MadSci Network: General Biology
Query:

Re: What's the world quickest acting poison/toxin/venom?

Date: Tue Mar 5 08:10:00 2002
Posted By: david bell, Faculty, life & Envrionmental sciences, nottingham uni
Area of science: General Biology
ID: 1012561356.Gb
Message:

As always, it is the dose that makes the poison ! Just enough cyanide to 
kill you will take a long time; but if you drink or inhale a massive 
overdose of HCN, it will be almost instant- or at least, your lungs will 
stop working instantly, and then 10-20 seconds till your brain shuts down.

All sorts of things will stop the heart as soon as they are injected; 
simplest is a bolus of potassium chloride. There are also numerous other 
agents, such as cardiac glycosides.

Nerve gases are also pretty fast, and again a topical application of nerve 
gas to the skin will lead to ~ instant death.

please don't try this at home :-)
david



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