Was it Aspirin, Nicotine or Arsenic?
When a writer starts to plot a mystery, and it's usually a murder mystery today, they may be looking for the perfect poison as opposed to a weapon. What to do…Where to start? One would probably not think of over the counter medications as poison, take aspirin for instance. Is it lethal? Could you possibly kill someone using something as commonplace as aspirin?
Aspirin stimulates the central nervous system and causes an accumulation of organic acids. It also interferes with Vitamin K utilization in the liver. Aspirin has a toxicity level of 3 which isn't very high, but it still could be dangerous combined with other things. Large doses of vitamin C, as some might take if they are coming down with a cold, then take a bunch of aspirin to relive the aches and pains – it can cause a poisonous reaction, though usually not fatal. A person on anticoagulants like Warfarin the person could bleed to death. Say your victim suffered a fall and he got pretty banged up, internal bleeding, he could bleed to death because his blood was thinned to a greater degree adding aspirin to the Warfarin already taken. The very thing that is recommended to help you stay well, can and is occasionally a lethal weapon.
A pesticide or a cigarette, a poison, perhaps.
Nicotine, yes the stuff in cigarettes, has been adapted as a use in pesticide for years. It has a toxicity level of 6… In the Howdunit Series, Deadly Doses, A writer's guide to poisons, Serita Deborah Stevens with Anne Klarner, Writer's Digest Books, 1990, you'll find an anecdote about a woman in 1940s England who mixed nicotine with her husband's aftershave lotion. He always applied a liberal splash over his face and body – he died very quickly. Reaction Times say Stevens and Klarner is about five minutes, but can take as long as four hours.
Another woman made her own lethal concoction by soaking cigarette butts in water and straining it and placing the poisoned water at her sister's bedside – the woman died. In Bilbao Looking Glass, Charlotte, I Books, 2003, MacLeod killed her victim by putting nicotine in a martini, which the victim downed in one fatal swallow without ever noticing any difference in the taste of the drink. Stevens and Klarner say ingestion isn't as effective as having Nicotine absorbed through the skin. Another author, Ed McBain in his book Poison, Avon Books, 1988, used nicotine twice to do in his victims. The perp was a jealous dentist.
Tolerance and method of introducing the poison matters
Tolerance is a consideration in administering any type of poison – as a cigarette smoker would have a higher tolerance then someone who had never smoked, when it comes to using nicotine as a poison. That is a consideration that the poisoner must take into consideration as well as the size of their victim.
Deadly Doses gauges the toxicity level on an average body weight of one hundred fifty pounds of a healthy body. There are two types of poisoning, chronic poisoning, antagonist slowly administers more and more of a given poison and eventually kills the victim.
Or lethal poisoning, acute poisoning where death follows quickly after administration.
Myths as cures debunked
Milk is not an antidote for most poisons
it is merely a diluting agent. Salt water administered as first aid to a poison victim to dilute or tame the poison is also a myth and can be downright dangerous.
"No antidote should be attempted without medical supervision, since many antidotes can cause more harm than the poison," says Stevens and Klarner.
Arsenic and Old Lace, Joseph Kesselring , Dramatist's Play Service, 1995 " …for a gallon of elderberry wine, I take one teaspoon of arsenic and add a half a teaspoon of arsenic and ad a half a teaspoon of strychnine, and then just a pinch of cyanide." Sounds like a kick of a laced Long Island Ice Tea mix doesn't it?
Arsenic, Cyanide, Strychnine
Arsenic is a metal and acute poisoning affects the digestive system; Cyanide interferes with oxygen use by the body cells of the victim; and Strychnine works on the central nervous system and is a stimulant.
A favorite poison of authors is Arsenic. There are, however, several types of Arsenic and their uses in the real world could indicate how your particular antagonist was able to get his/her hands on the lethal weapon. The most common arsenic is trioxide.
Whether the Arsenic is ingested or inhaled it will present different symptoms that an author must be aware of. The main symptom is severe gastric distress, but there could also be vomiting, diarrhea with blood and the skin becomes cold and clammy to the touch. Convulsions and coma are the final signs death is eminent as circulatory failure.
The signs of Arsenic poisoning remain in the victim's hair, fingernails, and urine, except in immediate death. A pathologist will find an inflamed stomach, maybe some in the digestive tract as well. Red blood cells are destroyed in the veins, body might appear slightly yellow and the body will resemble a person who has been extremely sick.
Choose your poison wisely.
You have an amazing array of things to choose from presenting different symptoms and toxicity levels as well as chronic or acute poisoning time frames. But, do investigate the type of poison you plan to use and how to administer it as well as the symptoms and what the pathologist might find if there is an Autopsy.
Sources:
- the Howdunit Series, Dy Doses, A writer's guide to poisons, Serita Deborah Stevens with Anne Klarner, Writer's Digest Books, 1990
- Arsenic and Old Lace!--Joseph Kesselring , Dramatist's Play Service, 1995
- The Bilbao Looking Glass Charlotte McLeod, I Books, 2003
- Poison, by Ed MacBain, Avon Books, 1988
