Poisons Trivia

1. This is the alcohol typically contained in alcoholic beverages, also known as grain alcohol.

From Quiz Warning: Questions May Be Toxic

Answer: ethanol

Ethanol, or ethyl alcohol, is a commonly abused toxic substance.

From Quiz This'll Kill Ya!

Answer: Australia

Over sixty percent of Australian snakes are venomous.

From Quiz Poison: The Assassin's Friend

Answer: Arsenic

Arsenic was once thought of as the 'ideal homicidal poison', because originally there was no way of discovering that a toxic substance had entered the body.

From Quiz Toxic Trivia 2

Answer: Tomato

In France and northern Europe, the tomato was originally grown as an ornamental plant. Because it was identified as a relative of the poisonous belladonna and deadly nightshade, it was thought to be toxic too. When it was discovered to be edible, it was called the "love apple" (pomme d'amour) because it was believed to be an aphrodisiac.

From Quiz Toxic Trivia

Answer: Cocaine

Watson asks Holmes 'Which is it today, morphine or cocaine?' to which Holmes replies 'It is cocaine, a seven percent solution. Would you care to try it?' Watson declines and warns him 'Count the cost. Your brain may, as you say, be roused and excited, but it is a pathological and morbid process which involves tissue change and may at least leave a permanent weakness.'

From Quiz It's Poisonous

Answer: belladonna

Atropine is mainly used in opthalmology.

From Quiz Looks That Kill

Answer: To render the arsenic for a beauty treatment.

Believe it or not they would soak it in water to draw out the arsenic for cosmetic purposes. One cosmetics company advertised their product as, "Dr. Mc Kenzie's Improved Harmless Arsenic Complextion Wafers". Of course it caused balding, destroyed red blood cells and could lead to death, but what amazes me is that it was around until the 1920s.

From Quiz Poison Remedies

Answer: Fomepizole

Fomepizole is the antidote for ethylene glycol poisoning. Ethylene glycol is the main ingredient of car antifreeze and hydraulic brake fluids.

From Quiz Warning: Questions May Be Toxic

Answer: urine

Alcohol inhibits the pituitary secretion of anti-diuretic hormone (ADH), which acts on the kidney to reabsorb water; consequently producing more urine.

From Quiz Poison: The Assassin's Friend

Answer: From the Greek word for 'bow'

Toxeuma means 'bow' in Greek. The poison is quick and goes straight to the target in the manner of an arrow. The word 'poison', incidentally, comes from the French for 'drink', because poison was traditionally put in drinks.

From Quiz Toxic Trivia 2

Answer: Mushrooms

The legend goes that Agrippina offered Claudius a mushroom from a dish she was eating. It was the only one that was poisoned but she was hoping he wouldn't be able to resist the particularly choice one she had prepared. Her ploy worked. Claudius was proclaimed a god after his death. Later on, his successor Nero jokingly referred to mushrooms as 'the food of the gods'.

From Quiz Toxic Trivia

Answer: Australia

The nine most venomous arachnids include the funnel-web, the red-back and fiddle-back spiders, the scrub or paralysis tick and scorpions. The ten most venomous snakes include the tiger snake, taipan, death adder, dugite, sea snakes, black and brown snakes (several varieties).

From Quiz It's Poisonous

Answer: arsenic

From Quiz Poisons, Toxins, and Harmful Things

Answer: Black widow spider

The black widow spider is a dangerous arachnid often dwelling in tropical and temperate regions across nearly all continents. It produces a neurotoxin which, though debilitating and painful, is surprisingly not fatal in most cases. The aim is, generally, to stay away from the black widow which, as many know, has a distinctive red marking on its abdomen (often shaped like an hourglass). Latrotoxin affects the muscles (including the heart) and can cause severe spasms and cramping. Interestingly, befitting the name, only female black widows have toxic venom.

From Quiz Looks That Kill

Answer: Mercury.

Not only was it smoothed on the skin to treat blemishes, but it was used to treat syphilis as well. Mercury can cause birth defects, kidney damage, liver damage, fatigue, irritability, tremors, depression, a metallic taste in the mouth and death.

From Quiz The Poisoner's Handbook

Answer: Digitalis

There are about 20 species of Foxglove, all which look similar in appearance. They all have clusters of long bell-shaped flowers on a long stalk which are usually pink, purple, white or yellow in color. The plant is native to areas in Europe, Asia, and Africa. It is used to make the cardiac medication known as digitalis and when used in this capacity has saved thousands of lives. Each species has steroidal glycosides which can be physiologically toxic and leads to many of its nicknames such as "Dead Man's Bell" and "Witches Gloves". The entire plant is toxic and just a small amount can be fatal. Symptoms of ingestion include diarrhoea, nausea, vomiting, severe headaches, abdominal pains and hallucination. Later symptoms include slow and irregular pulse, tremors, convulsions,and vision disturbances. Most poisonings from this plant are accidental, but in 1999 six members of a Romany clan were put on trial for a crime that came to be known as "The Foxglove Murders". It has also been speculated in some circles that foxglove and/or digitalis was used to murder Pope John Paul I in 1978.

