5: Sarin
Sarin was made famous by the attacks on the Tokyo subway by the lunatic religious cult Aum Shinrikyo in the mid 1990s. The fact that fatalities were relatively low does not reflect the toxicity of this nerve agent. Developed as a chemical weapon in WWII sarin is a deadly organophosphate also known as GB and is reputedly 26 times more deadly than cyanide.
The mode of action for all nerve agents is to prevent nerve endings from switching off. Death results from loss of control of the muscles required for breathing and asphyxiation. The immediate effects of the toxin are a loss of control of bodily functions. Convulsions follow along with coma and death within an hour.
Sarin is one of the “Killer B’s”, the symptoms of exposure to which are described in the mnemonic “SLUDGE” – Salivation, Lacrimation, Urination, Defecation, Gastrointestinal distress, and Emesis. Nice!
4: VX
The United Kingdom can be proud to have developed what is the most potent nerve agent on Earth. So deadly was this toxin that they codenamed it “Purple Possum”! Unlike virtually every other poison on this list VX does not occur naturally, it is completely man-made and was developed to kill as effectively as possible. The good news is it was banned in 1993 meaning the USA have had to dump its stockpiles. Russia are meanwhile in the process.
Symptoms are as with sarin but VX is more potent. These may begin within seconds of exposure and death is likely to result from respiratory failure.
VX is the chemical that features in the 1996 film “The Rock” in which San Francisco is threatened with attack. It is also believed that VX was responsible for the deaths of 6,000 sheep in an incident known as the Skull Valley sheep kill in Utah near a US Army testing base.
3: Arrow Poison Frog
Primarily the batrachotoxin poisons from the skin of certain frog species has been used to coat the tips of hunting darts by certain Amazonian Indians. Given human nature, I imagine a few of these darts have ended up finding a human target with lethal effect. Batrachotoxin is collected from the toxic secretions of frogs from the Dendrobatidae family although it can also be found in some beetles and birds. The golden poison dart frog is around the size of the end of your thumb yet contains enough venom to kill 10 men! For this reason poison dart frogs can afford to be outrageously brightly coloured.
Batrachotoxin is the most powerful naturally occurring neurotoxin with a dose equivalent to just 2 grains of table salt being enough to kill an adult human. It works in tow ways; both as a neurotoxin, causing paralysis and as a cardiotoxin, directly effecting the heart muscles. This makes death almost inevitable and within a matter of minutes.
2: Polonium
The element polonium is the ultimate 21st century poison and has been linked to the deaths of Russian dissidents and even Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat. It is intensely toxic to living things and as such has no known biological role. In its commonest form, Polonium 210 it is reportedly 250,000 times more toxic than hydrogen cyanide. This toxicity is radioactive in nature and caused by the release of alpha particles which damage organic tissue. Alpha particles cannot penetrate the skin but if the polonium is ingested, inhaled or injected it is lethal in the tiniest of doses. In theory a single gram of polonium 210 could kill 10 million people. If the acute effects of radiation poisoning don’t kill you then some form of cancer probably will.
Being a radioactive element, polonium is fortunately both difficult to acquire and handle. This means it is largely reserved for use by governments.
1: Botulinum Toxin
Whilst it is impractical to kill using isolated botulinum toxin I’m including it here due to the staggering toxicity of this naturally occurring poison. It is the most poisonous substance known to man. It is estimated that a single teaspoon of botulinum toxin would be sufficient to kill over 1 billion people.
Obviously these figures made the toxin irresistible to weapons developers and it is believed that Sadam era Iraq may have concentrated enough botulinum toxin to wipe out everyone on Earth, 3 times over.
Obviously these figures made the toxin irresistible to weapons developers and it is believed that Sadam era Iraq may have concentrated enough botulinum toxin to wipe out everyone on Earth, 3 times over.
