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List of Poisons and the Relative Toxicity of Chemicals

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What Are the Most Deadly Poisons and Chemicals?

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Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D.

Chemistry Expert

Ph.D., Biomedical Sciences, University of Tennessee at Knoxville

B.A., Physics and Mathematics, Hastings College

Dr. Helmenstine holds a Ph.D. in biomedical sciences and is a science writer, educator, and consultant. She has taught science courses at the high school, college, and graduate levels.

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Updated on July 12, 2019

This is a list or table of chemicals that can kill you. Some of these poisons are common and some are rare. Some you need in order to live, while others you should avoid at all costs. Note that the values are median lethal values for an average human. Real-life toxicity depends on your size, age, gender, weight, route of exposure and many other factors. This list just offers a glimpse at a range of chemicals and their relative toxicity. Basically, all chemicals are poisonous. It just depends on the amount!

List of Poisons

This table is organized from least deadly to most deadly:

Chemical

Dose

Type

Target

water

8 kg

inorganic

nervous system

lead

500 g

inorganic

nervous system

alcohol

500 g

organic

kidney/liver

ketamine

226 g

drug

cardiovascular

table salt

225 g

inorganic

nervous system

ibuprofen (e.g., Advil)

30 g

drug

kidney/liver

caffeine

15 g

biological

nervous system

paracetamol (e.g., Tylenol)

12 g

drug

kidney/liver

aspirin

11 g

drug

kidney/liver

amphetamine

9 g

drug

nervous system

nicotine

3.7 g

biological

nervous system

cocaine

3 g

biological

cardiovascular

methamphetamine

1 g

drug

nervous system

chlorine

1 g

element

cardiovascular

arsenic

975 mg

element

digestive system

bee sting venom

500 mg

biological

nervous system

cyanide

250 mg

organic

causes cell death

aflatoxin

180 mg

biological

kidney/liver

mamba venom

120 mg

biological

nervous system

black widow venom

70 mg

biological

nervous system

formaldehyde

11 mg

organic

causes cell death

ricin (castor bean)

1.76 mg

biological

kills cells

VX (nerve gas)

189 mcg

organophosphate

nervous

tetrodotoxin

25 mcg

biological

nervous system

mercury

18 mcg

element

nervous system

botulinum (botulism)

270 ng

biological

nervous

tetanospasmin (tetanus)

75 ng

biological

nervous system

Poisons: Lethal vs Toxic

Looking at the list of poisons, you might be tempted to think lead is safer than salt or bee sting venom is safer than cyanide. Looking at the lethal dose can be misleading because some of these chemicals are cumulative poisons (e.g., lead) and others are chemicals your body naturally detoxifies in small amounts (e.g., cyanide). Individual biochemistry is also important. While it might take half a gram of bee venom to kill the average person, a much lower dose would cause anaphylactic shock and death if you're allergic to it.

Some "poisons" are actually necessary for life, such as water and salt. Other chemicals serve no known biological function and are purely toxic, such as lead and mercury.

Most Common Poisons in Real Life

While it's unlikely you'll be exposed to tetrodotoxin unless you eat improperly prepared fugu (a dish prepared from pufferfish), some poisons routinely cause problems. These include:

Pain medicine (over the counter or prescription)

Sedative and antipsychotic drugs

Antidepressants

Cardiovascular drugs

Household cleaners (particularly when they are mixed)

Alcohol (both grain alcohol and types not intended for human consumption)

Pesticides

Insect, arachnid, and reptile venom

Anticonvulsants

Personal care products

Wild mushrooms

Food poisoning

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Helmenstine, Anne Marie, Ph.D. "What Are the Most Deadly Poisons and Chemicals?" ThoughtCo, Apr. 5, 2023, thoughtco.com/list-of-poisons-609279.

Helmenstine, Anne Marie, Ph.D. (2023, April 5). What Are the Most Deadly Poisons and Chemicals? Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/list-of-poisons-609279

Helmenstine, Anne Marie, Ph.D. "What Are the Most Deadly Poisons and Chemicals?" ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/list-of-poisons-609279 (accessed March 12, 2024).

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Poison (band) - Wikipedia

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1History

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1.1Early years (1983–1985)

1.2Arrival of DeVille

1.3Look What the Cat Dragged In and Open Up and Say...Ahh! (1986–1989)

1.4Flesh & Blood and Swallow This Live (1990–1992)

1.5Native Tongue, Greatest Hits and Crack a Smile (1993–2000)

1.6Power to the People and Hollyweird (2001–2002)

1.7Best of Ballads & Blues and The Best of Poison (2003–2006)

1.8Poison'd! and Live, Raw & Uncut (2007–2009)

1.9Solo success, health issues and touring (2010–present)

2Band members

Toggle Band members subsection

2.1Current members

2.2Former members

2.3Touring musicians

2.4Former touring musicians

2.4.1Timeline

3Discography

4Tours

5Awards and nominations

6References

7External links

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Poison (band)

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

American glam metal band

PoisonPoison performing in 2006Background informationAlso known asParisOriginMechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, U.S.Genres

Glam metal[1]

hard rock

heavy metal[2][3][4]

DiscographyPoison discographyYears active1983–presentLabels

Enigma

EMI

Capitol

Cyanide

Members

Bret Michaels

C.C. DeVille

Rikki Rockett

Bobby Dall

Past members

Matt Smith

Richie Kotzen

Blues Saraceno

Websitepoisonofficial.com

Poison is an American glam metal band formed in 1983 in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. The most successful incarnation of the band consists of lead singer and rhythm guitarist Bret Michaels, drummer Rikki Rockett, lead guitarist and backing vocalist C.C. DeVille, and bassist Bobby Dall. The band achieved huge commercial success in the mid-1980s through the mid-1990s and has sold 30 million records in the United States and over 65 million albums worldwide.[5]

The band is perhaps best known for the Billboard Hot 100 number one hit single "Every Rose Has Its Thorn", and other top 40 hit singles in the 1980s and 1990s, including "Talk Dirty to Me", "I Won't Forget You", "Nothin' But a Good Time", "Fallen Angel", "Your Mama Don't Dance", "Unskinny Bop", "Something to Believe In", "Ride the Wind", and "Life Goes On."[6] The band's breakthrough debut album, the multi-platinum Look What the Cat Dragged In, was released in 1986, followed by Open Up and Say... Ahh!, which was certified 5× platinum in the US. Their third consecutive multi-platinum and best selling album was Flesh & Blood. In the 1990s following the release of the band's first live album, Swallow This Live, the band experienced some line up changes and the fall of glam metal with the grunge movement. But the band's fourth studio album, Native Tongue, still achieved Gold status and the band's first compilation album, Poison's Greatest Hits: 1986–1996, went double platinum.

The original line up reformed for a greatest hits reunion tour in 1999. The band began the 2000s with the release of Crack a Smile... and More!, followed by the Power to the People album. They released the album, Hollyweird, in 2002 and in 2006 the band celebrated their 20-year anniversary with The Best of Poison: 20 Years of Rock tour and album, which was certified Gold and marked Poison's return to the Billboard top 20 charts for the first time since 1993. Band members have released several solo albums and starred in reality TV shows. Since their debut in 1986, they have released seven studio albums, four live albums, five compilation albums, and have issued 28 singles to radio. In 2012 VH1 ranked them at No. 1 on their list of the "Top 5 Hair Bands of the '80s".[7]

History[edit]

Early years (1983–1985)[edit]

Poison, initially named Paris, was formed in 1983, in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania and consisted of lead vocalist Bret Michaels, guitarist Matt Smith, and drummer Rikki Rockett.[8]

Michaels began his performing career with a basement band called Laser and, then, in 1979, joined longtime childhood friend Rockett to form a band called the Spectres. In 1980, Michaels and Rockett teamed up with Smith and Dall to form the band Paris and the group started playing the club circuit, performing mostly rock cover songs in local bars. According to Vicky Hamilton, Poison's first manager, the band's sound at this time revolved around guitarist Smith, who was by far the best musician in the group. While Smith was responsible for music, Rockett and Michaels focused on the band's stage show and image.[9]

Paris formed a strong local following in Pennsylvania but saw little opportunity of larger success there, and the decision was made to move to Los Angeles. In March 1983, Paris changed their name to Poison and headed west to California.[9]

Arrival of DeVille[edit]

Now based in Los Angeles, Poison's stage show began earning them considerable attention in the West Hollywood Sunset Strip club circuit. The band lived together in a small apartment on Orange St. in Hollywood, and many local female fans began bringing them bags of groceries and cleaning the apartment in exchange for the opportunity to spend time with the band members. The Pennsylvania natives endured culture shock upon settling in Hollywood; "The first week we're seeing people get their asses kicked out front. I remember this pimp was literally smacking the hell out of his ho across the street", Rockett recalled of Poison's early days on the Sunset Strip. That same pimp would later pull a large knife on the band when they decided to intervene, and they learned quickly not to get involved in such matters.[10] Hamilton, who had previously represented Stryper and who would go on to discover Guns N' Roses, negotiated a deal with influential club The Troubadour which would provide the band with a regular gig and allow them to further develop their image and stage show. They recorded demos for Atlantic Records but ultimately the label passed on the band.[9][11] By 1985, guitarist Smith was rapidly becoming disillusioned with Poison, as he was about to become a father and was growing doubtful of the band's chances of success. He subsequently left the band and returned home to Pennsylvania, leaving Poison's future very much in doubt.

