The most interesting poisons

Hey %username%!

It's evening again, again I have nothing to do, and I decided to take a little time to write the third part of my cycle on poisons. I hope you read first и the second part and you liked it.

In the third part, we will rest a bit. There will not be a story about those poisons that you encounter at every step - most likely, on the contrary. There will be no holivar about the dangers of alcohol and nicotine.

In the third part, I will collect those poisons that for some reason seemed interesting to me (if such a word is applicable to poisons at all - but, as I said: I am an artist, I see it that way).

So, again my deadly ten! Go.

Tenth place

Homidium bromide

Mankind has always been curious. And in its curiosity, it sometimes inadvertently creates monsters.

Homidium bromide has been developed as an intercalating agent for molecular biology in order to detect and study nucleic acids, in particular in the case of DNA or RNA electrophoresis in agarose gel.

The word "intercalating" is the key here. By definition, intercalation is the reversible inclusion of a molecule or group between other molecules or groups. Homidium bromide interacts with nucleic acids, including between bases.

For those who are interested, it looks something like this

In practice, even at low doses, homidium bromide inhibits DNA and RNA synthesis and reverses the supercoiling of circular DNA. This substance is almost the most powerful known mutagen.

There is no information in the literature about how much homidium bromide should be taken to guarantee death. There is no information about how this death will take place. Scientists are still arguing whether this substance has carcinogenic properties.

%username%, homidium bromide is a great way to learn something new about your body in the spirit of STALKER Go for it!

Ninth place

ENGLISH

If you are not satisfied with the tenth place - meet: N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine! Well, or simply and modestly: BFG NNG.

Remember, I said about "almost the most powerful mutagen"? So, NNG is the most powerful. Unlike the frail homidium bromide, NNG always causes more than one mutation per cell. The masters of genetic engineering, when they conducted their experiments with E. coli, used NNG.

And by the way, NNG is a 100% carcinogen. Tumors in this case arise multiple, always - recurrent.

Among other things, NNG:

• Unstable. In itself, this substance is a powder, but it constantly decomposes, and when stored in a closed vessel, it explodes.
• Reacts violently with water.
• May explode on impact.
• Sensitive to heat, light, moisture - explodes without warning.
• Flammable.
• Incompatible with aqueous solutions, acids, alkalis, oxidizing agents, reducing agents - violent reaction with an explosion.
• Alkaline hydrolysis releases toxic and explosive gases upon deactivation.

Although, in terms of toxicity, NNG is pretty sweet: rats die at doses of the order of 90 mg / kg. Given the basic properties of NNG, we can say that they are lucky.

Eighth place

Heptyl

From time immemorial, people have dreamed of flying. In the last century, the dream was realized in flights into space. Every year mankind cherished thoughts about the exploration of the Moon, Mars, flights to the stars.

Then the race was over. Competition disappeared, enthusiasm was lost, everyone started counting money and suddenly discovered that it is much more interesting to make money on smartphones and processors than to fly somewhere.

But I'm not talking about that. Heptyl - or unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (UDMH, 1,1-dimethylhydrazine) - is a component of high-boiling (having a boiling point above 0 ° C) rocket fuel. Dianitrogen tetroxide (AT), pure or mixed with nitric acid, is often used as an oxidizing agent in tandem with heptyl; pure acid and liquid oxygen are known to be used. To improve the properties, heptyl was used in a mixture with hydrazine, known as aerozine.

This fuel (and this is precisely rocket fuel!) Was used and is being used, in particular, in Soviet launch vehicles Proton, Kosmos, Cyclone; American - the Titan family; French - the Ariane family; in propulsion systems of manned spacecraft, satellites, orbital and interplanetary stations.

