Background/Introduction
Arsenic is a naturally occurring element that has been known to be a very toxic poison for hundreds of years. This metalloid has properties of metals and nonmetals. It has two forms, the organic forms including arsenobetaine, arsenocholine, MMA and DMA and the inorganic forms including As (III) and As(V). This poison can be dated as far back as 3000 years ago in Chinese medicine that is still used today. Egyptians used arsenic as a way to harden copper and as embalming fluid. During the Middle Ages it was used as a suicidal or homicidal agent. Throughout history, many rulers have used arsenic as a way to remove all threats and competition. Even Dioscorides, a very famous Greek physician who studied poisons from plants, animals and minerals, recognized arsenic as a poison during the 1st century. An Arab alchemist turned arsenic in the white tasteless powder that it still is today. In the 1500s, arsenic was used as a rat poison.6
Arsenic is a very dangerous toxin because of its discreet properties. This element has no color, taste or odor especially when place...
Attention-getter: Every day in America millions of people are being poisoned, and you could very well be among them.
In chapter 8 titled "Radium (Ra)" of The Poisoner's Handbook by Deborah Blum, the most interesting story developed within this chapter was the death of dial workers at Orange, New Jersey after been exposed to radium every day. It was interesting due to the fact that radium was used everywhere in the community and was never thought it could harm anyone. Radium was a super element that was used everywhere, but its continuous use unmasked its fatal habits. As it was stated in the text, "Radiant health, the ads proclaimed-beautiful skin, endless vigor, and eternal health—ingesting radium seemed the next best thing to drinking sunlight." (Blum 179). People were accepting radium as a natural gold element but they haven't realized constant contact
The primary goal of this laboratory project was to identify an unknown compound and determine its chemical and physical properties. First the appearance, odor, solubility, and conductivity of the compound were observed and measured so that they could be compared to those of known compounds. Then the cation present in the compound was identified using the flame test. The identity of the anion present in the compound was deduced through a series of chemical tests (Cooper, 2009).
Pita, R. (2009). Toxin weapons: From World War I to jihadi terrorism. Toxin Reviews, 28(4), 219-237. doi:10.3109/1556950903246136
This article is about an experiment done to try to see if Aluminum can cause resistance in potatoes to a disease. Aluminum is commonly found in arid soils which accounts for 35% of all farmable on earth. The aluminum (specifically Al3+) targets the roots of the plants and causes stunted plant growth and abnormal root formation. THis causes stresses in the plant which could lead to cross resistance. This immunity has led to some plants to develop cross resistance to diseases. THis has happened before in the plant, an example is the fact that ozone induces resistance to the tobacco mosaic virus in tobacco plants. This phenomenon is what is being tested for in potato plants. Potato plants will be subjected to infections from Phytophthora
Arsenic has been one of the elements most mentioned during the middle and even modern age. It was formerly known by Chinese, Romans, Greeks and even earlier, by the Babylonians. The Greeks used the arsenic oxide (III) as a depilatory, and 4,000 years before the Christian era, arsenic was involved in the development of early bronzes. However, the arsenic was released in early civilizations through compounds or substances containing the element, which by its color and appearance would favor the conversion of base metals into gold. It was also used by the alchemists in the method of making the pill of immortality. In the philosophy of alchemy, arsenic represents the masculine principle. The masculinity of arsenic was different, because it combined with an element that was considered as masculine such as sulfur, forming orpiment and realgar.
Aluminum is slightly hazardous in case of skin contact (irritant), non-hazardous in case of ingestion, and non-hazardous in case of inhalation.
Lead, simply put, is an element found in the earth’s crust. It is slightly soluble in water and is transported mainly through the atmosphere (Harte et al. 1991). The human usage of lead dates back to five- thousand years ago when it was discovered that small quantities of silver could be extracted from lead ore (Harte et al. 1991). The ancient civilizations of Phoenicia, Egypt, Greece, India, and China used lead for vessels, roofs, water ducts, utensils, ornaments, and weights (Harte et al. 1991). Romans used lead acetate as an artificial sweetener in their drinks. Lead acetate, known as sugar of lead, would sweeten a vintage without causing further fermentation, which would have occurred with the addition of sweeteners like honey (Le Courteur and Burreson 2003). The Romans also used lead pipes for plumbing their homes with water. The Latin name for lead is Plumbum (like the word plumbing) hence the symbol Pb on the periodic table (August 1998). Only the rich Romans had access to water in their homes through lead pipes. Lead poisoning from th...