The band auditioned several guitarists in Los Angeles and eventually narrowed the field down to two candidates, Slash and C.C. DeVille. The band knew Slash from the band Hollywood Rose, which he was a member of before joining Guns N' Roses, but the band was hoping to find an east coast guitarist. DeVille recently turned down an offer to join Christian rockers Stryper,[12] and although the rest of Poison were duly impressed with his playing and image, they did not care for his brash New York personality. DeVille reportedly dismissed the material written by the band which he had been asked to learn for the audition, and clashed with Poison over which songs would encompass the audition. Michaels and Dall, in particular, disliked the guitarist on a personal level and had strong misgivings about hiring him. Ultimately, in spite of their apprehension, the band decided that DeVille's talent and drive to succeed made him the best choice. The band's desire to replace Smith with another east coast guitarist fueled the move to hire DeVille over Slash. The band also saw hit single potential in the song DeVille brought with him to the audition, "Talk Dirty to Me", a song from his previous group The Screaming Mimis.[13][10]

Look What the Cat Dragged In and Open Up and Say...Ahh! (1986–1989)[edit]

Unable to secure a major label recording contract, Poison signed by Steev Riccardo with the smaller Enigma Records in 1986 (see 1986 in music) for approximately $30,000, a fraction of the hundreds of thousands of dollars many similar acts were receiving from major labels at the time. Their debut album, Look What the Cat Dragged In, was released on May 23, 1986, with the band members themselves partially funding the recording. The album was initially expected to produce only one single, "Cry Tough"; however, Look What the Cat Dragged In became a surprise success and subsequently spawned three charting hits: "Talk Dirty to Me", "I Want Action", and "I Won't Forget You",[14] The record became the biggest-selling-album in Enigma's history. With heavy rotation on MTV, their debut earned the band tours with fellow glam rockers Ratt, Cinderella, and Quiet Riot, as well as a coveted slot in the Texxas Jam in Dallas. In 1987 the band recorded a cover of the Kiss song "Rock and Roll All Nite" for soundtrack to Less than Zero.[15]

Poison in 1987

Poison's second album, Open Up and Say...Ahh!, was released May 21, 1988.[16] It peaked at No. 2 on the American charts. The album included the band's biggest hit, the No. 1 single "Every Rose Has Its Thorn", along with other hits "Nothin' but a Good Time", "Fallen Angel", and the Loggins and Messina cover "Your Mama Don't Dance". The album's initial cover art was controversial, as it depicted a demonic female figure with an obscenely long tongue. A censored version of the cover followed, focusing on the figure's eyes. In 1989, the band released their first video album titled Sight for Sore Ears which featured all their music videos from the first two albums.[17]

Conflict pursued the band persistently. Michaels' frequent brawling garnered him further lawsuits in Atlanta, Los Angeles and Tallahassee.[18] Bryn Bridenthal, head of publicity at Geffen Records, filed a $1.1 million lawsuit against the band for drenching her with drinks and a bucket of ice at a music industry party. Then, Sanctuary Music, Poison's former management company, filed a $45.5 million breach of contract suit against the band. Poison retaliated with charges of mismanagement of funds. Easy Action filed a lawsuit, claiming that Poison stole the chorus of their song "We Go Rocking" for their single I Want Action.[19] As recalled by Easy Actions singer in an interview with Rock United, they received an unspecified financial settlement for the alleged plagiarism in 1989. DeVille put the amount at $25,000 in a 1994 radio interview with Lonn Friend.

Flesh & Blood and Swallow This Live (1990–1992)[edit]

Poison continued their adherence to the "work hard, play hard" motto, following up with their third album, Flesh & Blood, which was released June 21, 1990. It also was highly successful, being certified 3× Platinum in the U.S. and 4× Platinum in Canada.[20][21] The album's success prompted the impetus for a further world tour. The album also features an alternative cover, as the original featured what appeared to be running ink or possibly blood from a tattoo. The record went multi-platinum, spawning two gold singles: "Unskinny Bop" and the ballad "Something To Believe In" which was dedicated to the band's security guard and close friend James Kimo Maano who had died. "Ride the Wind" and "Life Goes On" were the other single releases that charted, the last single released was the title cut, "Flesh & Blood (Sacrifice)".

Poison received a letter from Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney thanking the band for contributing 20,000 CDs of the album Flesh & Blood to lift the morale of U.S. Troops during Desert Storm, and their continued support of the Armed Forces.[22][23]

One of the band's few appearances in the UK was on August 18, 1990, at Donington's Monsters of Rock festival in the summer of 1990. Whitesnake and Aerosmith headlined with Poison, Quireboys and Thunder supporting them. This event was broadcast on BBC Radio 1.[24]

After two consecutive years on the road, band members were at each other's throats with personal differences and drug addictions. Poison recorded several performances during its 1990/1991 Flesh & Blood world tour, which were released in November 1991 as the band's fourth album, Swallow This Live. The double album features live tracks from Poison's first three studio albums and four new studio tracks including the single "So Tell Me Why", which were the last recorded before C.C. DeVille's departure from the band later that year.

Native Tongue, Greatest Hits and Crack a Smile (1993–2000)[edit]

DeVille was fired and replaced by guitarist Richie Kotzen. Poison's fourth album, Native Tongue, was released February 8, 1993. It was strongly influenced by Kotzen's fresh songwriting contributions and guitar performance. It marked a change for the band as they abandoned their anthemic party tunes to focus on more serious subjects, and was far more blues-rock oriented than glam metal. Containing the singles "Stand" which featured the Los Angeles First A.M.E. Church Choir on backing vocals, "Until You Suffer Some (Fire And Ice)" and "Body Talk", the album received generally positive reviews and did go Gold, but following the arrival of grunge sales were sluggish compared with the first three albums. The band toured in support of the album, but tensions mounted between Kotzen and the rest of the band. Kotzen's future in the band was doomed when it was discovered that he had become romantically involved with Rockett's then-fiancée Deanna Eve. Kotzen was promptly fired, and replaced by Blues Saraceno in November 1993, who completed the world tour with the band including the famous "Hollywood Rock" concerts in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, Brazil, where they played to over 165,000 people.

Poison began recording its sixth album, Crack a Smile, in early 1994. Recording was brought to an abrupt halt in May 1994, when Michaels was involved in a car accident where he lost control of his Ferrari. Michaels suffered a broken nose, ribs, jaw, and fingers and lost four teeth. After his recovery in 1995, the band continued recording the album. The album became shelved shortly after this, with no release date anywhere in sight. Instead, the label opted for a Greatest Hits compilation, which featured two new tracks with Saraceno on guitar, "Sexual Thing" and "Lay Your Body Down". The first Greatest Hits album was released on November 26, 1996, and sold extremely well, going on to reach double platinum status.[25]

After several years apart, Michaels and DeVille were able to patch up their differences; and Michaels welcomed DeVille back into Poison in 1996 to replace Saraceno.[26]

Michaels was involved with Pamela Anderson. After Poison's and Michaels' longtime attorney, Ed McPherson, obtained a Federal injunction prohibiting the distribution of an explicit sex tape that the couple made, an abridged version of the tape appeared on the internet in 1998.[27]

Michaels and actor friend Charlie Sheen co-founded a production company called Sheen Michaels Entertainment. In 1998, Michaels made his acting debut alongside Charlie and Martin Sheen in the movie A Letter from Death Row, which was also written and directed by Michaels.[28]

The Greatest Hits reunion tour took place in the summer of 1999, with the original lineup. The show at Pine Knob Amphitheater in metro Detroit drew a sell-out crowd of 18,000, and other shows averaged crowds of 12,000. In addition, the band appeared on VH1's Behind the Music. On March 14, 2000, Crack a Smile...and More! was finally released, with the single "Shut Up, Make Love" and power ballad "Be the One". In addition to the outtakes, live recordings from the 1990 installment of the MTV Unplugged series were included.[29]

Power to the People and Hollyweird (2001–2002)[edit]

After the Poison reunion DeVille soon released his solo album, Samantha 7, and Michaels released the solo/Poison album Show Me Your Hits which featured re-recorded Poison classics. The album featured Michaels performing Poison hits in a new way and also featured other artists with Michaels on selected tracks. Poison also released Power to the People, their first album with DeVille in nine years. The record contained five new studio songs: "Power to the People" which features a music video, "Can't Bring Me Down", "The Last Song", "Strange", and "I Hate Every Bone In Your Body But Mine", the latter with DeVille on lead vocals for the first time.

In May 2001 Poison released the web single "Rockstar" as a preview of the upcoming new album and went on tour with Warrant.

Poison's sixth full studio album, Hollyweird, was released on May 21, 2002. It was Poison's first full album of new material with DeVille back in the band. The album was heavily criticized by both critics and fans, feeling it had poor production quality and an unimpressive new sound. One popular site said "It's muddy, under-produced, badly mixed and features crappy drum and guitar sounds".[30] Other reviewers were more impressed, such as AllMusic, who declared it "one of Poison's best records, if not their best".[31] A cover of The Who song "Squeeze Box" and "Shooting Star" were also released as a singles for the album.

Best of Ballads & Blues and The Best of Poison (2003–2006)[edit]

Following the Hollyweird world tour Poison released their second compilation album, Best of Ballads & Blues, in 2003. It contains a new acoustic version with new lyrics of "Something to Believe In" and a new acoustic version of "Stand". Michaels also released his second solo album, Songs of Life, which featured singles "Bittersweet" and "Raine" which featured a music video and was dedicated to his daughter. On January 7 that year, after almost 20 years with Poison, Rockett released his first solo album, Glitter 4 Your Soul, which was distributed online.

During the summer of 2004, Poison was invited to serve as the opening band on Kiss's "Rock the Nation" tour. Poison were largely inactive in 2005 which is when Michaels released his third solo album, the country-rock-influenced Freedom Of Sound, which included the single "All I Ever Needed" featuring Jessica Andrews, which also featured a music video and appeared on Billboard's "Hot Country Songs" chart, with its best position being number 45.[32]

After a year off, Poison returned to the music scene. They celebrated their 20th anniversary with a "20 Years Of Rock" world tour in the summer of 2006, with fellow rockers Cinderella and Endeverafter opening. The tour swiftly became one of the most successful tours of 2006 in the U.S., averaging about 10,000 people per night. To complement it, the band had released an anniversary compilation album The Best Of Poison: 20 Years Of Rock, in April that year. The album also features a new single, a cover of Grand Funk Railroad's "We're An American Band", produced by Don Was and also features a music video. The compilation debuted at No. 17 with a first week sales total of 39,721, which marked Poison's return to the top 20 charts for the first time since 1993.

On August 1, 2006, Capitol Records released remastered versions of the first three Poison albums: Look What the Cat Dragged In, Open Up and Say...Ahh! and Flesh and Blood, in honor of Poison's 20th anniversary. All three include bonus tracks.

Poison'd! and Live, Raw & Uncut (2007–2009)[edit]

On January 3, 2007, Poison announced on their official MySpace page that they would like their fans to help pick favorite classic rock songs for the new studio album that they are to record. The fans replied with suggestions like Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Freebird", Sweet's "The Ballroom Blitz", and AC/DC's "You Shook Me All Night Long", along with Alice Cooper's "Poison".

During 2007, Poison went on a summer tour with Ratt. They released their covers album, now named Poison'd!, on June 5, 2007, through Capitol Records. The album entered the Billboard 200 chart at No. 32 and charted at No. 12 on the Top Rock Albums, selling 21,000 copies in its first week. The first single, "What I Like About You", featured a music video from the band. White Lion was removed from the tour due to legal issues, and Vains of Jenna took their place. The August 2 sold-out show in at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre St. Louis, Missouri was taped for a live concert DVD and for a HDNet Concert special called: Poison: Live, Raw & Uncut that aired on October 26, 2007, as part of Heavy Metal Halloween. The band also appeared that night on the channel's Sound Off with Matt Pinfield.[33]

The band played at the Rock2Wgtn rock festival in Wellington, New Zealand, on the weekend of March 22–23, 2008. The festival also included fellow legendary rockers Kiss, Ozzy Osbourne, Alice Cooper, Whitesnake, and Finnish hard rock act Lordi.[34]

Poison played at the Sweden Rock Festival 2008.[35] The band then went on tour in the summer of 2008 with Sebastian Bach and Dokken.[36]

Poison live in concert DVD titled Live, Raw & Uncut was released on July 15, 2008, which was filmed in St. Louis, during the Poison'd tour in 2007. This DVD/CD set was initially exclusive to Best Buy stores and includes behind-the-scenes footage as a bonus feature and as a live audio CD with selections from the concert. It sold around 2,400 copies in its first week of release to debut at position No. 8 on Billboard's Top Music Videos chart.[37] Also in 2008 a live CD version of the Poison DVD Seven Days Live was released.[38]

On June 7, 2009, Poison made a special appearance at the 63rd Tony Awards, performing "Nothin' But a Good Time" with the cast of Rock of Ages, which features "Nothin' But a Good Time" as a song in the show. As Michaels was exiting the stage, he was struck in the head by a descending set piece and knocked to the ground. He suffered a fractured nose and a split lip requiring three stitches.[39]

Solo success, health issues and touring (2010–present)[edit]

In 2010, an unauthorized biography was released titled A Shot of Poison featuring a collection of tales from over twenty years with the band, based on the personal encounters of author, rock journalist and music industry insider Christopher Long.

On April 12, 2010, Michaels was rushed to the hospital after suffering intense stomach pains, and an emergency appendectomy was performed.[40] On April 22, 2010, Michaels was again rushed to the hospital, this time with an "excruciating" headache. Doctors discovered that he had suffered a massive subarachnoid hemorrhage.[41] He was in critical condition,[42][43] and while some reports suggested that his condition had stabilized,[44] others later stated that this was premature.[45] On April 28, Michaels' representatives reported that he was conscious and speaking, albeit slowly, for the first time since he was hospitalized.[46] In a news conference on May 5, 2010, Dr. Joseph Zabramski said Michaels has been released from the hospital and that "He's just one of those lucky people" and that "he'll make a complete recovery".[47]

In the same year, Michaels released Custom Built. Half of the new album was enriched with previously released solo material. The lead-off single Nothing to Lose features pop singer Miley Cyrus and was the most added song to radio in the week of its release.[48] Custom Built received mixed to negative reviews[49] and it peaked at number 14 on the U.S. Billboard 200, topping both the Independent Albums and Hard Rock Albums.[50] This marks the highest US chart entries by a member of Poison since Flesh & Blood in 1990.

On March 1, Poison announced a 2011 Summer tour with Mötley Crüe and New York Dolls to celebrate their band anniversaries named the Glam-A-Geddon 25/30/40.[51] Also for Poison's 25th anniversary, a double CD named Double Dose: Ultimate Hits consisting exclusively of songs distributed by Capitol/EMI was released May 3, 2011.[52] The compilation charted at No. 17 in Canada.

In 2012, Poison and Def Leppard performed at the Rock of Ages tour named after their 1983 song and after the 2012 motion picture of the same name, where the songs of both bands played a central role. Michaels also resumed his "Get Your Rock On" solo tour, named after his then latest single.

After completing the Rock of Ages tour, the bandmembers went their separate ways. Joint projects did not go beyond their announcements. Michaels continued touring and played almost exclusively Poison's single releases with his solo band.[53] He released Jammin' with Friends featuring re-recorded alternate versions of Poison and Michaels solo tracks on June 25, 2013, peaking at #80 on the Billboard 200.[50] In June 2014, Rockett co-founded the band Devil City Angels.[54] DeVille, Dall and Rockett performed together without Michaels as a live band dubbed The Special Guests in the summer of 2015.[55] Brandon Gibbs accompanied them on vocals. At the end of 2015, drummer Rockett was diagnosed with oral cavity cancer, and joint projects had to be put on hold because of the necessary treatment.[56][57]

In 2017, Poison went on a co-headlining a tour with Def Leppard and special guest Tesla throughout the spring and summer and coincided with limited headline acts throughout the US and Canada celebrating their recent 30-year anniversary.[58] The Nothing But a Good Time Tour with opening acts Cheap Trick and Pop Evil started May 18 and ended July 1 of the following year.[59]

In 2019 Michaels announced his autobiography to be released in 2020 titled Unbroken: My life in Pictures & Stories to coincide with his single release "Unbroken".[60] It was initially set to be titled Roses & Thorns when Michaels first started working on the project and was set to be released in 2010, but kept being pushed back to include more content.[61] In May 2020 Bret Michaels: Auto-Scrap-ography Volume 1: My Life in Pictures & Stories has been released as the first in a series of trilogies.[62]

Poison toured North America as an opening act for Mötley Crüe and Def Leppard with Joan Jett for The Stadium Tour from June 16 to September 9, 2022. The tour was originally scheduled for the summer of 2020 but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[63] During the tour, Michaels expressed doubt that the band would record another album, but hoped that they would write and record another song that evoked their hits from their heyday.[64]

Band members[edit]

Current members[edit]

Bret Michaels – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, harmonica (1983–present)

Rikki Rockett – drums, percussion, backing vocals (1983–present)

Bobby Dall – bass, piano, backing vocals (1983–present)

C.C. DeVille – lead guitar, backing and occasional lead vocals (1985–1991, 1996–present)[26]

Former members[edit]

Matt Smith – lead guitar, backing vocals (1983–1985)

Richie Kotzen – lead guitar, keyboards, piano, mandolin, dobro, backing vocals (1991–1993)

Blues Saraceno – lead guitar, keyboards, piano, backing vocals (1993–1996)[26]

Touring musicians[edit]

Will Doughty – keyboards, piano, backing vocals (2007–present)

Former touring musicians[edit]

Jesse Bradman – keyboards, piano, backing vocals (1993-1994)

Timeline[edit]

Discography[edit]

Main article: Poison discography

Studio albums

Look What the Cat Dragged In (1986)

Open Up and Say... Ahh! (1988)

Flesh & Blood (1990)

Native Tongue (1993)

Crack a Smile... and More! (2000)

Hollyweird (2002)

Poison'd! (2007)

Tours[edit]

Look What the Cat Dragged In Tour (1986–1987)

Open Up and Say Ahh! Tour (1988–1989)

Nothing but a Good Time Down Under Tour (1989)

Flesh & Blood World Tour (1990–1991)

Native Tongue World Tour (1993–1994)

Greatest Hits Reunion Tour (1999)

Power to the People Tour (2000)

Glam, Slam, Metal, Jam Tour (2001)

Hollyweird World Tour (2002)

Harder, Louder, Faster Tour (2003)

Rock the Nation World Tour (2004)

20 Years of Rock World Tour (2006)

POISON'D Summer Tour (2007)

Live, Raw & Uncut Summer Tour (2008)

42-city Summer Tour (2009)

Glam-A-Geddon Tour (2011)

Rock of Ages Tour (2012)

30th Anniversary North American Comeback Tour (2017)

Nothing But a Good Time Tour (2018)

The Stadium Tour (2022)[65]

Awards and nominations[edit]

American Music Awards

Year

Nominated work

Award

Result

1991

Poison

Favorite Heavy Metal/Hard Rock Artist

Nominated

1991

Flesh & Blood

Favorite Heavy Metal/Hard Rock Album

Nominated

Metal Edge Readers' Choice Awards

Year

Winner

Poison - Wikipedia

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1Modern definitions

2Uses

3Ecological lifetime

4Etymology

5Terminology

6Poisoning

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6.1Acute

6.2Chronic

7Management

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7.1Decontamination

7.2Enhanced excretion

8Epidemiology

9Applications

10History

11Figurative use

12See also

13References

14External links

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Poison

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Substance that causes death, injury or harm to organs

Not to be confused with Venom.

For other uses, see Poison (disambiguation).

This article may need to be rewritten to comply with Wikipedia's quality standards. You can help. The talk page may contain suggestions. (January 2022)

The international pictogram for poisonous substances. The skull and crossbones has long been a standard symbol for poison.

A poison is any chemical substance that is lethal to living organisms. The term is used in a wide range of scientific fields and industries, where it is often specifically defined. It may also be applied colloquially or figuratively, with a broad sense.

Whether something is considered a poison or not may depend on the amount, the circumstances, and what living things are present. Poisoning could be accidental or deliberate, and if the cause can be identified there may be ways to neutralise the effects or minimise the symptoms.

In biology, a poison is a chemical substance causing death, injury or harm to organisms or their parts. In medicine, poisons are a kind of toxin that are delivered passively, not actively. In industry the term may be negative, something to be removed to make a thing safe, or positive, an agent to limit unwanted pests. In ecological terms, poisons introduced into the environment can later cause unwanted effects elsewhere, or in other parts of the food chain.

Modern definitions[edit]

In broad metaphorical (colloquial) usage of the term, "poison" may refer to anything deemed harmful.

In biology, poisons are substances that can cause death, injury, or harm to organs, tissues, cells, and DNA usually by chemical reactions or other activity on the molecular scale, when an organism is exposed to a sufficient quantity.[1]

Medicinal fields (particularly veterinary medicine) and zoology often distinguish poisons from toxins and venoms. Both poisons and venoms are toxins, which are toxicants produced by organisms in nature.[2][3] The difference between venom and poison is the delivery method of the toxin.[2] Venoms are toxins that are actively delivered by being injected via a bite or sting through a venom apparatus, such as fangs or a stinger, in a process called envenomation,[4] whereas poisons are toxins that are passively delivered by being swallowed, inhaled, or absorbed through the skin.[2]

Uses[edit]

Industry, agriculture, and other sectors employ many poisonous substances, usually for reasons other than their toxicity to humans. (e.g. feeding chickens arsenic antihelminths[5][6]), solvents (e.g. rubbing alcohol, turpentine), cleaners (e.g. bleach, ammonia), coatings (e.g. Arsenic wallpaper), and so on. For example, many poisons are important feedstocks. The toxicity itself sometimes has economic value, when it serves agricultural purposes of weed control and pest control. Most poisonous industrial compounds have associated material safety data sheets and are classified as hazardous substances. Hazardous substances are subject to extensive regulation on production, procurement, and use in overlapping domains of occupational safety and health, public health, drinking water quality standards, air pollution, and environmental protection. Due to the mechanics of molecular diffusion, many poisonous compounds rapidly diffuse into biological tissues, air, water, or soil on a molecular scale. By the principle of entropy, chemical contamination is typically costly or infeasible to reverse, unless specific chelating agents or micro-filtration processes are available. Chelating agents are often broader in scope than the acute target, and therefore their ingestion necessitates careful medical or veterinarian supervision.

Pesticides are one group of substances whose prime purpose is their toxicity to various insects and other animals deemed to be pests (e.g., rats and cockroaches). Natural pesticides have been used for this purpose for thousands of years (e.g. concentrated table salt is toxic to many slugs and snails). Bioaccumulation of chemically-prepared agricultural insecticides is a matter of concern for the many species, especially birds, which consume insects as a primary food source. Selective toxicity, controlled application, and controlled biodegradation are major challenges in herbicide and pesticide development and in chemical engineering generally, as all lifeforms on earth share an underlying biochemistry; organisms exceptional in their environmental resilience are classified as extremophiles, these for the most part exhibiting radically different susceptibilities.

Ecological lifetime[edit]

A poison which enters the food chain—whether of industrial, agricultural, or natural origin—might not be immediately toxic to the first organism that ingests the toxin, but can become further concentrated in predatory organisms further up the food chain, particularly carnivores and omnivores, especially concerning fat soluble poisons which tend to become stored in biological tissue rather than excreted in urine or other water-based effluents.

Apart from food, many poisons readily enter the body through the skin and lungs. Hydrofluoric acid is a notorious contact poison, in addition to its corrosive damage. Naturally occurring sour gas is a fast-acting atmospheric poison, which can be released by volcanic activity or drilling rigs. Plant-based contact irritants, such as that possessed by poison ivy, are often classed as allergens rather than poisons; the effect of an allergen being not a poison as such, but to turn the body's natural defenses against itself. Poison can also enter the body through faulty medical implants, or by injection (which is the basis of lethal injection in the context of capital punishment).

In 2013, 3.3 million cases of unintentional human poisonings occurred.[7] This resulted in 98,000 deaths worldwide, down from 120,000 deaths in 1990.[8] In modern society, cases of suspicious death elicit the attention of the Coroner's office and forensic investigators.

Of increasing concern since the isolation of natural radium by Marie and Pierre Curie in 1898—and the subsequent advent of nuclear physics and nuclear technologies—are radiological poisons. These are associated with ionizing radiation, a mode of toxicity quite distinct from chemically active poisons. In mammals, chemical poisons are often passed from mother to offspring through the placenta during gestation, or through breast milk during nursing. In contrast, radiological damage can be passed from mother or father to offspring through genetic mutation, which—if not fatal in miscarriage or childhood, or a direct cause of infertility—can then be passed along again to a subsequent generation. Atmospheric radon is a natural radiological poison of increasing impact since humans moved from hunter-gatherer lifestyles and cave dwelling to increasingly enclosed structures able to contain radon in dangerous concentrations. The 2006 poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko was a notable use of radiological assassination, presumably meant to evade the normal investigation of chemical poisons.

Poisons widely dispersed into the environment are known as pollution. These are often of human origin, but pollution can also include unwanted biological processes such as toxic red tide, or acute changes to the natural chemical environment attributed to invasive species, which are toxic or detrimental to the prior ecology (especially if the prior ecology was associated with human economic value or an established industry such as shellfish harvesting).

The scientific disciplines of ecology and environmental resource management study the environmental life cycle of toxic compounds and their complex, diffuse, and highly interrelated effects.

Etymology[edit]

The word "poison" was first used in 1200 to mean "a deadly potion or substance"; the English term comes from the "...Old French poison, puison (12c., Modern French poison) "a drink", especially a medical drink, later "a (magic) potion, poisonous drink" (14c.), from Latin potionem (nominative potio) "a drinking, a drink", also "poisonous drink" (Cicero), from potare "to drink".[9] The use of "poison" as an adjective ("poisonous") dates from the 1520s. Using the word "poison" with plant names dates from the 18th century. The term "poison ivy", for example, was first used in 1784 and the term "poison oak" was first used in 1743. The term "poison gas" was first used in 1915.[9]

Terminology[edit]

The term "poison" is often used colloquially to describe any harmful substance—particularly corrosive substances, carcinogens, mutagens, teratogens and harmful pollutants, and to exaggerate the dangers of chemicals. Paracelsus (1493–1541), the father of toxicology, once wrote: "Everything is poison, there is poison in everything. Only the dose makes a thing not a poison"[10]

(see median lethal dose). The term "poison" is also used in a figurative sense: "His brother's presence poisoned the atmosphere at the party". The law defines "poison" more strictly. Substances not legally required to carry the label "poison" can also cause a medical condition of poisoning.

Some poisons are also toxins, which is any poison produced by an organism, such as the bacterial proteins that cause tetanus and botulism. A distinction between the two terms is not always observed, even among scientists. The derivative forms "toxic" and "poisonous" are synonymous. Animal poisons delivered subcutaneously (e.g., by sting or bite) are also called venom. In normal usage, a poisonous organism is one that is harmful to consume, but a venomous organism uses venom to kill its prey or defend itself while still alive. A single organism can be both poisonous and venomous, but it is rare.[11]

All living things produce substances to protect them from getting eaten, so the term "poison" is usually only used for substances which are poisonous to humans, while substances that mainly are poisonous to a common pathogen to the organism and humans are considered antibiotics. Bacteria are for example a common adversary for Penicillium chrysogenum mold and humans, and since the mold's poison only targets bacteria, humans use it for getting rid of it in their bodies. Human antimicrobial peptides which are toxic to viruses, fungi, bacteria, and cancerous cells are considered a part of the immune system.[12]

In nuclear physics, a poison is a substance that obstructs or inhibits a nuclear reaction.

Environmentally hazardous substances are not necessarily poisons, and vice versa. For example, food-industry wastewater—which may contain potato juice or milk—can be hazardous to the ecosystems of streams and rivers by consuming oxygen and causing eutrophication, but is nonhazardous to humans and not classified as a poison.

Biologically speaking, any substance, if given in large enough amounts, is poisonous and can cause death. For instance, several kilograms worth of water would constitute a lethal dose. Many substances used as medications—such as fentanyl—have an LD50 only one order of magnitude greater than the ED50. An alternative classification distinguishes between lethal substances that provide a therapeutic value and those that do not.

Poisoning[edit]

Main article: Poisoning

Cassava leaves contain cyanide and can thus cause poisoning if not prepared correctly.

Poisoning can be either acute or chronic, and caused by a variety of natural or synthetic substances. Substances that destroy tissue but do not absorb, such as lye, are classified as corrosives rather than poisons.

Acute[edit]

Acute poisoning is exposure to a poison on one occasion or during a short period of time. Symptoms develop in close relation to the exposure. Absorption of a poison is necessary for systemic poisoning. Furthermore, many common household medications are not labeled with skull and crossbones, although they can cause severe illness or even death. Poisoning can be caused by excessive consumption of generally safe substances, as in the case of water intoxication.

Agents that act on the nervous system can paralyze in seconds or less, and include both biologically derived neurotoxins and so-called nerve gases, which may be synthesized for warfare or industry.

Inhaled or ingested cyanide, used as a method of execution in gas chambers, or as a suicide method, almost instantly starves the body of energy by inhibiting the enzymes in mitochondria that make ATP. Intravenous injection of an unnaturally high concentration of potassium chloride, such as in the execution of prisoners in parts of the United States, quickly stops the heart by eliminating the cell potential necessary for muscle contraction.

Most biocides, including pesticides, are created to act as acute poisons to target organisms, although acute or less observable chronic poisoning can also occur in non-target organisms (secondary poisoning), including the humans who apply the biocides and other beneficial organisms. For example, the herbicide 2,4-D imitates the action of a plant hormone, which makes its lethal toxicity specific to plants. Indeed, 2,4-D is not a poison, but classified as "harmful" (EU).

Many substances regarded as poisons are toxic only indirectly, by toxication. An example is "wood alcohol" or methanol, which is not poisonous itself, but is chemically converted to toxic formaldehyde and formic acid in the liver. Many drug molecules are made toxic in the liver, and the genetic variability of certain liver enzymes makes the toxicity of many compounds differ between individuals.

Exposure to radioactive substances can produce radiation poisoning, an unrelated phenomenon.

Two common cases of acute natural poisoning are theobromine poisoning of dogs and cats, and mushroom poisoning in humans. Dogs and cats are not natural herbivores, but a chemical defense developed by Theobroma cacao can be incidentally fatal nevertheless. Many omnivores, including humans, readily consume edible fungi, and thus many fungi have evolved to become decisively inedible, in this case as a direct defense.

Chronic[edit]

Polluted groundwater, in this case depicting acid mine drainage, can cause chronic poisoning.

Chronic poisoning is long-term repeated or continuous exposure to a poison where symptoms do not occur immediately or after each exposure. The person gradually becomes ill, or becomes ill after a long latent period. Chronic poisoning most commonly occurs following exposure to poisons that bioaccumulate, or are biomagnified, such as mercury, gadolinium, and lead.

Management[edit]

Initial management for all poisonings includes ensuring adequate cardiopulmonary function and providing treatment for any symptoms such as seizures, shock, and pain.

Injected poisons (e.g., from the sting of animals) can be treated by binding the affected body part with a pressure bandage and placing the affected body part in hot water (with a temperature of 50 °C). The pressure bandage prevents the poison being pumped throughout the body, and the hot water breaks it down. This treatment, however, only works with poisons composed of protein-molecules.[13]

In the majority of poisonings the mainstay of management is providing supportive care for the patient, i.e., treating the symptoms rather than the poison.

Decontamination[edit]

Treatment of a recently ingested poison may involve gastric decontamination to decrease absorption. Gastric decontamination can involve activated charcoal, gastric lavage, whole bowel irrigation, or nasogastric aspiration. Routine use of emetics (syrup of Ipecac), cathartics or laxatives are no longer recommended.

Activated charcoal is the treatment of choice to prevent poison absorption. It is usually administered when the patient is in the emergency room or by a trained emergency healthcare provider such as a Paramedic or EMT. However, charcoal is ineffective against metals such as sodium, potassium, and lithium, and alcohols and glycols; it is also not recommended for ingestion of corrosive chemicals such as acids and alkalis.[14]

Cathartics were postulated to decrease absorption by increasing the expulsion of the poison from the gastrointestinal tract. There are two types of cathartics used in poisoned patients; saline cathartics (sodium sulfate, magnesium citrate, magnesium sulfate) and saccharide cathartics (sorbitol). They do not appear to improve patient outcome and are no longer recommended.[15]

Emesis (i.e. induced by ipecac) is no longer recommended in poisoning situations, because vomiting is ineffective at removing poisons.[16]

Gastric lavage, commonly known as a stomach pump, is the insertion of a tube into the stomach, followed by administration of water or saline down the tube. The liquid is then removed along with the contents of the stomach. Lavage has been used for many years as a common treatment for poisoned patients. However, a recent review of the procedure in poisonings suggests no benefit.[17] It is still sometimes used if it can be performed within 1 hour of ingestion and the exposure is potentially life-threatening.

Nasogastric aspiration involves the placement of a tube via the nose down into the stomach, the stomach contents are then removed by suction. This procedure is mainly used for liquid ingestions where activated charcoal is ineffective, e.g. ethylene glycol poisoning.

Whole bowel irrigation cleanses the bowel. This is achieved by giving the patient large amounts of a polyethylene glycol solution. The osmotically balanced polyethylene glycol solution is not absorbed into the body, having the effect of flushing out the entire gastrointestinal tract. Its major uses are to treat ingestion of sustained release drugs, toxins not absorbed by activated charcoal (e.g., lithium, iron), and for removal of ingested drug packets (body packing/smuggling).[18]

Enhanced excretion[edit]

In some situations elimination of the poison can be enhanced using diuresis, hemodialysis, hemoperfusion, hyperbaric medicine, peritoneal dialysis, exchange transfusion or chelation. However, this may actually worsen the poisoning in some cases, so it should always be verified based on what substances are involved.

Epidemiology[edit]

In 2010, poisoning resulted in about 180,000 deaths down from 200,000 in 1990.[19] There were approximately 727,500 emergency department visits in the United States involving poisonings—3.3% of all injury-related encounters.[20]

Applications[edit]

Poisonous compounds may be useful either for their toxicity, or, more often, because of another chemical property, such as specific chemical reactivity. Poisons are widely used in industry and agriculture, as chemical reagents, solvents or complexing reagents, e.g. carbon monoxide, methanol and sodium cyanide, respectively. They are less common in household use, with occasional exceptions such as ammonia and methanol. For instance, phosgene is a highly reactive nucleophile acceptor, which makes it an excellent reagent for polymerizing diols and diamines to produce polycarbonate and polyurethane plastics. For this use, millions of tons are produced annually. However, the same reactivity makes it also highly reactive towards proteins in human tissue and thus highly toxic. In fact, phosgene has been used as a chemical weapon. It can be contrasted with mustard gas, which has only been produced for chemical weapons uses, as it has no particular industrial use.

Biocides need not be poisonous to humans, because they can target metabolic pathways absent in humans, leaving only incidental toxicity. For instance, the herbicide 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid is a mimic of a plant growth hormone, which causes uncontrollable growth leading to the death of the plant. Humans and animals, lacking this hormone and its receptor, are unaffected by this, and need to ingest relatively large doses before any toxicity appears. Human toxicity is, however, hard to avoid with pesticides targeting mammals, such as rodenticides.

The risk from toxicity is also distinct from toxicity itself. For instance, the preservative thiomersal used in vaccines is toxic, but the quantity administered in a single shot is negligible.

