19
votes
Accepted
Is death by cyanide the same as suffocation?
In suffocation or asphyxiation you are actually deprived of breathing oxygen. As a result, the arterial blood oxygen concentration decreases (hypoxemia) which is detected by the chemoreceptors of the ...
- 393
16
votes
Accepted
Why are bacteria immune to snake poisons?
Short answer
Many snake poisons target specific proteins not present in unicellular organisms.
Background
The question is admittedly broad but the idea behind this question is pretty much what you ...
- 51.1k
9
votes
Accepted
Is the swimming pool water harmful to frogs who jump in? If so, how?
The chlorine concentration in pools is +- 0,5 mg/L.
+
0.002 mg/L will fatally damage the sensitive skin on tadpoles, frogs, salamanders and other amphibians.
another source:
Free chlorine (Cl2)...
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7
votes
Accepted
How is a very small quantity of poison able to kill a large organism?
"Cyanide" doesn't refer to just one compound, but given the lethal dose you mention of "half a gram" you are probably referring to potassium cyanide, with a molecular weight of about 65g/mol, so 0.5 ...
- 36k
6
votes
Is poison venomous and is venom poisonous?
I think you are both confused about terminology, and asking a very broad question. An organism that produces venom is venomous. Poison is not venomous, the black mamba is venomous. Venom is not ...
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6
votes
Why are bacteria immune to snake poisons?
Venoms from vipers contain high amount of proteolytic enzymes (serine proteases). Many of them act by cleaving fibrinogen and thereby causing blood clot (ref). There is a likelihood that some of these ...
- 35.1k
6
votes
Is death by cyanide the same as suffocation?
I'm not a doctor, so I'm not 100% sure about the physiological differences, but on a molecular level there is one:
Cyanide blocks the complex IV of the oxidative phosphorlytaion, which will directly ...
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5
votes
How does natural selection explain how organisms that are poisonous evolved?
There is a lot to say on this question. I will try to keep it short, to the risk of oversimplifying the problem. I can think of three main reasons:
1. Predation does not necessarily means death of ...
- 67.5k
5
votes
Accepted
What is the name of this spider and is it poisonous?
Ah, that would be the spiny orb weaver. You can see an almost exact same picture here. To make a guess on the species, its maybe Gasteracantha cancriformis as its said in that webpage I have tagged. ...
- 5,779
5
votes
Accepted
What will happen if a scorpion pierces itself?
Scorpions are immune to their own venom (reference) as has been said in some studies as well (reference) But some other studies and eye witness accounts have referred to the contrary.
in an ...
- 5,779
4
votes
Accepted
How does botulinum toxin enter the blood stream from the digestive tract?
Transcytosis is a process by which large macromolecules are transported across a cell, such as those in the intestinal epithelium. It is used by many toxins and even whole organisms to enter the body. ...
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4
votes
Rifle Bullets and Lead Exposure
Simply touching bullets couldn't give you lead poisoning, since nowadays bullets are usually coated in a protective copper shell.
What makes bullets dangerous isn't the actual bullet but the way lead ...
- 41
4
votes
Accepted
Can insects metabolize poisons?
Insects absolutely can metabolize poisons. This is because plants are absolutely chock-full of them, precisely to avoid insect predation, and in return many insects have developed immunities to many ...
- 3,180
4
votes
What is the effect of self envenomation on reptiles?
TL;DR
No, it won't die. Lizards/snakes are usually immune to their own venom.
Since I couldn't find a good answer to this recurring question on this site, I will try to summarize it here. I found ...
- 1,042
4
votes
Is a virus a poison?
Although "Virus" literally means "Poison" in Latin, it would be a great over-simplification to regard a Virus as a Poison.
Now, most poisons are chemical compounds that interfere ...
- 41
4
votes
Accepted
Does dormant poison ivy contain urushiol in the above-ground portion of the plant?
Let's tackle your second question first. Yes, leafless poison ivy still contains Urushiol, and still can give you a rash. Here are three sources supporting this statement: a first-aid sales company, a ...
- 441
3
votes
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Plant identification and toxicity
This is common sea buckthorn, Hippophae rhamnoides. The blueish leaves and the orange berries are unmistakable.
It occurs mainly in coastal regions, but is also cultivated throughout the world. The ...
- 3,647
3
votes
Are any arthropods poisonous to the touch?
The blister beetle genus Meloe, also known as oil beetles, secrete an oily substance containing a poison called cantharadin which causes blistering and swelling of the skin.
Source: http://...
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3
votes
What is the point of toxins without remarkable coloring?
This is a really great question. To take a specific example, let's consider Amanita phalloides, the death cap mushroom. It doesn't advertise its poison; in fact, it resembles several edible species of ...
- 1,118
3
votes
What is this spider
This is unambiguously a female Araneus, and judging from coloration pattern of the legs and ventrum — very likely the common cross spider Araneus diadematus: see ventral view photos, or some ...
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3
votes
Accepted
what is the poison in chinaberry?
The toxin is Meliatoxin, in a class of toxins called tetranortriterpenes.
I found this here. Bold emphasis mine.
https://wagwalking.com/condition/chinaberry-tree-poisoning
What is Chinaberry ...
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3
votes
Accepted
Poisonous Snakes consuming poison (chemical)
If any living thing consumes enough of a poison it will die. But I feel that is not what you want to ask.
Perhaps you meant to ask if a snake will die if it drinks its own venom? That would make more ...
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2
votes
Accepted
Why won't this spray kill this bug (household insecticide); could it be so selective?
It's a tiny baby cockroach. Sorry.
http://animalia-life.club/other/german-cockroach-nymph.html
I looked up your chemicals; the first (metofluthrin) is mosquito repellant and the others are for ...
- 2,928
2
votes
Does copper exacerbate wounds?
Excess copper in the body can be toxic but I'm not sure a copper blade would be especially toxic unless it was coated with something else or it remained in the wound. Copper can be acutely toxic when ...
- 3,264
2
votes
Accepted
Why do nerve gas victims have chronic neurological issues?
I would like to add a bit to Chris' answer. While it is true that the underlying mechanism of the long lasting effects of nerve gas has not been established, several hypotheses exist (reworded from ...
- 1,199
2
votes
Why do nerve gas victims have chronic neurological issues?
Most of the nerve agents (and quite a number of commercially used pesticides) fall into the class of organophosphates (OP). Their mechanism of action is the inhibition of the acetylcholin esterase ...
- 49.2k
2
votes
Accepted
Why is decomposition process much slower for poisoned insects?
Features of a rotting insect carcass
What you see after an insect dies is its chitinous exoskeleton. It is a tough biomaterial that takes time to decompose, given its structure, and few microbes can ...
- 5,670
1
vote
Mercury intoxication in cats
Unlikely that you have a mercury problem. I have had about 6 mercury thermometers broken in my house over a few years ( the places I kept them were not safe from a housekeeper).I don't know if she did ...
- 598
1
vote
Why do death cap mushrooms not warn of their poison?
Most of this type of evolutionary question are generally worthless, IMHO. You can rationalize anything post hoc and then go away with the misapprehension that you have been involved in science.
To ...
- 22.4k
1
vote
Accepted
Usage and mechanism of the Bastien protocol to treat amanitin poisoning
I know nothing about this subject, except that I can recognize edible and poisonous fungi, to the extent that it concerns me in a practical sense. However, as I have access to a range of journals ...
- 22.4k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible