Gossypol - How cotton plants can keep you warm, well-fed, and childless
2007-06-20 00:28:00
polyphenolic toxin ushered into existence by cotton plants (genus Gossypium)Gossypium sounds funny for some reason (am I alone in thinking this? Must cut back on the late-night blogging)inhibits aldose reductase, an enzyme involved in the polyol pathway by which glucose is converted to sorbitol in the human bodythe elevation of blood glucose levels in diabetes can lead to the accumulation of sorbitol in cells, which may contribute to diabetic complications including neuropathy, nephropathy, and retinopathytherefore gossypol and other aldose reductase inhibitors could potentially be used to treat diabetic complicationshas been and continues to be investigated as a possible male oral contraceptive, as it suppresses spermatogenesis (animation!) by some mysterious mechanismlots of research was done in China during the 1970shas not worked out since it has a low therapeutic index and causes things like hypokalemia (low blood potassium levels, results in fatigue and flaccid paralysis), GI ups
Bromethalin - Accidentally killing pets since 1985
2007-06-25 17:54:00
bromine- and fluorine-containing diphenylamine-derived neurotoxic rodenticidedeveloped in 1985 in response to the rise of strains of rodents who were resistant to the effects of anticoagulant rodenticides (e.g. warfarin)causes rodents to give up the ghost by uncoupling oxidative phosphorylation in the mitochondria of neurons, which depletes their cellular ATP stores and ultimately leads to axon damage and the disruption of normal neural communications producing paralysis, convulsions, and ultimately deathuncoupling agents, being lipid-lovin' weakling acids, are able to bind up protons and carry them across the inner mitochondrial membrane independent of ATP synthase, thus disrupting the generation of ATPhas been known to poison cats or dogs that eat rodents that have been killed by it (as well as those that simply eliminate the middleman by eating the rat bait itself)no specific antidote, and while osmotic diuretics and corticosteroids may do something beneficial, the best way to deal
Read more: Accidentally
Styrene (vinyl benzene, [a million other names]) - We're half way there, McCall
2007-06-25 00:51:00
sweet-smelling and rapidly-evaporating aromatic hydrocarbon used to manufacture a variety of different plastics (including polystyrene/Styrofoam), synthetic rubber, resins, and insulatorsflammable and unstable, it likes to polymerize on its own slowly at room temperatures, and so is often stabilized with a polymerization inhibitorproduced au naturel by the decarboxylation of cinnamic acid, a bacteria-opposing compound found in numerous plants (including, you guessed it, cinnamon!)is metabolized by the liver to, among other things, highly reactive epoxides that like to permanently bind to (by nucleophilic addition) and disrupt the function of cellular macromolecules including proteins and nucleic acids, leading to cytotoxicity, mutagenicity, and potentially carcinogenicityirritates the respiratory tract, possibly by directly binding to mucosal nerve endings, and can cause bronchitis and pulmonary edema (which can kill you) has been shown to cause CNS depression, impairment of long-term
Read more: million
, McCall
Disulfur decafluoride
2007-06-29 13:41:00
The above is a video of Jay Leno (I'm a Letterman guy myself) and some dude playing with a gas called sulfur hexafluoride. It has no colour or odour and is neither toxic nor flammable. It's also denser than air, which means you can pour it into containers and float things on top of it and stuff. While this is, admittedly, pretty nifty, it also appears to have little to do with D&P. Fret not, oh reader, for if you pass high-voltage electricity through this impressively innocuous gas, it can decompose to produce disulfur decafluoride, a highly toxic phosgene-like pulmonary agent. A potential chemical weapon. Since sulfur hexafluoride is used as an insulator in electrical things like switchgear and transformers, it potentially poses a risk to lineworkers and electricians.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulfur_hexafluoridehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disulfur_decafluoride
Monocrotaline (MCT)
2007-06-28 14:10:00
pneumotoxic macrocyclic pyrrolizidine alkaloid churned out by a number of exciting plantscauses a pulmonary vascular syndrome, which essentially means that a bunch of things go wrong with the blood supply to your lungs, including:proliferative pulmonary vasculitis (spreading inflammation of the wall of blood vessels in the lung)pulmonary hypertensioncor pulmonale with right ventricular hypertrophyused to intentionally produce pulmonary hypertension in animals in order to create an experimental model for investigating the pathophysiology of pulmonary hypertension and the development of pharmacological means of treating ithas been hypothesized that it is biotransformed in the liver to a feisty little reactive metabolite that then travels via the blood to the lungs where it starts messing with endothelial cells, altering their function to cause detrimental structural changes in pulmonary blood vessels (particularly the arteries)its selectivity for the lung likely has something to do with
Chlorothalonil (CHT, Daconil) - Eat it, barnacles!