Deaths from poisonings per million persons in 2012 0-2 3-5 6-7 8-10 11-12 13-19 20-27 28-41 42-55 56-336

Disability-adjusted life year for poisonings per 100,000 inhabitants in 2004.[21]

History[edit]

Main article: History of poison

Poisoning of Queen Bona by Jan Matejko.

Throughout human history, intentional application of poison has been used as a method of murder, pest-control, suicide, and execution.[22][23] As a method of execution, poison has been ingested, as the ancient Athenians did (see Socrates), inhaled, as with carbon monoxide or hydrogen cyanide (see gas chamber), injected (see lethal injection), or even as an enema.[24] Poison's lethal effect can be combined with its allegedly magical powers; an example is the Chinese gu poison. Poison was also employed in gunpowder warfare. For example, the 14th-century Chinese text of the Huolongjing written by Jiao Yu outlined the use of a poisonous gunpowder mixture to fill cast iron grenade bombs.[25]

While arsenic is a naturally occurring environmental poison, its artificial concentrate was once nicknamed inheritance powder.[26] In Medieval Europe, it was common for monarchs to employ personal food tasters to thwart royal assassination, in the dawning age of the Apothecary.

Figurative use[edit]

The term poison is also used in a figurative sense. The slang sense of alcoholic drink is first attested 1805, American English (e.g., a bartender might ask a customer "what's your poison?" or "Pick your poison").[9]

Figurative use of the term dates from the late 15th century.[27] Figuratively referring to persons as poison dates from 1910.[27] The figurative term poison-pen letter became well known in 1913 by a notorious criminal case in Pennsylvania, U.S.; the phrase dates to 1898.

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Types of Common and Dangerous Poisons

If you are or someone else is exposed to any poisonous product or substance, use the webPOISONCONTROL® tool to get specific first aid and treatment recommendations online. You can also call 1-800-222-1222. Both options are free, confidential, available 24/7, and provide expert help.

What are the most common types of poison exposures in children?

Did you know that even these common household items can poison children?

cosmetics and personal care products

cleaning substances and laundry products

pain medications, both prescription and over-the-counter (OTC)

foreign bodies such as toys and toy parts, coins, and thermometers

topical preparations like rash creams

vitamins and supplements

antihistamines

pesticides

plants

antimicrobials like antibiotics

Pediatric Poisonings Data

To see data on the most common types of pediatric poisonings managed by webPOISONCONTROL, visit the interactive data dashboard's "Top 10 and Top 10 for Kids (<6 years)."

To see data on the most common types of pediatric poisonings reported by Poison Control callers, click here.

What are the most common types of poison exposures in adults?

pain medicines, both prescription and over-the-counter (OTC)

sedatives, hypnotics, antipsychotics

antidepressants (SSRIs and SNRIs)

cardiovascular drugs

cleaning substances (household)

alcohols

pesticides

bites and envenomations (ticks, spiders, bees, snakes)

anticonvulsants

cosmetics and personal care products

Adult Poisonings Data

To see data on the most common types of adult poisonings managed by webPOISONCONTROL, visit the interactive data dashboard's "Top 10 and Top 10 for Kids (<6 years)."

To see data on the most common types of adult poisonings reported by Poison Control callers, click here.

What are the most dangerous types of poisons for children?

These are especially hazardous household items. To help prevent poisoning, buy small quantities, discard unneeded extras, and make sure they are always out of a child's reach.

Medications: Medicines are OK in the right amount for the right person, but they can be dangerous for children who take the wrong medicine or ingest too much. And we don't just mean prescription medications; even some over-the-counter medicines can be very dangerous!

Carbon monoxide: Not all poisons are swallowed; some are inhaled, or breathed in. Carbon monoxide gas is in fact an invisible killer. It has no color or odor. Take it seriously. Make sure there's a carbon monoxide alarm in every sleeping area of your home.

Button batteries: Button batteries (sometimes called disc batteries) can be found in musical greeting cards, remote controls, key fobs, and other small electronic devices. Be especially mindful of the 20 mm lithium coin cell battery. When swallowed by a child, especially one younger than 4 years, it often lodges in the esophagus causing burns within just 2 hours. A hole in the esophagus may develop and the burn can extend into the trachea or aorta. More than 60 children have died from ingesting button batteries.

Iron pills: Adult-strength iron pills are very dangerous for children to ingest. Children can start throwing up blood or having bloody diarrhea in less than an hour.

Cleaning products that cause chemical burns: These can be just as bad as burns from fire. Products that cause chemical burns include drain openers, toilet bowl cleaners, rust removers, and oven cleaners. Inhalation of bleach, toilet bowl cleaner, the contents of laundry detergent pods, oven and drain cleaners are also poison hazards.

Nail glue remover and nail primer: Some products used for artificial nails can be poisonous in surprising ways. Some nail glue removers have caused cyanide poisoning when ingested by children. Some nail primers have caused burns to the skin and mouth of children who tried to drink them.

Hydrocarbons: This is a broad category that includes gasoline, kerosene, lamp oil, motor oil, lighter fluid, furniture polish, and paint thinner. These liquids are easy to choke on if someone tries to swallow them. If that happens, they can go down into the lungs instead of the stomach. If a hydrocarbon gets into someone’s lungs, it can make it hard to breathe. They can also cause lung inflammation (like pneumonia). Hydrocarbons are among the leading causes of poisoning death in children.

Pesticides: Chemicals to kill bugs and other pests must be used carefully to keep from harming humans. Many pesticides can be absorbed through skin. Many can also enter the body by inhaling the fumes. Some can affect the nervous system and can make it hard to breathe.

Windshield washer solution and antifreeze: Small amounts of these liquids are poisonous to humans and pets. Windshield washer solution can cause blindness and death if swallowed. Antifreeze can cause kidney failure and death if swallowed.

Wild mushrooms: Many types of mushrooms grow in many areas of the country. Some are deadly to eat. Only experts in mushroom identification can tell the difference between poisonous mushrooms and safe mushrooms.

Alcohol: When children swallow alcohol, they can have seizures, go into a coma, or even die. This is true no matter where the alcohol comes from. Mouthwash, facial cleaners, and hair tonics can have as much alcohol in them as alcoholic beverages.

Drain cleaners and toilet bowl cleaners: These caustics cause devastating burns to the mouth, throat and stomach. Drain cleaners may be strongly alkaline and toilet bowl cleaners may be strong acids. If swallowed, they must be diluted immediately to limit the damage that rapidly occurs.

Topical anesthetics: These medicines can cause seizures or a condition called methemoglobinemia which keeps the blood from carrying oxygen to the tissues. Be especially careful with teething gels, hemorrhoid preparations, anti-itch creams, and sunburn relief agents.

Food Poisoning

Did you know that there are more than 250 types of food poisoning? Food poisoning can happen to anyone, regardless of age. To learn more about food poisoning, its causes, and how to prevent it, visit our Food Poisoning page.

Top Poisoning Prevention Tips

You can help prevent poisonings by:

1. Being prepared for an emergency and acting fast if you suspect a poisoning, even if you aren’t sure.

Save the national Poison Control number in your phone and post it in your home. 1-800-222-1222. It’s free, private, and calls are answered by experts. Those experts have heard it all. Don’t be embarrassed to call.

Don’t want to use the phone? Bookmark www.poison.org or download the webPOISONCONTROL app on the App Store or Google Play. Poison Control guidance is available online for those who can’t or prefer not to call.

2. Practicing safe storage habits.

Certain substances like those listed above can be particularly dangerous for kids. Those items should be stored up, away, and out of sight. For things that can’t be stored safely, use child-resistant cabinets and containers. But keep in mind that there is no such thing as a “child-proof" container!

Keep products in their original containers. Don’t put non-food or non-beverage substances in containers meant for consumables.

3. Reading and following labels and directions.

Review product labels prior to their use, especially before taking or administering medications.

Follow usage instructions as well as those about safe storage and disposal.

4. Preventing danger from invisible threats.

Install carbon monoxide detectors in your home.

Install radon detectors if your home is at risk.

Do you live or work in the Washington DC metro area? Click here to order free poisoning prevention materials for your home, workplace, school, or to distribute at events.

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Home Diseases and Conditions Poisoning

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PoisoningLast Updated October 2023 | This article was created by familydoctor.org editorial staff and reviewed by Robert "Chuck" Rich, Jr., MD, FAAFP

Table of Contents1. Overview2. Symptoms3. Causes4. Diagnosis5. Prevention6. Treatment7. Everyday Life8. Questions9. Resources

What is poisoning?

Poison is any substance that is harmful to your body. Many different types of poison exist. Poisonous substances can be products you have in your house. Medicines that aren’t taken as directed can be harmful. There are several ways you can be exposed to poison. You could breathe it in, swallow it, or absorb it through your skin. Poisoning can be an accident or a planned action.

Symptoms of poisoning

The effects of poisoning depend on the substance, amount, and type of contact. Your age, weight, and state of health also affect your symptoms.

Possible symptoms of poisoning include:

Nausea and/or vomiting

Diarrhea

Rash

Redness or sores around the mouth

Dry mouth

Drooling or foaming at the mouth

Trouble breathing

Dilated pupils (bigger than normal) or constricted pupils (smaller than normal)

Confusion

Fainting

Shaking or seizures

What causes poisoning?

