castor beans

5 Things You Should Know About Ricin
It might not be as well known as arsenic or anthrax, but it's just as dangerous. Ricin-laced letters turned up at the Senate today , spiking interest in the natural toxin.

What is ricin?

Ricin is a highly toxic, naturally occurring protein found in Ricinus communis, or castor plant seeds.

Source: commons.wikimedia.org

Wait, this stuff is in castor oil? Could someone be accidentally poisoned?

Unless a person ingests castor beans, there is no way to be accidentally poisoned. During the process of making castor oil, ricin is produced as part of the waste "mash" and disposed of. Even if one consumed castor beans, it would take a significant amount to actually cause symptoms of poisoning.

Source: commons.wikimedia.org

How dangerous is it?

Ricin is highly toxic. As little as 7-8 mg has been shown to be fatal in horses, though those were accidental poisonings through castor bean ingestion.

If purified into a powder, mist, or pellet, the toxicity of ricin rises substantially. Ingestion is the most serious exposure method, with inhalation a close second. Luckily skin contact with ricin is not dangerous, though, and it is not contagious to others once contracted.

Source: images.newscred.com

What happens once a person is exposed to ricin?

Once infected, ricin gets inside the cells of the victim's body and prevents them from making vital proteins. Without them, the cells eventually die. The process is quick, presenting initial symptoms within 4 to 24 hours after exposure. Symptoms include fever, cough, difficulty breathing, vomiting, diarrhea, low blood pressure, and seizures. If the toxicity levels are high enough, organ failure and death follow.

There is currently no antidote for ricin, but human clinical trials have been promising.

For more information, the CDC has a comprehensive fact guide.

Via: Joe Raedle / Getty Images

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Jenkins

Web Exclusive - Castor Beans Outtakes

Poddar

.at.CrushTheCFR Castor beans.

Lakhanpal

LINE 1 - TIME OF REPORT: 1645 GMT 17 APR 2013

LINE 2 - LOCATION: White House, Washington DC, USA

LINE 3 - SITUATION: A letter containing poison Ricin intended for Pres. Obama was intercepted by postal handling facility.

LINE 4 - DATE: 16 APR 2013

LINE 5 - INFORMATION:
The was intercepted at a center handling mail for the White House in Washington DC and tested positive for the poison Ricin.

The letter was received on the same day as the letter addressed / intended for US Senate Republican (MS) Roger Wicker.

The letter was detected during a routine inspection of mail and did not reach the White House.

LINE 6 - ANALYSIS:
Ricin, extracted from waste produced when castor oil is made from the castor bean, is 1,000 times more toxic than cyanide. It can be fatal when inhaled, swallowed or injected, although it is possible to recover from exposure. One to three castor beans chewed by a child, or just eight seeds chewed by an adult, can be fatal.

Castor Beans from which Ricin is derived
In 2004, three Senate office buildings were shut after tests found ricin in letters that had been sent to the Senate majority leader's office.
Ricin was the poison used for the infamous murder of Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov in September 1978.
He was waiting at a bus stop near Waterloo Bridge, London, when a stranger jabbed him in the leg with an umbrella.
The umbrella injected a tiny ricin-filled pellet into Mr Markov's leg and he died three days later in hospital.
There is no information as to why Obama or Wicker was a target at this time.

LINE 7 - CONCLUSION:
Police have a suspect in mind believed to have sent many other letters to Congress members in the past.

Sakamoto

Obama Sent Poison Letter
United States authorities on Wednesday
intercepted a letter to the White House that
tested positive for ricin poison.
The US Secret Service said in a public statement
that it has acknowledged the letter addressed to
President Barrack Obama and it contained ricin, a
deadly suspicious substance.
Earlier on Tuesday, United States lawmakers
revealed that a letter addressed to Senator Roger
Wicker (R-Miss.) had tested positive for the
poison.
The Secret Service said the letter was sent to
Obama on April 16 and was discovered at a
remove White House mail screening facility.
"This facility routinely identifies letters or parcels
that require secondary screening or scientific
testing before delivery," the Secret Service said in
a statement. The Secret Service White House mail
screening facility is a remote facility, not located
near the White House complex, that all White
House mail goes through."
The agency said it is working closely with the U.S.
Capitol Police and the FBI in the investigation.
Foxnews reported that the letters to Obama and
Wicker contained similar language and are
signed identically.
News of the letters comes just days after two
bombs exploded at the finish line of the Boston
Marathon in a terrorist attack that killed three
people and injured more than 170.
Although, government officials have not linked
the two events, security has been tightened since
the attacks, with visitors asked to take off their
shoes before entering some Senate and House
office buildings.
Capitol Police issued a message to Senate offices
that they were resonding to a suspicious
envelope on the third floor of the Russell Senate
Office Building. The message directed staff and
other personnel to avoid that area until further
notice.
An identical message was sent about a suspicous
envelope in the Hart Senate Office Building.
Of the letter sent to Wicker, Senate Sergeant at
Arms Terrance W. Gainer said: “The letter was
not outwardly suspicious, which is usually a clue.
“But we want Senate State office employees to
beware of what we know, but they must be
careful with all mail they open, follow the
procedures with which they have been skilled,”
he said.
Gainer said previously that the Senate's offsite
mail facility has been closed as Capitol Police and
the FBI investigated. Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.)
said Capitol Police have a suspect, who has been
known to write letters to members of Congress.
However, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-
Nev.) said he was aware only of the letter to
Wicker.
“All we know now is just one,” Reid said,
speaking to reporters after an intelligence
briefing at the Capitol.
In 2004, a letter addressed to former Sen. Bill Frist
(R-Tenn.) also tested positive for ricin after it was
found to contain a white powder while being
sorted in the Dirksen Senate Office Building. The
Senate office buildings were closed and
decontaminated, but authorities never solved the
case.
Ricin is a poison found in castor beans, which can
be manufactured from castor bean waste
materials, according to the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention.
“Ricin works by getting inside the cells of a
person’s body and preventing the cells from
making the proteins they need. Without the
proteins, cells die. Eventually this is harmful to
the whole body, and death may occur,” the CDC
warns.
-Leadership News