2007-07-06 13:56:00
broad-spectrum fungicide employed to vanquish fungi that ruin such things as vegetables, lawns, and cranberries (it is added to the beds)also used as a biocide in combination with copper (which inhibits the growth of living things) to kill marine organisms that cause biofouling (growth on submerged surfaces) on ships and boatsit is mixed in with the paint that is applied to hulls, such that it is released throughout the lifetime of the paintlike a lot of chemicals, very high doses of it can kill, but is actually considered to be only moderately toxic in the acute sense due to its ability to cause severe eye and skin irritationstudies done in rats have found that chronic exposure through food result in chronic renal (kidney) toxicity and increased risk of developing tumoursis potentially biotransformed in the liver to a toxic glutathione conjugate (i.e. glutathione is added on to the compound to facilitate its elimination from the body) that is removed by the kidneys and expelled in the
Dantron (1,8-dihydroxyanthroquinone, danthron, chrysazin) - Poop, red urine, and cancer
2007-07-05 21:24:00
stimulant laxative banned in the USA because Americans think it causes cancer, restricted to use in palliative care in the UK because Britons think it might possibly cause cancer, and widely used in a bunch of other countries that apparently either think it to be safe or else don't really care that mucha stimulant laxative is something that makes you poop by stimulating peristalsis, and represents the most severe type of laxative you can get, generally only being used in extreme not-being-able-to-poo situationshas been shown to cause liver cancer in mice and colon cancer in rats, suggesting that it probably does something bad to peoplea derivative of anthraquinone, an excitingly symmetrical structure of carbon and oxygen that is used to make dyes, speed the production of wood pulp, and make seeds taste nasty so that birds won't eat themsimilar poop-inducing derivatives of anthraquinone can be found in a number of plants that have seen use as laxatives (aloe, senna, rhubarb, cascara s
Bromoacetone - Don't mess with exotic red alga seaweed!
2007-07-04 22:33:00
violent lachrymator (think tear gas and pepper spray) that can be easily synthesized in a laboratory (mix a little bromine with a little acetone, natch)also present naturally in a certain species of red alga seaweed (Asparagopsis taxiformis) apparently found only in the ocean waters surrounding Hawaii (sounds like it should be a quest item in some sort of adventure book or something)the seaweed is called limu kohu (supreme seaweed) by native Hawaiians and is apparently considered so supreme because of its enticing aroma and flavouremployed as a chemical weapon during World War I by both sides and has also seen use as a riot control agent, but this has been discontinued due to its relatively high toxicity compared to newer agentsas bromine serves as a good leaving group, bromoacetone can be used as a reagent in organic synthesis reactions, including those by which drugs are producedrapidly turns purple upon exposure to light or waterHazardous Substances Data Bank - Bromoacetonehttp://en
Read more: exotic
Q & A #3 - Cannabis and cancer, tasteless poisons, and getting high
2007-07-03 22:26:00
It's been a while since I've done one of these questions and answers sessions, but I seem to recall people enjoying them and I'm beginning to feel that familiar old research itch coming on. It's either that or all the blackfly bites I got this past long weekend (yay Canada!) decided to make their presence known simultaneously. To recap: I monitor the crazy things that people type into search engines that bring them to this site, pick out the most intriguing questions that people searched for, and then attempt to answer them with my trademark wit and dry humour. Check out the first and second installments of this exciting feature for more Q & A goodness. Onward!Is THC carcinogenic?Tetrahydrocannabinol, better known by it's acronym THC, is the primary compound in cannabis that is responsible for getting you high. THC on its own is not carcinogenic. In fact, it's pain-killing, anti-puking, and appetite-promoting (see: the munchies) properties make it an effective adjuvant to cancer
Read more: Cannabis
, poisons
Xenon (Xe) - The cool-sounding knock-out drug of the future
2007-07-10 19:45:00
a noble gas that is heavier than air, possesses neither colour nor odour, and has revolutionized lightingxenon flash lamps helped make electronic flash, strobe lights (ugh), and very high speed photography possiblemakes good fuel for an ion thruster, a type of spacecraft propulsion that is best known to nerds everywhere as the thing that powers TIE fightersjust for the record, star wars > star trekcan be used to induce general anaesthesia, although it isn't used very often because it costs a heck of a lot to manufacture since it is so rare in the atmosphereis actually one of the best anaesthetic agents out there, so once we come up with a cheaper way of acquiring it expect it to find it on a surgical floor near you!it isn't yet understood how it knocks you out, but scientists have come up with two pretty good ideas:it blocks glutamate receptors, glutamate being the main excitatory brain signaling chemical (neurotransmitter)this is neat because most inhalational anaesthetics do their
Read more: sounding
The pharm + tox lecture series: #1 - Pharmacy vs. pharmacology (plus toxicology!)
2007-07-09 18:15:00
After much thought and careful inaction, I've decided to broaden the content of this site. On an approximately once-a-week basis, I'm going to drone incessantly on about pharmacology and toxicology, the scientific disciplines concerned with, quite appropriately, drugs and poisons.First off, I need to stress to you a distinction of the utmost concern: pharmacology IS NOT pharmacy. Pharmacologists are not responsible for dispensing drugs at your local Walgreens or Shoppers Drug Mart. Although I've only recently finished up my pharmacology degree, I've already become intimately acquainted with the pain and suffering associated with trying to explain to just about everybody who asks what I've gone to school for that I do not, in fact, plan on opening up my own pharmacy any time soon.Now that I've got that out of my system, let me break it down for you:Pharmacology is the science concerned with (a) the fate of drugs in the body after you take/are given them and (b) the actions of drug
Read more: lecture
, series
, Pharmacy
The rundown: Ten popular drugs in ten awe-inspiring sentences
2007-07-08 21:30:00
Okay, look. I usually try to post about fairy obscure compounds, since the internet is teeming with about a zillion drug/medicine sites (not to mention the dreaded Wikipedia) that will give you a much more comprehensive rundown on any popular
drug out there. Sure, it won't be nearly as snarky or silly as it would be here, but it essentially renders me obsolete.That said, it's awfully tempting to post about popular drugs, since that means more Google searches coming my way. I'm all about having a hip blog on the Internet, folks. So I've given in. I surfed on over to Forbes.com for 'The World's Ten Best-Selling Drugs (of 2006)' and wrote this post.Ten drugs, ten sentences
. Pure D & P stylings.Lipitor (atorvastatin) is given to older people to slow the inevitable progression of cardiovascular disease by lowering their cholesterol levels.Plavix (clopidogrel) inhibits platelet aggregation, thus making it less likely that blood clots will bung up your arteries and kill you if you have
Cerium (Ce) - Stealing calcium's place in the physiological spotlight
2007-07-12 22:47:00
a paradoxically relatively common (more so than lead!) rare earth metalrare earth metals, also known as lanthanides or lanthanoids, are the elements found in the first row of that cute little two-row structure situated at the bottom of the periodic tablethe trivalent form of this metal resembles (divalent) calcium in size and things it likes to bind to, enabling it to mess with calcium-dependent physiological processes like the clotting of blood, the contraction of muscles, and the release of neurotransmitters.lanthanides were considered for development into anticoagulants prior to the dawn of the age of heparincerium salts, particularly cerium(III) oxalate, were used roughly between 1850 and 1950 to stop people from puking, but no one knows exactly how they do this nor how effective they really are (there are no good papers on it)cerium salts are also capable of both inhibiting the growth of and actively killing bacteria, and the recognition of this ability in the late nineteenth cent
Read more: Stealing
Carbon tetrachloride - The sweet, sweet smell of hepatotoxicity
2007-07-11 20:30:00
saccharine-smelling (akin to the scent of a dry cleaner's) synthetic halomethane widely used in the early 20th century to extinguish fires, help cool things down (it is a good refrigerant), and dry clean clothingwas replaced by tetrachloroethylene in the 1940s because it was making people tremendously illcurrently used to make other refrigerantsmuch like the infamous chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), it is really good at annihilating the ozone layerused as an insecticide in the good old US of A up until the 1970s, at which point it was finally bannedwhen subjected to high temperatures, it can form the toxic gas phosgeneif you get a lot of it in you somehow, it'll wreck havoc on your liver, kidneys, and central nervous systemthe liver is particularly sensitive, likely reflecting the presence of a tonne of xenobiotic-metabolizing enzymes such as CYP2E1 that are capable of changing a whole bunch of it into highly reactive free radical intermediateshas been shown to cause cancer in lab animals
Read more: Carbon
The pharm + tox lecture series: #2 - Drugs, medications, and poisons (Oh my!)
2007-07-16 21:14:00
The name of this site is a misnomer. Sad but true. You see, technically, poisons
ARE drugs, so it's pretty silly to make a distinction between them ('Drugs
and Poisons'). It's a shame, but at least I wasn't writing a textbook or something.The definition of a drug is shrouded in caliginous gloom. Actually, it's not that bad (I just wanted to use the word caliginous), but it certainly isn't clear-cut. The key feature of a drug is that it alters in some way the function(s) of an organism when introduced into an organism's body. In a broad sense, food can be considered a drug.It can get tricky. Estrogen naturally produced in people's gonads is not a drug, but it becomes one once it is packaged into birth control pills.Anyway, way back in the sixteenth century, this Swiss fellow named Paracelsus (oh for the days of one-word names) introduced an intriguing concept: All drugs are poisons. Any drug, regardless of how benign it may seem, when given in a sufficiently high enough dose, w
Read more: lecture
, series
, medications
Ajmaline - Mysteriously chilling out your heart
2007-07-18 22:22:00
monoterpenoid indole alkaloid manufactured by Rauvolfia serpentina (Indian snakeroot or sarpagandha), a tropical evergreen plant used traditionally in Indian medicineis synthesized via a complex pathway involving an impressive number of long-named enzymesthe first step, common to the biosynthesis of most terpenoid indole alkaloids, is a condensation reaction that serves to combine the precursors tryptamine and secologanin into a super-moleculeRauvolfia serpentina is also a natural source of reserpine, an antipsychotic and antihypertensive drug that blocks the release of monoamine neurotransmittersclass Ia antiarrhythmic drug used to treat abnormal heart rhythms such as ventricular tachycardiaalso used to screen for individuals afflicted with Brugada syndrome, a genetic disease that predisposes one to dying suddenly and terribly due to unanticipated ventricular fibrillation, which can lead to cardiac arrest or sudden cardiac deathinvolves having some sort of mutation in a gene encoding
Mitragynine - Speedballing for lazy people
2007-07-17 21:37:00
the principal alkaloid situated in the leaves of Mitragyna speciosa Korth (Kratom, Biak-Biak), a rubiaceous tropical tree that is native to Southeast Asiapeople
have been known to chew fresh leaves to acquire a numbing and stimulating effect, enabling them to fight fatigue and increase their tolerance to harsh working conditionsacts like morphine via mu opioid receptors to produce analgesia, although the potency of this effect is only about one-fourth that of morphine, making it akin to less potent opioid analgesics such as codeine (Tylenol 3s, baby!) or methadonealso produces a cocaine-like stimulating effect, likely due to it possessing a similar structure to yohimbine, an alpha2-adrenergic receptor antagonist that has stimulant activity and is best known for its alleged ability to treat erectile dysfunction (not an ad, I promise!)changing a carbon double bond to a single bond and adding a hydroxyl group gives you 7-hydroxymitragynine, which is also found in the aforementioned plant,
Varenicline (Chantix, Champix) - Because cigarettes are gross and expensive
2007-07-20 17:49:00
synthetic derivative of the alkaloid cytisine used to treat smoking (nicotine) addictionpartial agonist at neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, which means that it acts at the same places that nicotine does in the brain, but with less strength, thus reducing the rewarding effects of nicotine without precipitating withdrawal and hopefully making it easier for people to quit smokingacts primarily at the α4β2 subtype of nicotinic receptors, which are found primarily in the central nervous systemside effects are primarily gastrointestinal in nature (NVD, natch) and not severe, although it is has also been reported to cause crazy dreams and insomniaat doses that have been shown to reduce nicotine intake in lab animals, has also been shown to reduce ethanol (the stuff in beer that makes everything nicer) intake in three different animal models for ethanol consumption, making it a prospective treatment for alcohol dependence (alcoholism) as wellabout 85% of alcoholics smoke, and both
Read more: cigarettes
Ajmaline - Mysteriously chilling out your heart
2007-07-18 22:22:00
