The Most Poisonous Chemical Compounds

The Most Poisonous Chemical Compounds When you get right down to it, everything is poisonous. Water will kill you if you drink too much of it. Oxygen is a deadly poison, yet we need it to live. However, there are some chemicals that we are better off not encountering. Heres a list of the most poisonous chemicals known. Keep in mind, toxicity varies from one species to another (i.e., what may be poisonous for a mouse may be more/less poisonous to a human) and within a species (i.e., age, sex, genetics all affect susceptibility to a toxin). Ive listed the name of the toxin, its source, approximate average lethal dose per kilogram of body weight (LD50), and the species. Tetanus:Â  1 nanogram/kg mouse, humanBotulinal neurotoxin (bacteria):Â  1 nanogram/kg mouse, humanShigella (bacteria):Â  1 nanogram/kg monkey, humanPalytoxin (coral):Â  60 nanogram/kg dog (iv)Diphtheria (bacteria):Â  100 nanogram/kg humanRicin (from castor beans): 1 microgram/kg humanAflatoxins (mold which grows on nuts, legumes, seeds): 1-784 micrograms, depending on type of aflatoxin duckling (oral)Shigella (bacteria) 1 microgram/kg mouseSaxitoxin (shellfish) 3-5 micrograms mouse (iv), about 50x higher dose orallyTetrodotoxin (fugu pufferfish) 10 micrograms mouse (ip)Diphtheria (bacteria) 1.6 milligram/kg mouse Sources Merck Index, 11th Ed., S. Budavari et al. (editors), Merck (1989) ISBN 911910-28-XMcGraw-Hill Concise Encyclopedia of Science and Technology, 2nd Ed., McGraw Hill (1989) ISBN 0-07-045512-0, CD-ROM