• Question: what is the most poisonous chemical to the human body?

    Asked by parapassion to Fiona, Jane, Joanna, Michelle, William on 22 Jun 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Fiona Randall

      Fiona Randall answered on 22 Jun 2010:

      Well today in mine I think alcohol, I have been socialising too much at my conference and am now 12 hours behind Japan so a bit wide awake at 5am! The body cleans out its own toxins with our kidneys and liver when if cleans our blood. But a lot of things are pretty horrid if they aren’t removed like urea.

    • Photo: Joanna Brooks

      Joanna Brooks answered on 22 Jun 2010:

      Hello again! I think the most poisonous chemical is the neurotoxin ‘botulinum toxin’ because it’s very toxic and causes paralysis if it enters the brain even in very small amounts. It can also cause breathing problems in the lungs. Apparently it is more toxic than anything else!

    • Photo: Michelle Murphy

      Michelle Murphy answered on 22 Jun 2010:

      Hey
      Almost anything can be poisonous. Water will kill you if you drink too much of it. Oxygen is a deadly poison, yet we need it to live.
      Some toxins like botulinal neurotoxin that come from bacteria can be leathal in really small amounts (1ng/kg body weight) (1000000000ng=1gram). It causes complete paralasis so eventually your heart and lungs stop. Snake venom is fairly dangerous too. The most poisonous snake is the Fierce snake found in Australia.

    • Photo: William Davies

      William Davies answered on 22 Jun 2010:

      Another great question! you only need about 70 millionths of gram of the tetanus toxin from a particular bacterium to kill you, so that would probably take some beating. In lower doses, it can cause lockjaw in which the muscles of the face and neck are paralysed

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