The toxin is produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum which can be found worldwide. In its lethal form it is most commonly encountered as botulism occurring when food contaminated with the bacteria is consumed. This form of food poisoning has killed countless people over the ages but is easily avoided by heating the food to over 100 degrees C for a minute. Botulism has been used as a method to murder people on a number of occasions through purposely contaminating food. Botulism can also occur from infected wounds. These days botulism is rarely fatal. In serious cases the neurotoxin causes a wide range of symptoms from paralysis to breakdown of internal organs and death.
Ironically botulinum toxin has found a role in the medical and cosmetic world. It is used to treat excessive sweating, migraine headaches and unsightly wrinkles on lady’s foreheads in the from of Botox. It was estimated that one gram of the toxin was enough to satisfy the worlds annual requirement of Botox.
This article was also a very interesting read, or maybe I'm just a very morbid person...
Either way, check it out at: https://www.planetdeadly.com/human/deadliest-poisons-man
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The next list I found had some of the toxins and poisons mentioned above, but the descriptions included some interesting info that the previous list didn't mention, so I included the duplicates.
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The 10 Deadliest Poisons in the World
Poison of any kind, be it chemical, food borne or naturally occurring, has been the subject of everything from the news to chemical warfare and even been the antagonist for plenty of mystery writers in their works of fiction. There are hundreds of deadly poisons known to man; many of which have been used nefariously to commit murder, genocide and acts of terrorism. Some of those poisons are on this list; shockingly others, used to such devastating effect, are not. Whether these poisons were produced synthetically for purposes other than causing death, whether they occur naturally in the plants and animals of the world, or whether they are a by product of some other lab experiment, one thing is certain; they will all kill you, and they will all kill you in painful, horrific ways. Here’s a list of the 10 deadliest poisons in the world.
10: CYANIDE
A well-known toxin, Cyanide is a deadly poison that affects the central nervous system (CNS) as well as the heart. Even if a small dose of cyanide enters the body, the poison will attack the blood stream and bind to the iron in the blood, thus prohibiting oxygen to flow through the body, resulting in death in minutes. Though there are different forms of Cyanide, Hydrogen Cyanide, is by far the deadliest of them. Considered a chemical weapon as a gas, Hydrogen Cyanide is incredibly deadly, killing a human in less than ten minutes. In fact, the poison was used as such to devastating effect during the First World War, before chemical weapons were banned under the Geneva Convention. Today, Cyanide is predominantly used as a method of murder, suicide, or as a plot device in fiction.
9: ANTHRAX
Perhaps the most famous post 9/11 poison, Anthrax was seemingly in the media every day in the early years of the new millennium due to a series of Anthrax-infected letters that were mailed to unsuspecting victims across the United States in the weeks after 9/11. All told five people died and 17 more were injured in the Anthrax attacks, while millions more were affected by the paranoia it sparked. A new Anthrax scare arose everywhere, from major cities to small towns across the United States. The fear the poison elicited was widespread, and for good reason. Essentially a disease caused by bacteria, Anthrax must be inhaled to infect someone as it spreads by spores released into the air. After becoming infected, a minor cold will quickly turn into massive respiratory failure as the Anthrax shuts down a person's breathing. The mortality rate from Anthrax is nearly 90% within a week of infection.
8: SARIN
Considered a weapon of mass destruction, and rightfully so, the nerve gas Sarin will kill you in an agonizing way. From a tight chest to complete suffocation before your body shuts down, Sarin does its handiwork on the human body in an interminably long 60 seconds. That is all it can take; a meagre minute, a single, torturous minute to die. Though Sarin production as a weapon has been outlawed since 1993, there have been many instances since where the poison has been used in terrorist attacks or chemical warfare, particularly during the Tokyo Subway attack in 1995, and the insurgencies in Iraq and Syria, the latter where the chemical agent was employed on civilians killing anywhere from 330 and 1,800 people.
7: AMATOXIN
Amatoxin is a type of poison found in the world’s deadliest mushrooms. You know, the one’s they tell you not to eat when camping. The poison is extremely volatile; if ingested the Amatoxin enters the blood stream and makes a beeline for the liver or the kidney, resulting in extreme illness as the poison attacks the cells of the organ, shutting them down over a matter of days. Amatoxins can attack the heart as well; a sure bet that without proper treatment, usually consisting of high amounts of Penicillin, those who have ingested the poison will fall into a coma within days, and ultimately die of heart or liver failure.
