{"id":886,"date":"2006-06-07T21:47:12","date_gmt":"2006-06-08T04:47:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationalterroralert.com\/readyguide\/ricin\/"},"modified":"2006-06-07T21:47:41","modified_gmt":"2006-06-08T04:47:41","slug":"ricin","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/nationalterroralert.com\/ricin\/","title":{"rendered":"Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) About Ricin"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>What Is Ricin?<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n          Ricin is a poison that can be made from the waste left over from processing<br \/>\n          castor beans. <\/p>\n<p>          &nbsp;<\/li>\n<li>\n          It can be in the form of a powder, a mist, or a pellet, or it can be<br \/>\n          dissolved in water or weak acid.<br \/>\n          &nbsp;<\/li>\n<li>\n          It is a stable substance. For example, it is not affected much by extreme<br \/>\n          conditions such as very hot or very cold temperatures. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\n        <strong>Where Is Ricin Found, and How Is It Used?<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Castor beans are<br \/>\n          processed throughout the world to make castor oil. Ricin is part of<br \/>\n          the waste \u201cmash\u201d produced when castor oil is made. Amateurs can make<br \/>\n          ricin from castor beans.<br \/>\n          &nbsp;<\/li>\n<li>Ricin has some<br \/>\n          potential medical uses, such as bone marrow transplants and cancer treatment<br \/>\n          (to kill cancer cells). <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\n        <strong>How Can People Be Exposed to Ricin?<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>It would take a<br \/>\n          deliberate act to make ricin and use it to poison people. Accidental<br \/>\n          exposure to ricin is highly unlikely.<br \/>\n          &nbsp;<\/li>\n<li>People can breathe<br \/>\n          in ricin mist or powder and be poisoned.<br \/>\n          &nbsp;<\/li>\n<li>Ricin can also<br \/>\n          get into water or food and then be swallowed.<br \/>\n          &nbsp;<\/li>\n<li>Pellets of ricin,<br \/>\n          or ricin dissolved in a liquid, can be injected into people\u2019s bodies.<br \/>\n          &nbsp;<\/li>\n<li>Depending on the<br \/>\n          route of exposure (such as injection), as little as 500 micrograms of<br \/>\n          ricin could be enough to kill an adult. A 500-microgram dose of ricin<br \/>\n          would be about the size of the head of a pin. A much greater amount<br \/>\n          would be needed to kill people if the ricin were inhaled (breathed in)<br \/>\n          or swallowed.<br \/>\n          &nbsp;<\/li>\n<li>Ricin poisoning<br \/>\n          is not contagious. It cannot be spread from person to person through<br \/>\n          casual contact. <\/p>\n<p>          &nbsp;<\/li>\n<li>In 1978, Georgi<br \/>\n          Markov, a Bulgarian writer and journalist who was living in London,<br \/>\n          died after he was attacked by a man with an umbrella. The umbrella had<br \/>\n          been rigged to inject a poison ricin pellet under Markov\u2019s skin. <br \/>\n          &nbsp;<\/li>\n<li>Some reports have<br \/>\n          indicated that ricin may have been used in the Iran-Iraq war during<br \/>\n          the 1980s and that quantities of ricin were found in Al Qaeda caves<br \/>\n          in Afghanistan. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\n        <strong>How Does Ricin Work?<\/p>\n<p>        &nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Ricin works by<br \/>\n          getting inside the cells of a person\u2019s body and preventing the cells<br \/>\n          from making the proteins they need. Without the proteins, cells die,<br \/>\n          and eventually the whole body can shut down and die.<br \/>\n          &nbsp;<\/li>\n<li>Specific effects<br \/>\n          of ricin poisoning depend on whether ricin was inhaled, swallowed, or<br \/>\n          injected. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>        <strong>What Are the Signs and Symptoms of Ricin Exposure?<br \/>\n        &nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong> Inhalation:<\/strong><br \/>\n          Within a few hours of inhaling significant amounts of ricin, the likely<br \/>\n          symptoms would be coughing, tightness in the chest, difficulty breathing,<br \/>\n          nausea, and aching muscles. Within the next few hours, the body\u2019s airways<br \/>\n          (such as lungs) would become severely inflamed (swollen and hot), excess<br \/>\n          fluid would build up in the lungs, breathing would become even more<br \/>\n          difficult, and the skin might turn blue. Excess fluid in the lungs would<br \/>\n          be diagnosed by x-ray or by listening to the chest with a stethoscope.