monoterpenoid indole alkaloid manufactured by Rauvolfia serpentina (Indian snakeroot or sarpagandha), a tropical evergreen plant used traditionally in Indian medicineis synthesized via a complex pathway involving an impressive number of long-named enzymesthe first step, common to the biosynthesis of most terpenoid indole alkaloids, is a condensation reaction that serves to combine the precursors tryptamine and secologanin into a super-moleculeRauvolfia serpentina is also a natural source of reserpine, an antipsychotic and antihypertensive drug that blocks the release of monoamine neurotransmittersclass Ia antiarrhythmic drug used to treat abnormal heart rhythms such as ventricular tachycardiaalso used to screen for individuals afflicted with Brugada syndrome, a genetic disease that predisposes one to dying suddenly and terribly due to unanticipated ventricular fibrillation, which can lead to cardiac arrest or sudden cardiac deathinvolves having some sort of mutation in a gene encoding
Mitragynine - Speedballing for lazy people
2007-07-17 21:37:00
the principal alkaloid situated in the leaves of Mitragyna speciosa Korth (Kratom, Biak-Biak), a rubiaceous tropical tree that is native to Southeast Asiapeople
have been known to chew fresh leaves to acquire a numbing and stimulating effect, enabling them to fight fatigue and increase their tolerance to harsh working conditionsacts like morphine via mu opioid receptors to produce analgesia, although the potency of this effect is only about one-fourth that of morphine, making it akin to less potent opioid analgesics such as codeine (Tylenol 3s, baby!) or methadonealso produces a cocaine-like stimulating effect, likely due to it possessing a similar structure to yohimbine, an alpha2-adrenergic receptor antagonist that has stimulant activity and is best known for its alleged ability to treat erectile dysfunction (not an ad, I promise!)changing a carbon double bond to a single bond and adding a hydroxyl group gives you 7-hydroxymitragynine, which is also found in the aforementioned plant,
The pharm + tox lecture series: #2 - Drugs, medications, and poisons (Oh my!)
2007-07-16 21:14:00
The name of this site is a misnomer. Sad but true. You see, technically, poisons
ARE drugs, so it's pretty silly to make a distinction between them ('Drugs
and Poisons'). It's a shame, but at least I wasn't writing a textbook or something.The definition of a drug is shrouded in caliginous gloom. Actually, it's not that bad (I just wanted to use the word caliginous), but it certainly isn't clear-cut. The key feature of a drug is that it alters in some way the function(s) of an organism when introduced into an organism's body. In a broad sense, food can be considered a drug.It can get tricky. Estrogen naturally produced in people's gonads is not a drug, but it becomes one once it is packaged into birth control pills.Anyway, way back in the sixteenth century, this Swiss fellow named Paracelsus (oh for the days of one-word names) introduced an intriguing concept: All drugs are poisons. Any drug, regardless of how benign it may seem, when given in a sufficiently high enough dose, w
Read more: lecture
, series
, medications
Cerium (Ce) - Stealing calcium's place in the physiological spotlight
2007-07-12 22:47:00
a paradoxically relatively common (more so than lead!) rare earth metalrare earth metals, also known as lanthanides or lanthanoids, are the elements found in the first row of that cute little two-row structure situated at the bottom of the periodic tablethe trivalent form of this metal resembles (divalent) calcium in size and things it likes to bind to, enabling it to mess with calcium-dependent physiological processes like the clotting of blood, the contraction of muscles, and the release of neurotransmitters.lanthanides were considered for development into anticoagulants prior to the dawn of the age of heparincerium salts, particularly cerium(III) oxalate, were used roughly between 1850 and 1950 to stop people from puking, but no one knows exactly how they do this nor how effective they really are (there are no good papers on it)cerium salts are also capable of both inhibiting the growth of and actively killing bacteria, and the recognition of this ability in the late nineteenth cent
Read more: Stealing
Carbon tetrachloride - The sweet, sweet smell of hepatotoxicity
2007-07-11 20:30:00
