Deadliest substances

[NitroKaBooM]

Hi all. The VX is claimed to be the most lethal substance yet discovered. I cannot understand this statement: I thought that the most deadly substance was botulinum toxin. Apart from this, VX was discovered in 1952! Seriously you believe that in the last 55 years nothing more toxic has been discovered?

[BlackFalcoN]

The VX is claimed to be the most letal substance yet discovered.

Your source is wrong. A simple UTFSE of the Merck index or even wikipedia, comparing botulinium vs VX would have revealed that.

Botulinum produced by Clostridium is the most toxic natural occuring substance. VX is relatively much less lethal, but still the most lethal nerve gas to date.

To my knowledge, nobody has ever confirmed a substance with a smaller LD50 than botulinium, but who knows, maybe over the years there are substances more lethal discovered that mainstream science just hasn't heard of yet...

[Ygarl]

Hi back at ya...

VX is certainly very toxic (at 10mg avg. LD50 for an adult or about .00001g/Kg dose).

Botulinum is still king at about 0.000001 mg/kg, and Po210 is about the same as VX - if a great deal more dangerous to handle/make due to the radiation it gives off and its fairly short half-life.

However, VX is a great deal easier to apply/disperse or weaponise. The heat involved in most explosions - for instance - would easily ruin botulinum.

Polonium is pretty bloody dangerous if inhaled: 0.089 micrograms is enough to reach LD50!
If you were going to go for a terror weapon though for whatever reason and had plenty of patience, you would be hard-pressed to beat Polonium. Just bombard bismuth with neutrons but you're looking are seriously hard graft and time and again with the danger of air-bourne Po dust!
Of course, it also self-heats so about a gram of it (or something like enough to kill 11 million people if you could somehow get the LD50 into each person perfectly!) will reach 500C. That's going to liberate some of it into the air, etc etc. You'd need a pretty damn good fume hood for that. Luckily, it gives off alpha particles to even rubber gloves would protect you from the rads... assuming you didn't breathe any!

I think Po is fascinating (as well as Fr, Cs, and lots of other stupidly dangerous elements), but botulinum is more dangerous "per gram" so to speak. And both of them are far more dangerous in their way than VX. VX is just easily weaponised.

An toxic oil with a simple to administer antidote is a damn sight easier to handle than a short half-life, red-hot metal with the obnoxious habit of leaving little particles around to kill you just as dead as your target! Especially since the only treatment against Po lung poisoning is morphine and giving you a few days quiet time to write a will!

[NitroKaBooM]

Indeed I'm not considering radioactive substances, too dangerous! Which is the substance that take to death most rapidly if taken orally? And if absorbed by skin? Have you ever heard of batrachotoxin?

[BlackFalcoN]

Indeed I'm not considering radioactive substances, too dangerous!
You are not considering them to achieve what?

You inquire about VX and botulinum, but a mere radioactive substance (in general) is too dangerous ?

For somebody with such a huge interest in toxins you certainly failed to show proper pre-research before coming to ask here. UTFSE & don't expect to be spoonfed !

Which is the substance that take to death most rapidly if taken orally? And if absorbed by skin?

Do they speak English in Vermont ?

About 300 kilogram of molten tungsten will result in death almost instantly when taken orally, should be about the same for the transdermal application... :rolleyes:

Have you ever heard of batrachotoxin?

Yes


Be glad you posted this in the water cooler.

Judging your 4 previous posted marvels of geniality, your username & your lack of UTFSE; I would say you are a k3wl sir...

[NitroKaBooM]

I'm not a k3ewl. I'm inexperienced and I know this questions are very simple and perhaps bad-posed. For this reason I've posted them in the water cooler. Do you expect every member writes nobel-prize grade posts?

[megalomania]

Banned for being a whiny bitch! You were warned, and now you demonstrate your stupidity by being incapable of stringing together even a few sentences without them being riddled with errors.

For your information I do not expect every member to write on par with Nobel Prize winning research, but I do encourage it.

Begone kewl!

[Enkidu]

Nope, but we do expect all members to contribute or (at least, UTFSE) Members who do not contribute rarely last very long. The Water Cooler is not a place where newbs can post whatever questions their heart desires and get spoonfed. The Water Cooler is subject to the same standards as the rest of The Forum. Consider yourself warned.

===

Oops, mega banned him while I was posting. :P

[Jacks Complete]

Haha, that was funny.

[Ygarl]

Hmmm... in hindsight, I wonder if I should have just him waffle on until he got kick/banned.

Still, it gave me a chance to compare LDs for a few amusing items - even if only for a complete numbskull with a stupid question.

Most lethal substance indeed... I would say 1000 kg of a decent HE, with some DU is more than a fair terrorist weapon and fairly lethal withal - at least from less than several dozen metres!

[megalomania]

Always remember, the LD50 for water is 6 inches, rat/Kg :D