There are a number of substances that are harmful and can cause poisoning. These include:

Household products and personal care products, like nail polish remover and mouthwash, which is harmful to children

Cleaning products and detergents

Paint thinner

Pesticides and bug spray

Lawn chemicals, such as herbicides, fertilizers, and fungicides

Metals, such as lead

Mercury, which can be found in old thermometers and batteries

Prescription and over-the-counter medicines when combined or taken the wrong way

Illegal drugs

Carbon monoxide gas

Spoiled food

Plants, such as poison ivy and poison oak

Venom from certain snakes and insects

How is poisoning diagnosed?

Your doctor can diagnose poisoning. First, they will review your medical history and do a physical exam. Your doctor also can perform tests to find the cause. Most poisons can be detected in your blood or urine. Your doctor may order a toxicology screen. This checks for common drugs using a urine or saliva sample.

Can poisoning be prevented or avoided?

The best way to prevent poisoning is to avoid contact with harmful substances. Below are some guidelines you should follow.

Keep all household substances out of the reach of children. You should put them in high or locked cabinets. This includes medicine, cleaning products, and other harmful chemicals. You also can childproof your house with safety locks and guards.

Wear protective clothing, like gloves, when you use cleaners and chemicals.

Avoid using pesticides, paint thinner, and similar chemicals inside the house or garage. Try to find non-chemical solutions. If you do use these chemicals inside, keep the area well aired.

Don’t mix chemicals. They may become poisonous when mixed. Bleach and ammonia are one example. When you mix them together, they create a deadly gas.

Keep medicines and chemicals in their original containers.

Label everything inside your medicine cabinet.

Get rid of old or expired medicines and household products. Dispose of them safely, per FDA and hazardous waste guidelines. Call poison control for more information.

Follow all product label directions.

Have all gas-fueled, oil-fueled, and wood-fueled appliances serviced regularly. Be sure they are well vented.

Never run your car in the garage, other than when you are coming or leaving.

Install a carbon monoxide detector in your home. Regularly test and replace the batteries.

Poisoning treatment

Treatment depends on the person and the type of poisoning. In this situation, try your best to stay calm. The first step is to get away from or remove the poison if you can. If the poison is in the air, move to a safe place with fresh air. If the poison is on the skin, rinse it off with water and remove nearby clothing. If the person swallowed the poison, do not try to induce vomiting. This approach is no longer recommended.

If the poisoned person is awake and alert, call the poison control center at 1-800-222-1222. You should have this number stored in your house and phone. Stay on the phone with the operator and follow all instructions. Try to have the following information ready:

The person’s age and weight

The person’s address

The type of poisonous substance they were exposed to

The time of the incident

A list of allergies the person has

Call 911 if the poisoned person is unconscious or not breathing. The medical team will provide additional treatment. They can use methods to get rid of the poison before it causes more harm. Some types of poison have antidotes. These work by reversing the poison’s effects and curing it. Treatment also includes measures to relieve symptoms.

Living with poisoning

The sooner you recognize poisoning symptoms, the better the outcome. However, the lasting effects of poisoning vary. It depends on the substance, amount, and type of exposure. Your age, weight, and state of health also affect your outcome. Poisoning can cause short-term effects, like a skin rash or brief illness. In serious cases, it can cause brain damage, a coma, or death.

Questions to ask your doctor

Is there any instance where I should induce vomiting if I believe poison has been swallowed?

Can I call the poison control center if I have a question, or is it for emergencies only?

Resources

American Academy of Family Physicians: Food Poisoning

American Academy of Family Physicians: Snakebites

American Association of Poison Control Centers

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Poisoning

National Safety Council

U.S. Food and Drug Administration: Disposal of Unused Medicines

Last Updated: March 23, 2021

This article was contributed by: familydoctor.org editorial staff and Alex Rice

Categories: First Aid and Injury Prevention, Prevention and Wellness, Staying HealthyTags: chemical poisoning, intoxication, poison, poison symptoms, poison treatments

This information provides a general overview and may not apply to everyone. Talk to your family doctor to find out if this information applies to you and to get more information on this subject.

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Related ArticlesLead Poisoning in ChildrenRead Article >>Kids and TeensLead Poisoning in ChildrenLead poisoning is serious. It happens after repeated exposure to things that contain high levels of lead. This could…Blood PoisoningRead Article >>Family HealthBlood PoisoningBlood poisoning happens when an infection enters your bloodstream and your body reacts to the infection.Food PoisoningRead Article >>Family HealthFood PoisoningFood poisoning is a primarily intestinal illness that occurs when you eat or drink something that contains harmful bacteria,…

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Poisoning: First aid - Mayo Clinic

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Poisoning is injury or death due to swallowing, inhaling, touching or injecting various drugs, chemicals, venoms or gases. Many substances — such as drugs and carbon monoxide — are poisonous only in higher concentrations or dosages. Certain types of cleaners are only harmful if ingested, while others also emit toxic gases/fumes. Children are particularly sensitive to even small amounts of certain drugs and chemicals.

How you treat someone who may have been poisoned depends on:

The person's symptoms

The person's age

Whether you know the type and amount of the substance that caused poisoning

There are two ways to get help from Poison Control in the U.S: online at www.poison.org or by calling 800-222-1222. Both options are free, confidential, and available 24 hours a day. It may help to place a refrigerator magnet or a visible sticker in your home with the poison control number. Poison control centers are excellent resources for poisoning information and, in many situations, may advise that in-home observation is all that's needed.

When to suspect poisoning

Poisoning signs and symptoms can mimic other conditions, such as seizure, alcohol intoxication, stroke and insulin reaction. Signs and symptoms of poisoning may include:

Burns or redness around the mouth and lips

Breath that smells like chemicals, such as gasoline or paint thinner

Vomiting

Difficulty breathing

Drowsiness

Confusion or other altered mental status

If you suspect poisoning, be alert for clues such as empty pill bottles or packages, scattered pills, and burns, stains and odors on the person or nearby objects. With a child, consider the possibility that he or she may have applied medicated patches, taken prescription medications or swallowed a button battery.

When to call for help

Call 911 or your local emergency number immediately if the person is:

Drowsy or unconscious

Having difficulty breathing or has stopped breathing

Uncontrollably restless or agitated

Having seizures

Known to have taken medications, or any other substance, intentionally or accidentally overdosed (in these situations the poisoning typically involves larger amounts, often along with alcohol)

Call Poison Help at 800-222-1222 in the United States or your regional poison control center in the following situations:

The person is stable and has no symptoms

The person is going to be transported to the local emergency department

Be ready to describe the person's symptoms, age, weight, other medications he or she is taking, and any information you have about the poison. Try to determine the amount ingested and how long since the person was exposed to it. If possible, have on hand the pill bottle, medication package or other suspect container so that you can refer to its label when speaking with the poison control center.

What to do while waiting for help

Take the following actions until help arrives:

Swallowed poison. Remove anything remaining in the person's mouth. If the suspected poison is a household cleaner or other chemical, read the container's label and follow instructions for accidental poisoning.

Poison on the skin. Remove any contaminated clothing using gloves. Rinse the skin for 15 to 20 minutes in a shower or with a hose.

Poison in the eye. Gently flush the eye with cool or lukewarm water for 20 minutes or until help arrives.

Inhaled poison. Get the person into fresh air as soon as possible.

If the person vomits, turn his or her head to the side to prevent choking.

Begin CPR if the person shows no signs of life, such as moving, breathing or coughing.

Call Poison Help at 800-222-1222 in the United States or your regional poison control for additional instructions.

Have somebody gather pill bottles, packages or containers with labels, and any other information about the poison to send along with the ambulance team.

In the case of an opioid overdose

If the person is at risk of overdose of opioid pain medication and naloxone (Narcan) is available, please administer. Increasingly, health care providers are giving people Narcan injectable prescriptions if they are at risk of overdose. Loved ones should be familiar with how to use them.

Caution

Syrup of ipecac. Don't give syrup of ipecac or do anything to induce vomiting. Expert groups, including the American Association of Poison Control Centers and the American Academy of Pediatrics, no longer endorse using ipecac in children or adults who have taken pills or other potentially poisonous substances. No good evidence proves its effectiveness, and it often can do more harm than good.

If you still have old bottles of syrup of ipecac in your home, throw them away.

Button batteries. The small, flat batteries used in watches and other electronics — particularly the larger, nickel-sized ones — are especially dangerous to small children. A battery stuck in the esophagus can cause severe tissue burns.

If you suspect that a child has swallowed one of these batteries, immediately take him or her for an emergency X-ray to determine its location. If the battery is in the esophagus, it will have to be removed. If it has passed into the stomach, it's usually safe to allow it to pass on through the intestinal tract.

Medicated patches. If you think a child got hold of medicated patches — adhesive products for transdermal drug delivery — carefully inspect the child's skin and remove any that are attached. Also check the roof of the mouth, where medicated patches can get stuck if the child sucks on them.

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Show references

General principles of poisoning. The Merck Manual Professional Version. https://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/injuries-poisoning/poisoning/general-principles-of-poisoning?qt=poisoning&alt=sh. Accessed March 3, 2022.