saccharine-smelling (akin to the scent of a dry cleaner's) synthetic halomethane widely used in the early 20th century to extinguish fires, help cool things down (it is a good refrigerant), and dry clean clothingwas replaced by tetrachloroethylene in the 1940s because it was making people tremendously illcurrently used to make other refrigerantsmuch like the infamous chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), it is really good at annihilating the ozone layerused as an insecticide in the good old US of A up until the 1970s, at which point it was finally bannedwhen subjected to high temperatures, it can form the toxic gas phosgeneif you get a lot of it in you somehow, it'll wreck havoc on your liver, kidneys, and central nervous systemthe liver is particularly sensitive, likely reflecting the presence of a tonne of xenobiotic-metabolizing enzymes such as CYP2E1 that are capable of changing a whole bunch of it into highly reactive free radical intermediateshas been shown to cause cancer in lab animals
Read more: Carbon
Xenon (Xe) - The cool-sounding knock-out drug of the future
2007-07-10 19:45:00
a noble gas that is heavier than air, possesses neither colour nor odour, and has revolutionized lightingxenon flash lamps helped make electronic flash, strobe lights (ugh), and very high speed photography possiblemakes good fuel for an ion thruster, a type of spacecraft propulsion that is best known to nerds everywhere as the thing that powers TIE fightersjust for the record, star wars > star trekcan be used to induce general anaesthesia, although it isn't used very often because it costs a heck of a lot to manufacture since it is so rare in the atmosphereis actually one of the best anaesthetic agents out there, so once we come up with a cheaper way of acquiring it expect it to find it on a surgical floor near you!it isn't yet understood how it knocks you out, but scientists have come up with two pretty good ideas:it blocks glutamate receptors, glutamate being the main excitatory brain signaling chemical (neurotransmitter)this is neat because most inhalational anaesthetics do their
Read more: sounding
The pharm + tox lecture series: #1 - Pharmacy vs. pharmacology (plus toxicology!)
2007-07-09 18:15:00
After much thought and careful inaction, I've decided to broaden the content of this site. On an approximately once-a-week basis, I'm going to drone incessantly on about pharmacology and toxicology, the scientific disciplines concerned with, quite appropriately, drugs and poisons.First off, I need to stress to you a distinction of the utmost concern: pharmacology IS NOT pharmacy. Pharmacologists are not responsible for dispensing drugs at your local Walgreens or Shoppers Drug Mart. Although I've only recently finished up my pharmacology degree, I've already become intimately acquainted with the pain and suffering associated with trying to explain to just about everybody who asks what I've gone to school for that I do not, in fact, plan on opening up my own pharmacy any time soon.Now that I've got that out of my system, let me break it down for you:Pharmacology is the science concerned with (a) the fate of drugs in the body after you take/are given them and (b) the actions of drug
Read more: lecture
, series
, Pharmacy
The rundown: Ten popular drugs in ten awe-inspiring sentences
2007-07-08 21:30:00
Okay, look. I usually try to post about fairy obscure compounds, since the internet is teeming with about a zillion drug/medicine sites (not to mention the dreaded Wikipedia) that will give you a much more comprehensive rundown on any popular
drug out there. Sure, it won't be nearly as snarky or silly as it would be here, but it essentially renders me obsolete.That said, it's awfully tempting to post about popular drugs, since that means more Google searches coming my way. I'm all about having a hip blog on the Internet, folks. So I've given in. I surfed on over to Forbes.com for 'The World's Ten Best-Selling Drugs (of 2006)' and wrote this post.Ten drugs, ten sentences
. Pure D & P stylings.Lipitor (atorvastatin) is given to older people to slow the inevitable progression of cardiovascular disease by lowering their cholesterol levels.Plavix (clopidogrel) inhibits platelet aggregation, thus making it less likely that blood clots will bung up your arteries and kill you if you have
Chlorothalonil (CHT, Daconil) - Eat it, barnacles!
