Poison: Difference between revisions

[[Medicinal]] fields (particularly [[veterinary medicine]]) and [[zoology]] often distinguish poisons from ''[[toxins]]'' and ''[[venoms]]''. Both poisons and venoms are toxins, which are [[toxicant]]s produced by organisms in nature.<ref name=AustralianAcademyOfSciencePoisonvsVenom>{{cite web|title=Poison vs. Venom|work=[[Australian Academy of Science]]|date=3 November 2017 |url=https://www.science.org.au/curious/people-medicine/poison-vs-venom|access-date=17 April 2022}}</ref><ref name="Chippaux Goyffon 2006 pp. 215–20">{{cite journal|last1=Chippaux|first1=JP|last2=Goyffon|first2=M|title=[Venomous and poisonous animals--I. Overview].|journal=Médecine Tropicale|volume=66|issue=3|year=2006|issn=0025-682X|pmid=16924809|pages=215–20|language=fr}}</ref> The difference between venom and poison is the delivery method of the toxin.<ref name=AustralianAcademyOfSciencePoisonvsVenom /> 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]],<ref name="Gupta">{{cite book|editor-last=Gupta |editor-first=Ramesh C.|title=Reproductive and developmental toxicology|date=24 March 2017 |location=Saint Louis |publisher=Elsevier Science |isbn=978-0-12-804240-3|oclc=980850276|pages=963–972}}</ref> whereas poisons are toxins that are passively delivered by being swallowed, inhaled, or absorbed through the skin. [[Unantidoteable]] refers to toxins that cannot be neutralized by modern medical technology, regardless of their type.<ref name=AustralianAcademyOfSciencePoisonvsVenom />

Of increasing concern since the isolation of natural [[radium]] by [[Marie Curie|Marie]] and [[Pierre Curie]] in 1898—and the subsequent advent of [[nuclear physics]] and nuclear technologies—are [[radioactive contamination|radiological poisons]]. These are associated with [[ionizing radiation]], a mode of toxicity quite distinct from chemically active poisons. In [[mammal]]s, chemical poisons are often passed from mother to offspring through the [[placenta]] during gestation, or through [[breast milk]] during [[breastfeeding|nursing]]. In contrast, radiological damage can be passed from mother or father to offspring through genetic [[mutation]], which—if not fatal in [[gestation|miscarriage]] or [[list of genetic disorders|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 dweller|cave dwelling]] to increasingly enclosed structures able to [[radium and radon in the environment|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.

In 2010, poisoning resulted in about 180,000 deaths down from 200,000 in 1990.<ref name=Loz2012>{{cite journal|last=Lozano|first=R|title=Global and regional mortality from 235 causes of death for 20 age groups in 1990 and 2010: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010|journal=Lancet|date=Dec 15, 2012|volume=380|issue=9859|pages=2095–128|pmid=23245604|doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(12)61728-0|pmc=10790329|hdl=10536/DRO/DU:30050819|s2cid=1541253|url=https://zenodo.org/record/2557786|hdl-access=free}}</ref> There were approximately 727,500 emergency department visits in the United States involving poisonings—3.3% of all injury-related encounters.<ref>Villaveces A, Mutter R, Owens PL, Barrett ML. ''Causes of Injuries Treated in the Emergency Department, 2010.'' HCUP Statistical Brief #156. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. May 2013.[http://hcup-us.ahrq.gov/reports/statbriefs/sb156.jsp] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170120235127/https://www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/reports/statbriefs/sb156.jsp|date=2017-01-20}}</ref>

File:Poisonings world map-Deaths per million persons-WHO2012.svg|upright=1.3|Deaths from poisonings per million persons in 2012 {{Div col|small=yes|colwidth=10em}}{{legendleftlegend|#ffff20|0-2}}{{legendleftlegend|#ffe820|3-5}}{{legendleftlegend|#ffd820|6-7}}{{legendleftlegend|#ffc020|8-10}}{{legendleftlegend|#ffa020|11-12}}{{legendleftlegend|#ff9a20|13-19}}{{legendleftlegend|#f08015|20-27}}{{legendleftlegend|#e06815|28-41}}{{legendleftlegend|#d85010|42-55}}{{legendleftlegend|#d02010|56-336}}{{div col end}}

Image:Poisonings world map - DALY - WHO2004.svg|[[Disability-adjusted life year]] for poisonings per 100,000&nbsp;inhabitants in 2004.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.who.int/healthinfo/global_burden_disease/estimates_country/en/index.html |title=WHO Disease and injury country estimates |year=2004 |website=World Health Organization |access-date=Nov 11, 2009}}</ref>{{Div col|small=yes|colwidth=10em}}{{leftlegend|#b3b3b3|no data}}{{leftlegend|#ffff65|<10}}{{leftlegend|#fff200|10–90}}{{leftlegend|#ffdc00|90–170}}{{leftlegend|#ffc600|170–250}}{{leftlegend|#ffb000|250–330}}{{leftlegend|#ff9a00|330–410}}{{leftlegend|#ff8400|410–490}}{{leftlegend|#ff6e00|490–570}}{{leftlegend|#ff5800|570–650}}{{leftlegend|#ff4200|650–700}}{{leftlegend|#ff2c00|700–880}}{{leftlegend|#cb0000|>880}}{{div col end}}

* [http://injuries.cochrane.org/ Cochrane Injuries Group] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803075156/http://injuries.cochrane.org/ |date=2020-08-03 }}, Systematic reviews on the prevention, treatment and rehabilitation of traumatic injury (including poisoning)