Heptyl is a colorless or slightly yellowish transparent liquid with a sharp unpleasant odor characteristic of amines (the smell of spoiled fish is similar to the smell of ammonia, very similar to the smell of sprats). It mixes well with water, ethanol, most petroleum products and many organic solvents. Self-ignites upon contact with oxidants based on nitric acid and dinitrogen tetroxide, which simplifies the design and provides easy launch and the ability to repeatedly turn on rocket engines. This is one of the advantages, they are also complemented by greater efficiency per unit mass of the fuel mixture (surpasses the oxygen + kerosene pair and the oxygen + hydrogen pair in density - 1170 kg / m³ versus 1070 kg / m³ and 285 kg / m³, respectively) and the possibility of a long storage of fueled rockets at normal temperatures.

Now - about the unpleasant.

• Heptyl is four times more toxic than hydrocyanic acid. Effect on the human body: irritation of the mucous membranes of the eyes, respiratory tract and lungs, severe excitation of the central nervous system, gastrointestinal upset (nausea, vomiting), loss of consciousness, death.
• Flash point -15 °C; autoignition temperature 249 °C; concentration limits of flame propagation 2-95% vol. This means that heptyl ignites very readily and burns very happily (who would doubt it).
• Heptyl vapors are extremely explosive, losing, perhaps, to a hydrogen-oxygen pair.
• Mutagen. Carcinogen. It's so strong that it's been used to reliably induce colorectal carcinoma in rats in tumor research.

How do you like that, Elon Musk? In short, %username%, I don't envy you if you live near a spaceport.

Seventh place

Cantharidin

In addition to flying, humanity has always had more interesting things to do. For example, at all times men have been very complex about their capabilities - and yes, yes!, I'm talking about exactly those opportunities!

Now, in search of drugs for angina pectoris, some man was certainly lucky - and sildenafil appeared - well, or in the common people Viagra. And before everything was much more difficult!

One of the popular options was to take such living creatures:


No, %username% is not a green cockroach at all, but a Spanish fly. And its history is quite old and very colorful:

• In Roman times, Livia, the conniving wife of Octavian Augustus, slipped skewer into her food in the hope that she would inspire Livia's guests to indiscretion, which would help her blackmail them in the future.
• In 1572, Ambroise Pare wrote an account of a man suffering from "the most terrible satyriasis" (we call it a different word now, but google it yourself) after taking a potion containing nettle and Spanish fly.
• In the 1670s, the fortune-teller and sorceress La Voisin offered a "love potion" of Spanish fly, dried mole blood and bat (fu).
• In the "Marseille case" of the Marquis de Sade, he was charged with the use of "Spanish flies".

And it's all the fault of cantharidin, which is up to 5% in the secret of this cockroach! By the way, not only: cantharidin is contained in the hemolymph of blister beetles, T-shirts and some longhorn beetles. And yes, in small doses, he is exactly what an elderly chevalier needs, who is surrounded by young courtesans!

The problem is that in addition to that very action, cantharidin also has skin-abscess properties. But since it was not rubbed, but drunk, then: after entering the digestive tract in doses of the order of 0,5 mg / kg, rapidly developing intoxication began - abdominal pain, vomiting, urine with blood, acute inflammation of the kidneys, the development of kidney failure. An overdose at the level of 40-80 mg/kg reliably and forever solved the issue of communication not only with women, but with all living things in general: at the subsequent autopsy, there was a sharp hyperemia of the mucous membranes, the formation of ulcers and foci of hemorrhage, diffuse lesions are found in the liver and kidneys .

Is it worth the risk? History has said yes.

Therefore, the success of Viagra is not at all surprising.

Sixth place

Paraquat

Since we are talking about humanity and people, you know, %username%, when I was preparing a list of members of this hit parade, for some reason I began to understand algae, mushrooms, and all that viciously poisonous flora and fauna that surrounds us . Because more vicious and - which is typical! - a randomly poisonous animal, like a person - I could not find. Moreover, “chaotically” is the key word, because a person poisons both flora and fauna, including himself.