From Quiz Warning: Questions May Be Toxic

Answer: coma

On average, this BAC range can render a person unconscious, with depressed reflexes and slower, more shallow breathing. Consequences of a BAC greater than 0.50 typically results in death.

From Quiz Poison: The Assassin's Friend

Answer: 125

This is the latest measurement from the University of Hokkaido in Japan.

From Quiz Toxic Trivia 2

Answer: Papua New Guinea

Jack Dumbacher of Papua New Guinea caught a pitohui in his net. As he was removing it, the bird pecked at and scratched his fingers, which subsequently developed numbness. Studies showed that the feathers and the skin of the pitohui contain homobatrachotoxin, the toxin that is also found in the poison dart frog.

From Quiz Toxic Trivia

Answer: the Crown of Thorns starfish

The Crown of Thorns starfish is very large (often up to 45 cm or 18 inches in diameter) and has 12 to 19 arms. It is found throughout the South Pacific, especially on the Great Barrier Reef.

From Quiz Poisons, Toxins, and Harmful Things

Answer: DDT

DDT, or Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (what a mouthful), and its implementation were the subject of a Nobel Prize win in 1948 when Müller determined its notable success in killing a number of insects responsible for crop destruction around the world. The real problem was that it was too strong a pesticide. As outline by Rachel Carson in the 1962 work "Silent Spring", DDT was also highly detrimental not only to ecosystems (due to its tendency to kill the birds that ate the dying bugs), but it had a high likelihood of being a dangerous carcinogen. Within ten years, DDT was banned for use in the United States, a choice that almost single-handedly saved the bald eagle and peregrine falcon populations from outright extinction.

From Quiz Looks That Kill

Answer: Belladonna.

Belladonna would be made into eye drops and used to dilate the pupils, which supposedly made the eye more attractive. The side effects were costly; visual distortion, sensitivity to light and, if taken systematically, could kill very quickly. The seed of the Rosary Pea contain abrin, a close relative of ricin, one of the most fatal toxins on earth. Oleander is one of the most toxic of all commonly grown garden plants. The Doll's Eyes plants' berries contain cardiogenic toxins, which can slow the heart rate.

From Quiz Poison Remedies

Answer: Acetylcysteine

Acetylcysteine binds to toxic metabolites, protecting hepatocytes in the liver from toxicity.

From Quiz Warning: Questions May Be Toxic

Answer: ethylene glycol

The immediate effects of ingestion are similar to ethanol; however, when metabolized by the liver, several toxic species including glycolic and oxalic acids are produced. This results in severe metabolic acidosis.

From Quiz Poison: The Assassin's Friend

Answer: Marsh Test

Dr. James Marsh developed this test. He would convert the arsenic he suspected to be in body tissue into arsine gas and then back into its pure form.

From Quiz Toxic Trivia

Answer: Chromium

'Blackjack disease' is a type of contact dermatitis. The symptoms are a red rash, itching, swelling and usually blisters.

From Quiz It's Poisonous

Answer: lead

Scientists at the Health Research Institute in Naperville, Illinois analyzed eight strands of Beethoven's hair and found 'unusually high' levels of lead, which could account for the composer's many medical problems.

From Quiz Looks That Kill

Answer: Radium.

In the early years of the century, radioactive skin creams were popular. Radium was used in various skin creams. One product claimed "If placed on the face where the skin has become wrinkled or tired the radioactive forces immediately take effect on the nerves and tissues. A continuous steady current of energy flows into the skin, and before long the wrinkles will disappear". It was an advertisement in 1915 for Radium Chin Straps. Marie Curie discovered polonium and radium, and was the first to research the use of radium on tumors.

From Quiz Warning: Questions May Be Toxic

Answer: carbon monoxide

Carbon monoxide exposures occur more often during the fall and winter months, when people are more likely to run gas furnaces and heaters.

From Quiz This'll Kill Ya!

Answer: Helodermatidae

The two species of Helodermatidae, the Gila monster and the beaded lizard, are the only two known venomous lizards in the world. They live in the southwestern US and Mexico. Unlike snakes, they don't inject their venom in a quick bite but must chew on their victim to release the poison. They are rarely dangerous to humans, but deaths have occurred. Although they are predators, their prey is usually small enough to be killed without poison, and the venom is thought to be for defensive purposes.

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