When we think about dreams, we try our best to achieve them. What we don't think about is that dream being unsuccessful or being deferred. People might use metaphors such as, it stinks like rotten meat, or dries up like a raisin in the sun to explain what a deferred dream means . The play “A Raisin in the Sun” is a perfect example of someone's dream being deferred. The movie, following closely to the play, portrays the same idea. There are many similarities between the play and the movie. The people are the same, along with many scenes and occurrences. Both movie and play provide the same concept and message, while differing in some of the events.
A huge fascination of arsenic started in the 19th century when people got word of a province in southeastern Austria where people ate arsenic. Women would eat arsenic to help gain weight and fix their complexion to look more beautiful and men would eat arsenic because they believed it helped them breath easier when they were climbing high up in the mountains. One doctor by the name of Dr. Robert Craig MacLagan, was particularly interested in this and visited the town to see for himself what was really occurring. He observed the people and tested their urine to prove that they have been indeed ingesting arsenic. He wrote about the things he witnessed in the Edinburgh Medical Journal. The men in the town would eat 6 grains/dose at least twice a week, sometimes eating it on their bread or just drinking it with their water. As a result many Victorians began self-medicating themselves with arsenic.
At one time, lead poisoning was common among those who worked with lead, but such workplace hazards have been largely curtailed. Lead has been used by humans since ancient times. It was used in ancient Egypt in coins, weights, ornaments, utensils, ceramic glazes, and solder. Lead is mentioned in the Old Testament. The Romans conveyed drinking water in lead pipes, some of which are still in operation.
Anthrax is a bacterial disease caused by bacteria called Bacillus anthracis (buh-SIL-us an-THRAY-sus). The Bacillus anthracis can exist in two different forms: favorable form, when the bacteria are rod-shaped and can grow and divide, or the unfavorable form, when they form a very resistant dormant spore that helps them survive extreme environmental conditions. Like other bacteria, Bacillus anthracis is very small, only about 1 by 9 micrometers in size. It is Gram-positive, which makes the bacteria purple-pinkish rods, with a relatively long lifespan of over 70 years. Bacillus anthracis feed on iron, oxygen, water, and nutrients to survive and reproduce. Bacillus anthracis need a favorable environment, but can reproduce in many different ways, either through spore germination, asexual bacterial reproduction, or formation of new spores. Herbivore animals such as cattle, sheep, and goats are the primary target of these bacteria and can be infected when they breathe in or ingest spores in contaminated soil, plants, or water. These elliptical shaped spores have thick and layered walls which make it resistant to heat, dryness, ultraviolet light, and gamma radiations. These spores initially develop inside the rod-shaped form, causing it to be named endospore. Because the bacteria is zoonosis, which means that it affects domestic and wild animals primarily, it is very rare for people to be infected by anthrax, but it is theoretically possible when the spores get into the body either through coming in contact with infected animals or contaminated animal products. Even though people can be infected with anthrax through animal contacts, it is not contagious, meaning that it cannot be transmitted from a person to person. After the spores get ...
Chemical warfare has been used as early as B.C. and A.D. Mostly used as smoke screens, incendiary devices, and some that may have been disguised as sleeping agents. “During the sieges of Plataea and Delium, the Spartan army used arsenic smoke. The pitch and sulfur were ignited and the consequence was a fire greater than anyone had ever yet seen produced by human agency’, the Greek historian wrote” (Coleman, 2005). The Romans used toxic smoke against the Charakitanes in Spain. The Charakitanes were defeated in two da...
Anthrax is a bacterial disease instigated by the endospore-forming, rod-shaped bacterium Bacillus anthracis . Anthrax itself comes from the Greek word for coal, nthrax, attributable to the coal colored lesions that oftentimes develop on victims’ dermis. Though the sporadic disease most commonly affects animals in agricultural regions, it can sometimes infect humans and cause serious illness as well as both hypodermic and internal infections that can prove fatal to those infected.
The chemical has colorless liquid, with characteristic odor. A harmful contamination of the air will be reached on evaporation of this substance at 20'C.