Paraquat is an organic compound, the trade name is N,N'-dimethyl-4,4'-dipyridylium dichloride. In the form of a quaternary ammonium salt, paraquat is widely used as a strong non-specific herbicide. By the way, %username%, do you have your own website? But paraquat has!

Paraquat is used to control broadleaf weeds and grass, but is less effective in controlling deep-rooted weeds. This herbicide does not attack the bark of trees, so it is widely used to control weeds in orchards. In the 1960s, paraquat was also used by the United States to control marijuana and coca plantations in South America (for some reason, I remembered the story about "Yellow Rain" and "Agent Orange" - remind me later if you want to listen to this story as well).

Paraquat is highly toxic to animals and humans. The lethal dose can be about one teaspoon of the substance. When ingested, paraquat with the bloodstream enters all tissues of the body, and more selectively accumulates in the lungs. This causes swelling and other damage to the lungs, which can lead to fibrosis. In addition to the lungs, the liver and kidneys (renal failure) can also be damaged.

At the moment, paraquat is used as a herbicide in 120 countries (it is not used in Russia - I was even surprised here!).

Well, what can I say? Bon appetit.

Fifth place

endrin

Endrin was synthesized in 1949 by Kurt Alder. Commercial production of endrin began in the United States in 1951, where it was used as a pesticide along with aldrin. It was found that this substance is more than 2 times more effective than aldrin and 10-12 times more effective than DDT. It has proven to be effective against:

• caterpillars and aphids on tobacco, corn, sugar beet, sugar cane, cotton and other crops;
• blackcurrant bud mite, against which all other drugs are ineffective;
• mice and other rodents;
• people (what???).

Yes, yes, my dear friend, the toxicity of endrin aerosol to humans is comparable to that of hydrocyanic acid. It affects mainly the nervous system. Absorbed through the skin. It has a long half-life from the body. Charm, right?

Acute poisoning with endrin is characterized by motor excitation, increased respiration, muscle twitching, tremors, and tonic convulsions. Death occurs after several attacks of convulsions due to paralysis of the respiratory center. Cases of acute poisoning have been described as a result of the consumption of bread baked from contaminated flour with an endrin content of 150-5500 mg/kg. The first signs of intoxication were usually observed after 2-3 hours (general malaise, nausea, vomiting, weakness, severe sweating). In more severe cases, convulsions, temporary deafness, paralysis, coordination disorder, paresthesia are described. Recovery came quickly, but sometimes short-term disorientation, aggressiveness, and intellectual impairment were noted as a result of poisoning.

In 1969 (18 years later!!!) endrin was removed from the list of plant protection substances due to its tendency to bioaccumulate (did I mention that it was insoluble in water?). However, this pesticide was used in some countries until the early 90s. By decision of the Stockholm Convention of May 23, 2001, there is a global ban on the production, sale and use of endrin, as one of the extremely toxic and environmentally resistant pesticides.

The total amount of endrin produced since 1951 is ~5000 tons, of which more than 2500 tons are in the United States. No one knows what is happening to him there now and whether they poured him out somewhere quietly - and this saddens.

Fourth place

Ricin

Do you know what makuha, %username% is? This is sunflower cake, what is left when oil is obtained from seeds. My grandfather brought home such healthy disks of makukha - he then fished with it.

Have you ever seen castor oil, %username%? I don’t ask if I drank, although by the way - the best and most environmentally friendly remedy for solving some delicate problems.

Have you seen the castor cake, %username%? No? Trust me, you won't see.

Castor oil is made from castor bean seeds - in warm countries it is such a bush up to 10 m high, in our country, due to the low subsistence level of a temperate climate, it is an annual plant up to 2-5 m high.

This is what the herb looks like
And so - 'castor nuts'

So, %username%, you will never see castor cake, because it is a strategic poison and is subject to strict accounting and disposal. The glycoprotein ricin, which is found in castor bean seeds, is the most powerful plant poison in the world, except for plants - algae. Ricin is 6 times more poisonous than potassium cyanide. The mechanism of toxic action of ricin is also beautiful: inhibition of protein synthesis by ribosomes. That is, these smallest intracellular things, which synthesize everything and make cells useful, suddenly stop working. Everywhere. Such is the intracellular strike.

