Word: botulin
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...have been linked to the herb ephedra [HEALTH, March 3]. It brings to the fore a problem that needs urgent regulatory attention. Alternative-medicine gurus and the burgeoning over-the-counter drug industry have fostered the notion that anything natural is safe. Well, the poisons strychnine, belladonna, ricin and botulin are all natural. Legislation is needed to prohibit advertising that implies "all natural ingredients" means "safe." HERMAN BIEBER Kenilworth...
Biological agents could be a different problem. Iraq is believed to possess some of them, including typhoid, cholera and botulin toxin. In open air, most of those die within hours. So does anthrax, an infectious, spore-forming bacterium that Saddam is also believed to possess. But if spores of anthrax penetrate the ground, they can survive in a dormant state for decades, waiting for new victims...
...forces now have between 70,000 and 100,000 C.W. specialists, and a chemical-defense company is assigned to every line regiment. Using bombs, artillery shells, mortars, multiple-rocket launchers, air-delivered sprays or even land mines, the Soviets can attack with phosgene, mustard gas, hydrogen cyanide, nerve agents, botulin and a variety of lethal viruses...
...awesome properties. On the plus side, fast-breeder nuclear reactors, which are generally fueled with plutonium and U-238, can not only generate electricity but also produce more plutonium fuel than they consume. On the other hand, plutonium, even in tiny quantities, is searingly radioactive and ranks with botulin toxin as one of the world's most poisonous substances. Moreover, with as little as 12 Ibs. of plutonium, the right equipment and expertise in handling the stuff, almost any government-or terrorist outfit-could make a nuclear bomb...
Preventable Poison. Botulism, however, need not be fatal if diagnosed in time and treated promptly. Supplies of antitoxin against the three main types of botulin poisoning known to affect humans are stockpiled at the U.S. Public Health Service's Center for Disease Control in Atlanta. Authorities warn that the antitoxin should be administered only after certain diagnosis since panicky patients who are suffering from other forms of food poisoning can have dangerous or even fatal reactions to it. They add that botulism need not be contracted at all. Because bringing food to a boil destroys the odorless and usually...