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Beans give most people uncomfortable flatulence, but some legumes can be real killers.
Seven people were recently hospitalized after being around a suspicious vial of white powder in a
The culprit? FBI officials have fingered the deadly poison ricin, which “… is made from the waste left over from processing castor beans. As little as 500 micrograms, or about the size of the head of a pin, can kill a human” according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the AP author wrote. Terrorism isn’t suspected.
Castor plants grow up to 15 feet (4.5 meters) in height, and are thought to have originated in
According to the CDC, ricin extracted from the bean’s leathery casing kicks in about 6 to 8 hours after being inhaled or swallowed. Once in the body, the toxin begins to shut down protein-making machinery in the body’s cells, eventually killing them.
If inhaled, severe flu-like symptoms appear in about 8 hours, followed by bluing of the skin and excess fluid in the lungs. Those unfortunate enough to swallow the compound suffer severe diarrhea, dehydration, low blood pressure, hallucinations, and even seizures.
No antidote yet exists for ricin, and it takes about three to five days to recover naturally — so don’t go sniffing any suspicious white powders around town.
March 4th, 2008 at 7:47 am
There was a tragic case about ten years ago here in the Kansas City area of a couple (two doctors) and their children who became tragic victims at the hands of the female half of the couple. She is in prison now for poisoning her husband with ricin in his food. She set fire to their home and all but one of the children died in the fire. The husband and one daughter survive but he had to have all sorts of surgery including brain surgery and it was said that he can never know for the rest of his life when he might have complications from the poisoning. The poisoning took place over a period of time. He was in the hospital deathly ill and not expected to survive when he began to get better, went home with his wife, who that same day poisoned him again. He was VERY VERY VERY SICK and suffered terribly with uncontrollable diarhea and projectile vomiting. What kind of sick person could do that I cannot figure out.
March 5th, 2008 at 4:01 pm
I remember this, and I believe there was another and similar case several years after this. At any rate, I find ricin to be frighteningly potent and accessible.
Thanks for the note!
March 8th, 2008 at 12:11 am
Dave, it really bothers me that you misuse the term “bean” here. Clearly you are trying to refer to true beans, known as legumes, because you refer to legumes as ‘real killers’ and that is what your story is supposed to be about. However, the castor oil plant, Ricinus communis [from which the name 'ricin' comes from] is not a bean at all ! - it is a ’spurge’ or ‘euphorb’ in the family Euphorbiaceae, the same family the Poinsettia is in. Many, many members of this well-known plant family are poisonous. They have nothing to do with flatulence, a feature of some true edible beans or legumes in the bean family, Fabaceae - unrelated to this one and unrelated to the castor bean. There ARE poisonous beans, such as Abrus precatorius and others that can kill you, but the ‘castor oil bean’ is not one of them - it is no bean at all ! it is simply a seed from a 3-lobed capsule and your article is very misleading and shows a tremendous lack of botanical understanding. I really wish that authors would pay or consult botanists to edit their texts, or have botanist write these articles, or else be certain of their research before it appears on sites like this ! Sorry ! Another sign of poor education in our society and lack of editing control.