In fact, the strike manifests itself as follows: nausea, vomiting, pain and burning in the esophagus and stomach, diarrhea, headache, drowsiness, anuria, leukocytosis, erythrocyte agglutination (this is when they stick together and precipitate right in the vessels and heart) - well, then collapse and death. Everything is simple.

Since a small dose of ricin the size of a pinhead is enough to kill an adult human, it is understandable that people became very interested in this and the use of ricin as a weapon of mass destruction was studied by the military departments of different countries, starting from the First World War. However, due to a number of shortcomings, this substance was never adopted for service.

Nevertheless, ricin has found use in the secret services. One of the most famous ricin incidents was the murder of Bulgarian dissident Georgy Markov, who was poisoned in 1978 by being stabbed with a specially designed umbrella. According to others, the killer's weapon was an air gun that fired a microcapsule of ricin and was disguised as an umbrella. The dose administered to Markov was no more than 450 micrograms (or 0,45 milligrams).

The ease of obtaining the toxin has made it potentially available to terrorist groups. So, in 2001, the press reported the discovery of instructions for making ricin at the defeated al-Qaeda base in Kabul. In 2003, a certain amount of ricin was found on terrorists in London, traces of ricin were found in a storage cell at the Gare de Lyon in Paris].

In 2013, a number of Mississippi individuals were arrested for attempting to send ricin letters to US President Barack Obama and other US dignitaries. So, in May of the same year, a threatening letter containing ricin was sent to the mayor of New York City, allegedly in response to the activities of the Mayors Against Illegal Weapons NGO.

Later in Texas, actress Shannon Richardson was charged with sending letters with a deadly poison to American politicians. Oddly enough, the Russian trace was not noticed here, and therefore everyone became bored and the story was forgotten.

Third Place

Since we are talking about weed, then remember about algae. And I'm not talking about those who cling to their legs when swimming - although it is so disgusting that it is worse than any poison (as for me). No, I'm talking about such small microscopic rubbish, about which they say: "the sea has blossomed!". Those that still glow at night, for example, like this:


Okay, okay, I confess, I joked, although a little later it will be clear that Cherenkov radiation is no worse.
The algae shine

This rubbish is small, but there is a lot of it. She is practically the very bottom of the food chain of the aquatic world. Who even notices her?

And in vain.

Algae called dinoflagellates and blue-green algae deserve special attention. And more specifically:

1. Dinoflagellates Gambierdiscus toxicus
2. Blue-green algae Gonyaulax catenella, Alexandrium sp., Gymnodinium sp., Pyrodinium sp.
3. Dinoflagellates Anabaena sp., Aphanizomenon spp., Cylindrospermopsis sp., Lyngbya sp., Planktothrix sp.

All these friends produce a whole list of toxins, recognized as one of the most poisonous substances on this small planet. The cutest ones I will name and describe.

Maitotoxin

Produced by citizen number 1 on the list above. It is the most toxic of the group of brevetoxins: approximately 0,2 mcg / kg is enough for your relatives to definitely receive insurance. The mechanism of action is due to the modification of voltage-dependent Ca-channels, an increase in the concentration of Ca2+ inside nerve cells, spontaneous release of acetylcholine into the blood, and sustained postsynaptic depolarization. In short, a powerful and irreversible paralysis.

The mitotoxin molecule itself is a system of 32 fused carbon rings. It is one of the largest and most complex non-protein molecule produced by a living organism. I hope it gives you some comfort if she gets inside you.

Oh yes, I almost forgot, a juicy detail: being a representative of brevetoxins, maitotoxin, before causing flaccid muscle paralysis and respiratory arrest, will definitely make you salivate, runny nose and spontaneous defecation. In short, to accept death with dignity will not work.