6: STRYCHNINE
Used as a pesticide meant to kill small animals, Strychnine is one of the deadliest poisons on earth. Though found naturally in certain trees in Asia, Strychnine is also created synthetically in labs (ironically winning a Nobel Prize for the first successful attempt). The poison can infect a person in a myriad of ways, whether through ingestion, inhalation, or absorption. Upon entering the body, within a few minutes the muscles begin contracting, while nausea and vomiting overwhelm the victim. As more and more muscles in the body begin to convulse and spasm, they lead to asphyxiation. The entire lethal process from ingestion to death takes roughly a half an hour.
5: MERCURY
Remember in science class when the teacher implored you not to break the thermometer? Well, for good reason. A heavy metal, Mercury is incredibly toxic to the human body when touched or inhaled. Had you or any of your classmates broken that thermometer and gotten some of the Mercury on your body, your skin would have started itching, burning and even peeling off within minutes. If ingested or inhaled, Mercury is altogether even more unpleasant, causing memory loss, loss of vision, kidney failure and brain damage. Eventually Mercury poisoning will shut down the CNS and result in death.
4: TETRODOTOXIN
The infamous poison that dwells deep within the puffer fish, that many sushi connoisseurs pay a premium to eat in hopes it is prepared correctly, and the poison that almost killed Homer Simpson, Tetrodotoxin is lethal. Symptoms, of which there are a multitude, usually occur 30 minutes after consuming the poison. First, your mouth will become paralyzed; next swallowing will become a chore. Soon, your coordination and speech will become disabled. Following that, seizures and convulsions may set in, eventually leading to coma and death. Death most commonly occurs after about 6 hours, but Tetrodotoxin has been known to kill within 17 minutes, clearly making it one of the deadliest poisons on earth.
3: RICIN
Ricin has become the new poison of choice when mailing toxic letters, supplanting Anthrax with that dubious distinction. Even a former Walking Dead actress was charged and convicted of mailing Ricin-laced letters recently. While the fervour surrounding such events may venture into the land of paranoia in the general public sometimes, the serious precautions taken by law enforcement with Ricin are wholly justified. Found in the bean of the Castor Oil Plant, Ricin is incredibly lethal, as it attacks protein production in the body, ultimately shutting it down completely. Most deadly when inhaled, hence the powdered form mail in letters, a quantity no larger than a sprinkle of table salt can kill. Knowing all this, it is no wonder Ricin has been studied as an option for chemical warfare by everyone from the United States military to Al-Qaeda.
2: VX
The most dangerous nerve gas on the planet, this former pesticide became a prime target for militaries across the globe to stockpile, despite its label as a banned weapon of mass destruction. There truly is no use for VX other than as a chemical agent in war. So toxic is VX that one drop of the poison coming into contact with exposed skin will kill a human. Inhalation being the most common form of exposure, symptoms from VX poisoning will range from flu-like symptoms with mild exposure to paralysis and full respiratory failure leading to death when exposed to a lethal dose.
1: BOTULINUM TOXIN
The deadliest poison on earth, a single cap full of Botulinum Toxin could potentially kill hundreds of thousands of people if let loose on the world by causing botulism, a disease that can shut down the CNS. Ironically enough however, Botulinum Toxin has many practical applications in everything from Botox treatment, to the treatment of migraines. That said, even some Botox patients have died as a result of their procedures involving Botulinum Toxin. Mortality rates in poisoning from Botulinum Toxin hover around 50% in untreated patients, while the remainder of those treated may suffer debilitating complications from their illness for years after treatment. Due to its volatile and readily available nature, Botulinum Toxin is the deadliest poison in the world.
As you can see, VX and Botulinum Toxin take the top two spots on both boards, making them the deadliest poisons and/or toxins in the world. More information here: https://www.therichest.com/rich-list/the-biggest/the-10-deadliest-poisons-in-the-world/
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