1. Botulinum toxin
This is the most toxic substance in nature: just one gram (0.04 ounces) could kill 14,000 people if swallowed -- or 8.3 million if injected! Produced by Clostridium botulinum bacteria, this neurotoxin is responsible for botulism, a rare but life-threatening illness transmitted principally through contaminated canned food. Botulinum disrupts communication between nerves and muscle cells, gradually paralysing its victims and finally leading to respiratory failure. Extremely small doses of botulinum toxin can, however, be used to treat muscle spasms and excessive sweating and to paralyse the muscles that cause wrinkles.
2. Arsenic
Arsenic has been called "The King of Poisons", for its discreetness and potency -- it was virtually undetectable, so it was very often used either as a murder weapon or as a mystery story element. But that's until the Marsh test came and signalled the presence of this poison in water, food and the like. However, this king of poisons has taken many famous lives: Napoleon Bonaparte, George the 3rd of England and Simon Bolivar to name a few. On another note, arsenic, like belladonna, was used by the Victorians for cosmetic reasons.
3.Anthrax
Anthrax was a bacteria that was all but off the radar thanks to decades of vaccination and sterilization programs aimed at containing infection rates. Then in 2001, anthrax became headline news when a series of attacks through the United States Postal Service killed five and sickened 17, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.Anthrax spores can spread through the air and can infect a person or animal by coming into contact with a wound on the skin, by being inhaled by the host, or by being ingested in the form of tainted meat. Symptoms of anthrax infection depend on the method of exposure, but typically resemble the common flu. Inhaling anthrax is the most dangerous means of exposure and can be fatal up to 90 percent of the time.
4 Strychnine
Derived from the Strychnos nux-vomica tree native to India and southeast Asia, pure strychnine comes in the form of a white, bitter powder that can be deadly when inhaled, injected or ingested. Although commonly used as a pesticide, it has also surfaced in illegal drugs such as heroin and cocaine, according to the CDC.
Strychnine poisoning can lead to muscle spasms, respiratory failure and even brain death within 30 minutes of exposure.
5.Cyanide
If there's one toxin that has almost become a synonym for poison, it's cyanide. Cyanide can come in the form of a crystal or colorless gas that's been described as having a "bitter almond" smell, according to the Centers for Disease Control and prevention.Cyanide also happens to be everywhere: It's naturally occurring in some foods and plants. It's in cigarettes. Cyanide is used to manufacture plastics, develop photographs, remove gold from ore, and of course kill unwanted insects, among other applications. Cyanide exposure can come from inhalation, ingestion or even touch.Poisoning from cyanide can lead to convulsions, respiratory failure and death in extreme cases.
6. Mercury
As described by the National Institutes of Health, there are three forms of mercury that can be potentially deadly: elemental mercury, inorganic mercury and organic mercury.
7. Ricin
Derived from castor beans, ricin is a naturally occurring poison, and humans can be exposed to it in the air, food or water, according to the CDC.
8. Tetrodotoxin
Pufferfish may not seem like particularly dastardly animals based on their appearance alone, but they harbor one of the most deadly poisons known to man.
9. Batrachotoxin
Batrachotoxin is an extremely potent cardiotoxic and neurotoxic steroidal alkaloid found in certain species of frogs, melyrid beetles, and birds. Batrachotoxin was derived from the Greek word “batrachos” meaning “frog”.
10. Asbestos
Asbestos is a set of six naturally occurring silicate minerals,which all have in common their eponymous asbestiform habit: long (roughly 1:20 aspect ratio), thin fibrous crystals, with each visible fiber composed of millions of microscopic “fibrils” that can be released by abrasion and other processes.
Audio credit:"Whiskey on the Mississippi" Kevin MacLeod
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