Saxitoxin

Produced by a group of citizens number 2 and 3 in the list above. Not as cool and beautiful as mitotoxin, but no less misanthropic: eating 2 mcg / kg will make all of humanity miss you. The mechanism of action of saxitoxin is the blockade of voltage-dependent sodium channels of nerve fibers. This blocks the conduction of nerve impulses and causes muscle paralysis.

Saxitoxin is interesting because its name is associated with the name of quite edible mollusks of the genus Saxidomus, which are also called "Washington clams" and "oil clams" ("Washington clams" and "butter clam" if not in our opinion). Well, the name is clear where they like to eat. So, these cute creatures deign to eat algae, and when there are a lot of them during periods of their rapid reproduction (“red tides”), they deign to accumulate all the toxins in themselves. I don't know why: you can think about evolution, about increasing resistance - but the poison of algae works very well on warm-blooded ones - and not very on cold-blooded ones. Especially for shellfish.

In short: having eaten seafood during the period of red tides, you can make the last meal.

It is clear that the Most Democratic Country in the world could not pass by such a find, and therefore saxitoxin is considered as an object to be used as a chemical weapon and is marked as TZ in the US armed forces.

Microcystin-LR

Chemically, microcystin-LR is a cyclic heptapeptide. That is, these are seven amino acids that took up the pen and wove such a cute round dance. By the way, one of them is a unique β-amino acid, usually in peptides all amino acids are alpha. Is it really cute? No? Well, okay!

Microcystin-LR is actually just the most vicious of all the microcystins produced by blue green algae. And they have enough, believe me! Microcystin inhibits the activity of protein phosphatase type 1 and type 2A (PP1 and PP2A) in the cytoplasm of liver cells. This leads to an increase in protein phosphorylation in liver cells, which reliably bends this vital organ. But - what is important! - bends in perspective.

No one has ever noted the short-term toxicity of microcystins. However, the vast majority of liver problems — including liver cancer — are thought to be related to chronic blue-green algae poisoning in one way or another. The WHO, in particular, is very concerned.

It is for this reason that the top three winners in our hit parade were discovered by the toxins of small - but very proud algae, which have long been tired of all this humanity.

Second place

VX

Humanity somehow sat on a mound and thought: there are so many different, interesting things around that can poison us in so many different ways. Why are we worse?

And came up with.

Since the early 1950s, a number of O,S-esters of phosphoric acid containing a dialkylaminoethylthio group have been studied in the UK. The goal was quite a sweet one: new insecticides were being developed. But suddenly it turned out that the resulting compounds, called phosphorylthiocholines, are extremely toxic to warm-blooded animals. It is clear that the topic of insecticides immediately became uninteresting to everyone - and real experts got down to business.

Specialists trained a little on cats and found that not phosphate, but alkylphosphonic analogs of phosphorothiocholines create a much more real hell. The USA, Great Britain, the Netherlands and Canada hurried over and brought out a new class of compounds called V-gases. VX is their most toxic representative.

VX is the most toxic substance ever produced for use in chemical weapons. Like all similar organophosphate poisons, VX is an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor: it selectively inhibits this enzyme, which catalyzes the hydrolysis of acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter. Hydrolysis of acetylcholine in a healthy body occurs constantly and is necessary to stop the transmission of a nerve impulse, which allows the muscle to return to a state of rest. The phosphorylated cholinesterase formed during VX poisoning, in contrast to the acetylated one, is a strong compound and does not undergo spontaneous hydrolysis. Thus, the destruction of acetylcholine molecules is inhibited and it continues to have a continuous effect on cholinergic receptors. This leads to a generalized overexcitation of cholinergic receptors, causing at first a strong excitation, and then paralysis of the function of organs and tissues. In this regard, the main symptoms of VX poisoning can be interpreted as a manifestation of excessive, inappropriate for the body activity of a number of structures and organs, which is provided by acetylcholine mediation. First of all, these are nerve cells, striated and smooth muscles, as well as various glands.