<\/p>\n<p>          &nbsp;<\/li>\n<li><strong> Ingestion:<\/strong><br \/>\n          If someone swallows a significant amount of ricin, he or she would have<br \/>\n          internal bleeding of the stomach and intestines that would lead to vomiting<br \/>\n          and bloody diarrhea. Eventually, the person\u2019s liver, spleen, and kidneys<br \/>\n          might stop working, and the person could die.<\/p>\n<p>          &nbsp;<\/li>\n<li><strong> Injection:<\/strong><br \/>\n          Injection of a lethal amount of ricin at first would cause the muscles<br \/>\n          and lymph nodes near the injection site to die. Eventually, the liver,<br \/>\n          kidneys, and spleen would stop working, and the person would have massive<br \/>\n          bleeding from the stomach and intestines. The person would die from<br \/>\n          multiple organ failure.<\/p>\n<p>          &nbsp;<\/li>\n<li>Death from ricin<br \/>\n          poisoning could take place within 36 to 48 hours of exposure, whether<br \/>\n          by injection, ingestion, or inhalation. If the person lives longer than<br \/>\n          5 days without complications, he or she will probably not die.\n        <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\n        <strong>How Is Ricin Poisoning Treated?<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>No antidote exists<br \/>\n          for ricin. Ricin poisoning is treated by giving the victim supportive<br \/>\n          medical care to minimize the effects of the poisoning. The types of<br \/>\n          supportive medical care would depend on several factors, such as the<br \/>\n          route by which the victim was poisoned (that is, by inhalation, ingestion,<br \/>\n          or injection). Care could include such measures as helping the victim<br \/>\n          breathe and giving him or her intravenous fluids and medications to<br \/>\n          treat swelling. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\n        <strong>How Do We Know for Sure Whether People Have Been Exposed to Ricin?<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>If we suspect that<br \/>\n          people have inhaled ricin, a possible clue would be that a large number<br \/>\n          of people who had been close to each other suddenly developed fever,<br \/>\n          cough, and excess fluid in their lungs. These symptoms could be followed<br \/>\n          by severe breathing problems and possibly death.<br \/>\n          &nbsp;<\/li>\n<li>No widely available,<br \/>\n          reliable test exists to confirm that a person has been exposed to ricin.\n          <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\n        <strong>What Can People Do If They Think They May Have Been Exposed to<br \/>\n        Ricin?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Unintentional<br \/>\n        ricin poisoning is highly unlikely. CDC has no reports of intentional<br \/>\n        ricin poisoning. If people think they might have been exposed to ricin,<br \/>\n        however, they should contact the regional poison control center at 1-800-222-1222.<\/p>\n<p>\n        <strong>How Can People Get More Information About Ricin?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>They<br \/>\n        can contact one of the following:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Regional poison<br \/>\n          control center (1-800-222-1222)<br \/>\n          &nbsp;<\/li>\n<li>Centers for Disease<br \/>\n          Control and Prevention Public Response Hotline (CDC) <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>English (888)<br \/>\n              246-2675 <\/li>\n<li>Espa\u00f1ol (888)<br \/>\n              246-2857 <\/li>\n<li>TTY (866) 874-2646<br \/>\n              <br \/>\n              &nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Agency for Toxic<br \/>\n          Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) (1-888-422-8737) <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What Is Ricin? Ricin is a poison that can be made from the waste left over from processing castor beans. &nbsp; It can be in the form of a powder, a mist, or a pellet, or it can be dissolved in water or weak acid. &nbsp; It is a stable substance. For example, it is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationalterroralert.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/886"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationalterroralert.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationalterroralert.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationalterroralert.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationalterroralert.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=886"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nationalterroralert.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/886\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationalterroralert.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=886"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}