2007-07-06 13:56:00
broad-spectrum fungicide employed to vanquish fungi that ruin such things as vegetables, lawns, and cranberries (it is added to the beds)also used as a biocide in combination with copper (which inhibits the growth of living things) to kill marine organisms that cause biofouling (growth on submerged surfaces) on ships and boatsit is mixed in with the paint that is applied to hulls, such that it is released throughout the lifetime of the paintlike a lot of chemicals, very high doses of it can kill, but is actually considered to be only moderately toxic in the acute sense due to its ability to cause severe eye and skin irritationstudies done in rats have found that chronic exposure through food result in chronic renal (kidney) toxicity and increased risk of developing tumoursis potentially biotransformed in the liver to a toxic glutathione conjugate (i.e. glutathione is added on to the compound to facilitate its elimination from the body) that is removed by the kidneys and expelled in the
Dantron (1,8-dihydroxyanthroquinone, danthron, chrysazin) - Poop, red urine, and cancer
2007-07-05 21:24:00
stimulant laxative banned in the USA because Americans think it causes cancer, restricted to use in palliative care in the UK because Britons think it might possibly cause cancer, and widely used in a bunch of other countries that apparently either think it to be safe or else don't really care that mucha stimulant laxative is something that makes you poop by stimulating peristalsis, and represents the most severe type of laxative you can get, generally only being used in extreme not-being-able-to-poo situationshas been shown to cause liver cancer in mice and colon cancer in rats, suggesting that it probably does something bad to peoplea derivative of anthraquinone, an excitingly symmetrical structure of carbon and oxygen that is used to make dyes, speed the production of wood pulp, and make seeds taste nasty so that birds won't eat themsimilar poop-inducing derivatives of anthraquinone can be found in a number of plants that have seen use as laxatives (aloe, senna, rhubarb, cascara s
Bromoacetone - Don't mess with exotic red alga seaweed!
2007-07-04 22:33:00
violent lachrymator (think tear gas and pepper spray) that can be easily synthesized in a laboratory (mix a little bromine with a little acetone, natch)also present naturally in a certain species of red alga seaweed (Asparagopsis taxiformis) apparently found only in the ocean waters surrounding Hawaii (sounds like it should be a quest item in some sort of adventure book or something)the seaweed is called limu kohu (supreme seaweed) by native Hawaiians and is apparently considered so supreme because of its enticing aroma and flavouremployed as a chemical weapon during World War I by both sides and has also seen use as a riot control agent, but this has been discontinued due to its relatively high toxicity compared to newer agentsas bromine serves as a good leaving group, bromoacetone can be used as a reagent in organic synthesis reactions, including those by which drugs are producedrapidly turns purple upon exposure to light or waterHazardous Substances Data Bank - Bromoacetonehttp://en
Read more: exotic
Q & A #3 - Cannabis and cancer, tasteless poisons, and getting high
2007-07-03 22:26:00
It's been a while since I've done one of these questions and answers sessions, but I seem to recall people enjoying them and I'm beginning to feel that familiar old research itch coming on. It's either that or all the blackfly bites I got this past long weekend (yay Canada!) decided to make their presence known simultaneously. To recap: I monitor the crazy things that people type into search engines that bring them to this site, pick out the most intriguing questions that people searched for, and then attempt to answer them with my trademark wit and dry humour. Check out the first and second installments of this exciting feature for more Q & A goodness. Onward!Is THC carcinogenic?Tetrahydrocannabinol, better known by it's acronym THC, is the primary compound in cannabis that is responsible for getting you high. THC on its own is not carcinogenic. In fact, it's pain-killing, anti-puking, and appetite-promoting (see: the munchies) properties make it an effective adjuvant to cancer
Read more: poisons
, Cannabis
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