Symptoms of defeat: 1-2 minutes - constriction of the pupils; 2-4 minutes - sweating, salivation; 5-10 minutes - convulsions, paralysis, spasms; 10-15 minutes - death.

For humans, LD50 is cutaneous = 100 mcg / kg, orally = 70 mcg / kg. LCt100 = 0,01 mg · min./l, while the latent period is 5-10 minutes. Myosis occurs at a concentration of 0,0001 mg / l after 1 minute.

Yes, that's right - an attentive reader correctly noted the word "cutaneous": VX has a very high skin-resorptive toxicity compared to other phosphorus-containing poisonous substances. The skin of the face and neck is most sensitive to the action of VX. Skin ingestion symptoms develop within 1-24 hours, however, if VX comes into contact with lips or broken skin, the effects appear very quickly. The first sign of resorption through the skin may not be miosis, but small twitches of the muscles at the site of contact with VX, then convulsions, muscle weakness and paralysis.

The toxic effects of VX through the skin can be enhanced by substances that are not themselves toxic but are capable of transporting the poison into the body. The most effective among them are dimethyl sulfoxide and N,N-dimethylamide of palmitic acid. What do you think, %username%, is there any work done and are there any mixtures that would use this wonderful property? Pralna!

VX infects open water bodies for a very long period - up to 6 months. Well, buildings and in general everything standing around, infected with VX drops, pose a danger in summer for 1-3 days, in winter - 30-60 days. In general, the persistence of VX on the ground (skin-resorptive action): in summer - from 7 to 15 days, in winter - for the entire period until the onset of heat.

Are you talking about nuclear winter?

The world knows several use cases for VX.

• In December 1994 and January 1995, Masami Tsuchiya, a member of the Japanese religious sect Aum Shinrikyo, synthesized 100 to 200 grams of VX on the orders of sect leader Shoko Asahara, which was used to assassinate three people. Two were poisoned but did not die. One of those poisoned, a 28-year-old man, died, becoming the first VX victim ever recorded in the world. The man whom Asahara suspected of betrayal was attacked at 7:00 am on December 12, 1994 on a street in Osaka. The attackers sprayed liquid VX on the victim's neck. Poisoned pursued them for about 100 meters before falling; he died 10 days later, still in a deep coma. Doctors at first suspected that he had been poisoned with some kind of organophosphate pesticide, but the true cause of death was only revealed after the cult members were arrested for the Tokyo subway bombing and confessed to the murder. Seven months after the murder, VX metabolites such as ethyl methylphosphonate, methylphosphonic acid, and diisopropyl-2-(methylthio)ethylamine were found in the victim's blood samples. Unlike Sarin, VX was not used by the cult for massacres (such as the Matsumoto incident and the Tokyo subway bombing).
• On February 13, 2017, with the help of VX, Kim Jong Nam, the half-brother of Kim Jong-un, the ruler of the DPRK, was killed. The murder took place in the departure area of ​​the international airport in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia). Two women were involved in the murder. One distracted Kim Jong Nam's attention, while the other at that time threw a handkerchief soaked in a poisonous substance over his face from behind. Namu became ill, he was taken to the hospital, but on the way he died.

Well, as usual, when humanity came to its senses a little and realized what it had created, there was a backlash. Under the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention, V-gases are prohibited, which means they cannot be produced and existing stocks must be destroyed. But there are nuances.

• Only Russia and the US admit to having or having stockpiles of V-gases, however other countries are believed to have some of the poison as well.
• On September 27, 2017, Russian media reported on the complete destruction of chemical weapons stockpiles in Russia, including VX. Nobody believed.
• Cindy Westergaard, a chemical weapons expert and senior scientist at the Stimson Center, says Iraq "absolutely produced VX" in the 1980s, but there is no evidence of its use. Everyone believed. By the way, at present, VX is still in the US arsenals (army markings - three green rings with the inscription VX-GAS). But don't give a damn.
• North Korea, along with Egypt and South Sudan, has never signed or ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention.