Poisons, chemicals and smoke inhalation. American College of Emergency Physicians. https://www.emergencyphysicians.org/article/know-when-to-go/poisoning. Accessed March 3, 2022.

What you can do. Health Resources and Services Administration. https://poisonhelp.hrsa.gov/what-you-can-do. Accessed March 3, 2022.

Kleinman K, et al., eds. Toxicology. In: Harriet Lane Handbook. 22nd ed. Elsevier; 2021. https://www.clinicalkey.com. Accessed March 7, 2022.

Swallowed a button battery? Battery in the nose or ear? National Capital Poison Center. https://www.poison.org/battery. Accessed March 3, 2022.

Ipecac: Don't use it. National Capital Poison Center. https://www.poison.org/articles/ipecac-do-not-use-it. Accessed March 3, 2022.

Using skin patch medicines safely. National Capital Poison Center. https://www.poison.org/articles/using-skin-patch-medicines-safely. Accessed March 3, 2022.

Takahashi PY (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic. March 8, 2022.

POISON | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary

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Meaning of poison in English

poisonnoun [ C or U ] uk

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/ˈpɔɪ.zən/ us

Your browser doesn't support HTML5 audio

/ˈpɔɪ.zən/

Add to word list

B2 a substance that can make people or animals ill or kill them if they eat or drink it: The pest control officer put bowls of rat poison in the attic. Her drink had been laced with a deadly poison. Compare

toxin

venom (POISON)

More examplesFewer examplesBottles of lemonade doctored with rat poison were discovered in the kitchen.Forensic examination revealed a large quantity of poison in the dead man's stomach.The giraffe was killed with a spear that had been tipped with poison.Arsenic is a deadly poison that takes immediate effect.a phial of poison

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Poisoning and allergy

allergen

allergenic

anaphylactic

anaphylactic shock

anaphylaxis

animatedly

fly agaric

hypersensitivity

hypoallergenic

intolerance

intolerant

jimson weed

poisoning

poisonous

toxicity

toxicologist

toxicology

toxin

venomous

Warfarin

See more results »

Idiom

name your poison

poisonverb [ T ] uk

Your browser doesn't support HTML5 audio

/ˈpɔɪ.zən/ us

Your browser doesn't support HTML5 audio

/ˈpɔɪ.zən/

poison verb [T]

(ADD SUBSTANCE)

B2 to kill a person or animal or to make them very ill by giving them poison: Four members of the family had been poisoned, but not fatally.

B2 to put poison in someone's food or drink: He said that someone had poisoned his coffee.

B2 to add dangerous chemicals or other harmful substances to something such as water or air: The chemical leak had poisoned the water supply.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Poisoning and allergy

allergen

allergenic

anaphylactic

anaphylactic shock

anaphylaxis

animatedly

fly agaric

hypersensitivity

hypoallergenic

intolerance

intolerant

jimson weed

poisoning

poisonous

toxicity

toxicologist

toxicology

toxin

venomous

Warfarin

See more results »

You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Murder & attempted murder

Environmental issues

poison verb [T]

(SPOIL)

to spoil a friendship or another situation, by making it very unpleasant: The long dispute has poisoned relations between the two countries.

Thesaurus: synonyms, antonyms, and examples

to spoil somethingspoilDon't spoil the movie by telling me what happens!ruinI put too much salt in the sauce and ruined it.defaceMany of the library books had been defaced.disfigureHer face was disfigured by the scar.sourOur friendship soured after the argument, and we just drifted apart.poisonThe long dispute has poisoned relations between the two countries.

See more results »

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Damaging and spoiling

adulterate

adulterated

adulteration

applecart

at-risk

butcher

eat

eat away at something

erode

flaw

foul

foul (something) up

gloss

rain on someone's parade idiom

rampage

ravage

ravages

ruin

sour

wreck

See more results »

Idiom

poison someone's mind

poison | American Dictionary

poisonnoun us

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/ˈpɔɪ·zən/

poison noun

(SUBSTANCE)

Add to word list

[ C/U ] a substance that causes illness or death if swallowed, absorbed, or breathed into the body: [ U ] poison gas [ C ] Some cleaning products are poisons. [ U ] He sprayed the weeds with poison.

poisonous adjective us

Your browser doesn't support HTML5 audio

/ˈpɔɪ·zə·nəs/

The mushrooms they picked were poisonous.

poisonverb [ T ] us

Your browser doesn't support HTML5 audio

/ˈpɔɪ·zən/

poison verb [T]

(CAUSE HARM)

to cause serious harm to something: Jealousy poisoned our relationship. I don’t see why you think TV poisons people’s minds (= influences them in a bad way).

poison verb [T]

(SUBSTANCE)

to cause a person or animal to take in poison, or to add poison to food or a liquid: He thinks someone is trying to poison him. Her tea was poisoned.

What is the pronunciation of poison?

B2,B2,B2,B2

Translations of poison

in Chinese (Traditional)

毒, 毒藥，毒物, 下毒…

in Chinese (Simplified)

毒, 毒药，毒物, 下毒…

in Spanish

veneno, envenenar, veneno [masculine…

in Portuguese

veneno, envenenar, veneno [masculine]…

in more languages

in Marathi

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in French

in Catalan

in Dutch

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in Hindi

in Gujarati

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in Korean

in Italian

विष, विषबाधा करणे, विष मिसळणे…

毒, 毒薬, ～を毒殺する…

zehir, zehirlemek, zehir koymak/katmak…

poison [masculine], empoisonner, contaminer…

verí, enverinar…

vergif, vergiftigen…

மக்கள் அல்லது விலங்குகளை நோய்வாய்ப்படுத்தும் அல்லது அதை சாப்பிட்டால் அல்லது குடித்தால் அவற்றைக் கொல்லும் ஒரு பொருள், ஒரு நபரை அல்லது விலங்கைக் கொல்வது அல்லது அவர்களுக்கு விஷம் கொடுப்பதன் மூலம் அவர்களை மிகவும் நோய்வாய்ப்படுத்துவது, ஒருவரின் உணவு அல்லது பானத்தில் விஷத்தை வைக்க…

विष, ज़हर, विष या ज़हर देकर मारना या बीमार करना…

ઝેર, ઝેર આપીને મારી નાખો અથવા બીમાર કરો, ઝેર માટે (કોઈના ખોરાક અથવા પીણામાં)…

gift, gift-, giftig…

gift, förgifta, lägga gift i…

racun, meracuni, membubuh racun…

das Gift, Gift-…, vergiften…

gift [masculine], forgifte, forpeste…

زہر, زہر دے کر مارنا یا بیمار کرنا, کھانے یا پینے میں زہر ملانا…

отрута, отруювати, класти отруту…

яд, отравлять, портить…

విషం, విషము ఇవ్వడం, ఒకరి తిండిలో లేదా తాగే పదార్థాలలో విషము కలపడం…

سَمّ, يُسَمِّم…

বিষ, কোনো ব্যক্তি বা প্রাণীকে বিষ দেওয়া, কারো খাবার বা পানীয়তে বিষ মেশানো…

jed(ovatý), otrávit…

racun, meracun, meracuni…

ยาพิษ, วางยาพิษ, ใส่ยาพิษ…

chất độc, đầu độc, bỏ thuốc độc…

trucizna, otruć, zatruć…

독약, 독살하다, (유독 물질을) 넣다…

veleno, avvelenare…

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pointy

pointy-headed

poise

poised

poison

poison gas

poison ivy

poison oak

poison pill

More meanings of poison

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poison ivy

poison gas

poison oak

poison pill

poisonwood

poison sumac

poison-pen letter

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Idioms and phrases

poison someone's mind idiom

name your poison idiom

what's your poison?, at name your poison idiom

one man's meat is another man's poison idiom

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/rɪˈspɑːns/

an answer or reaction

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Contents

English

Noun

Verb

poison (ADD SUBSTANCE)

poison (SPOIL)

American

Noun

poison (SUBSTANCE)

Adjective

poisonous

Verb

poison (CAUSE HARM)

poison (SUBSTANCE)

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比特派bitpie苹果官网下载|poison

比特派bitpie苹果官网下载|poison

List of Poisons and the Relative Toxicity of Chemicals

POIZON - Sneakers, Shoes, Clothing, Bags | Authenticate First & Ship Later

Poison | Description, Classification, & Control | Britannica

Poison (band) - Wikipedia

Poison - Wikipedia

Types of common and dangerous poisons | Poison Control

Poison Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster

Poison - Poisoning Symptoms and Treatment | familydoctor.org

Poisoning: First aid - Mayo Clinic

POISON | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary

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比特派bitpie苹果官网下载|poison

比特派bitpie苹果官网下载|poison

List of Poisons and the Relative Toxicity of Chemicals

POIZON - Sneakers, Shoes, Clothing, Bags | Authenticate First & Ship Later

Poison | Description, Classification, & Control | Britannica

Poison (band) - Wikipedia

Poison - Wikipedia

Types of common and dangerous poisons | Poison Control

Poison Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster

Poison - Poisoning Symptoms and Treatment | familydoctor.org

Poisoning: First aid - Mayo Clinic

POISON | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary

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