And immediately - a few words about the "Novichok".

Connection group 'Beginner'

It is customary to associate with "Novichok":

• A-230: N-(methylfluorophosphonyl)-N',N'-diethyl-acetamidine (pictured left), freezes in cold weather;
• A-232: N-(O-Methylfluorophosphonyl)-N',N'-diethyl-acetamidine (pictured right), was developed and tested for use as a chemical warfare agent;
• A-234: N-(O-Ethylfluorophosphonyl)-N',N'-diethyl-acetamidine, like a viscous ointment and does not spread through the air, it affects the body when it comes into contact with the skin, stable and resistant to weather conditions.

It was these compounds that were presented by Viktor Kholstov, a member of the Russian delegation at the 57th and 59th Sessions of the Executive Committee of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, however, the family itself consists of more than sixty similar compounds.

There is an opinion that "Novichok" is more toxic than VX, but no figures for toxic doses are given. In words, "Novichok" is 5-10 times more toxic.

In fact, there is so much turbidity in this story that it deserves a separate article. Write me about it in the comments, %username%.

In the meantime ...

We have a winner! First place

The inquisitive mind of a reasonable person still did not let up after the discovery of VX. After all, in fact, a substance was found that could potentially infect everything around worse than an atomic explosion - but what if all this is crossed together?

Well then, a few words about radiation.

Mankind knows several types of radiation. In simple and accessible language, it happens:

1. Radiation caused by photons - UV, X-ray, gamma
2. Radiation caused by electrons - beta
3. Radiation caused by elementary particles - neutrons, protons
4. Radiation Caused by Larger Particles - Alpha

If it's in your head, dear% username%, to launch with a pea, a tennis ball, a basketball and a pound weight - what will make you more upset? It's the same with radiation - the harder it is, the more painful it is. Well, it is clear that everything depends on the speed.

In fact, the harm from alpha particles is maximum - and that is why the quality factor for alpha particles is 20, which means that with an equal amount of radiation energy absorbed per unit mass of an organ or tissue, the biological effect of alpha particles will be twenty times more stronger than the effect of gamma radiation.

Fortunately, alpha particles are so heavy and collide and interact so strongly with everything that they practically do not penetrate through the keratinized skin particles. But…
Polonium-210

There is no pure polonium-210 in the world, although it is found in trace amounts in all uranium and thorium ores. In its pure form, it is obtained artificially. More precisely - received. As experience has shown, the properties of polonium-210 are practically uninteresting for mankind, except for one:

• Polonium-210 in alloys with beryllium and boron was used to manufacture compact and very powerful neutron sources that practically did not create γ-radiation. However, now this niche is tightly occupied by California.
• An important field of application of polonium-210 is its use in the form of alloys with lead, yttrium, or independently for the production of powerful and very compact heat sources for autonomous installations, for example, space ones. One cubic centimeter of polonium-210 releases about 1320 watts of heat. This power is very high, it easily brings polonium into a molten state, so it is alloyed, for example, with lead. Although these alloys have a noticeably lower energy density (150 W / cm³), nevertheless, they are more convenient to use and safer, since polonium-210 emits almost exclusively alpha particles, and their penetrating power and path length in dense matter are minimal. For example, in the Soviet self-propelled vehicles of the Lunokhod space program, a polonium heater was used to heat the instrument compartment. But the USSR no longer exists, the lunar program too, and heating a house is a little cheaper than polonium.
• Polonium-210 has often been used to ionize gases (particularly air). For example, it has been added to the electrode alloys of automotive spark plugs to reduce the voltage at which a spark occurs. Now this is not done, although, for example, for precision optics, dust removal brushes are made, into which an insignificant amount of polonium is introduced. True, not in Russia - polonium is completely banned here, but in the USA such brushes can be bought, and then even thrown into the general trash.
• Polonium-210 can serve in an alloy with a light isotope of lithium (6Li) as a substance that can significantly reduce the critical mass of a nuclear charge and serve as a kind of nuclear detonator. In addition, polonium is suitable for making compact "dirty bombs" and is convenient for covert transportation, since it practically does not emit gamma radiation. The isotope emits gamma rays with an energy of 803 keV with a yield of only 0,001% for decay - according to the dosimeter, the isotope is practically safe. And to measure alpha radiation, you need a more serious device. BINGO!

Polonium-210 is extremely toxic, radiotoxic and carcinogenic, with a half-life of 138 days and 9 hours. All these days and hours, solid alpha particles fly from it: its specific activity (166 TBq / g) is so high that it is impossible to take it with your hands, since the result will be radiation damage to the skin and, possibly, to the whole organism: polonium quite easily penetrates through skin covers. Usually, alpha particles with such energy fly no more than 1 cm in the air, but this is not an option for harsh polonium: its compounds self-heat and go into an aerosol state.

And what happens to your body when life-giving polonium-210 enters it - is it worth telling? In fact, each atom, falling on your inner pale pink tissue, divides and bombards everything nearby with alpha particles. Cells. Water. Molecules of DNA and RNA. All this falls apart, the devil knows what - and you pick up all the delights of radiation sickness in its worst sense.

Polonium-210 is 4 trillion times more toxic than hydrocyanic acid. According to experts, the lethal dose of polonium-210 for an adult is estimated to range from 0,6-2 micrograms when the isotope enters the body through the lungs, to 6-18 micrograms when it enters the body through the digestive tract.

History knows two cases of polonium-210 poisoning. All are so believable.

• The death of Alexander Litvinenko in 2006, who died as a result of polonium-210 poisoning. By the way, it was initially believed that he was poisoned with thallium. On November 24, scientists from the British Health Agency (BHA) announced that Litvinenko had died of radioactive contamination. According to the head of the BAZ center for radiation, chemical and external risks, Roger Cox, traces of radiation caused by, as supposed, polonium-210. He also stated that in small doses, Po-210 increases the risk of malignant neoplasms, and in large quantities it disrupts the activity of the bone marrow, digestive system and other vital organs.
• Polonium was found in the personal belongings of Yasser Arafat, who died in 2004. The body was exhumed. Initially, the Swiss side of the international commission confirmed the fact of polonium poisoning. However, later she agreed with the conclusions of the Russian and French sides that there was no evidence of poisoning.

By the way, there is a lite version of polonium-210 - this is protactinium-231. With the same mechanism (alpha decay), the half-life of protactinium is as much as 32480 years, and therefore it is not so formidable: it does not warm up, is not so radioactive, and therefore is only 250 million times more toxic than hydrocyanic acid. It is non-volatile, it is not absorbed through the skin - against the background of polonium it looks rather poor, and therefore the maximum safe (here I smiled with a very evil grin) amount of protactinium when it enters the human body is 0,5 mcg. True, in the human body, protactinium-231 tends to accumulate in the kidneys and bones - and sit there for a long time, irradiating the body from the inside. So you still have to die.

EVERYTHING!

So we finished the third part of our acquaintance,% username%.

I hope you read everything to the end and still have the strength to press the button in the voting to determine whether our acquaintance will last further.

And it's almost six in the morning, it's time for bed.

I still wish you more health and less poisons in life!

I am Death, the great destroyer of worlds.

- Lines from the Bhagavad Gita recited by Robert Oppenheimer during the first artificial nuclear explosion near Alamogordo on July 16, 1945

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Should I continue?

• Stop messing with my brain!

• Who even reads this nonsense on the site of IT people?

• Drink poison!

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6 users voted. 3 users abstained.

Source: habr.com