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What ricin
is
- Ricin is
a poison that can be made from the waste left over from processing castor
beans.
- It can
be in the form of a powder, a mist, or a pellet, or it can be dissolved
in water or weak acid.
- It is a
stable substance. For example, it is not affected much by extreme conditions
such as very hot or very cold temperatures.
Where ricin
is found and how it is used
- Castor
beans are processed throughout the world to make castor oil. Ricin
is part of the waste “mash” produced when castor oil is
made.
- Ricin
has some potential medical uses, such as bone marrow transplants and
cancer treatment (to kill cancer cells).
How you could
be exposed to ricin
- It would
take a deliberate act to make ricin and use it to poison people. Accidental
exposure to ricin is highly unlikely.
- People
can breathe in ricin mist or powder and be poisoned.
- Ricin
can also get into water or food and then be swallowed.
- Pellets
of ricin, or ricin dissolved in a liquid, can be injected into people’s
bodies.
- Depending on the route of exposure (such as injection or inhalation), as little as 500 micrograms of ricin could be enough to kill an adult. A 500-microgram dose of ricin would be about the size of the head of a pin. A greater amount would likely be needed to kill people if the ricin were swallowed.
- In 1978,
Georgi Markov, a Bulgarian writer and journalist who was living in
London, died after he was attacked by a man with an umbrella. The umbrella
had been rigged to inject a poison ricin pellet under Markov’s
skin.
- Some reports
have indicated that ricin may have been used in the Iran-Iraq war during
the 1980s and that quantities of ricin were found in Al Qaeda caves
in Afghanistan.
- Ricin
poisoning is not contagious. It cannot be spread from person to person
through casual contact.
How ricin works
- 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.
- Effects
of ricin poisoning depend on whether ricin was inhaled, ingested, or injected.
Signs and symptoms
of ricin exposure
- The major
symptoms of ricin poisoning depend on the route of exposure and the dose
received, though many organs may be affected in severe cases.
- Initial
symptoms of ricin poisoning by inhalation may occur within 8 hours of
exposure. Following ingestion of ricin, initial symptoms typically occur
in less than 6 hours.
- Inhalation:
Within a few hours of inhaling significant amounts of ricin, the likely
symptoms would be respiratory distress (difficulty breathing), fever,
cough, nausea, and tightness in the chest. Heavy sweating may follow
as well as fluid building up in the lungs (pulmonary edema). This
would make breathing even more difficult, and the skin might turn
blue. Excess fluid in the lungs would be diagnosed by x-ray or by
listening to the chest with a stethoscope. Finally, low blood pressure
and respiratory failure may occur, leading to death.
In cases of known exposure to ricin, people having respiratory symptoms that
started within 12 hours of inhaling ricin should seek medical care.
- Ingestion:
If someone swallows a significant amount of ricin, he or she would develop
vomiting and diarrhea that may become bloody. Severe dehydration may be
the result, followed by low blood pressure. Other signs or symptoms may
include hallucinations, seizures, and blood in the urine. Within several
days, the person’s liver, spleen, and kidneys might stop working,
and the person could die.
- Skin and
eye exposure: Ricin in the powder or mist form can cause redness and pain
of the skin and the eyes.
- Death from
ricin poisoning could take place within 36 to 72 hours of exposure, depending
on the route of exposure (inhalation, ingestion, or injection) and the
dose received. If death has not occurred in 3 to 5 days, the victim usually
recovers.
- Showing
these signs and symptoms does not necessarily mean that a person has been
exposed to ricin.
How ricin poisoning
is treated
Because no
antidote exists for ricin, the most important factor is avoiding ricin exposure
in the first place. If exposure cannot be avoided, the most important factor
is then getting the ricin off or out of the body as quickly as possible.
Ricin poisoning is treated by giving victims supportive medical care to
minimize the effects of the poisoning. The types of supportive medical care
would depend on several factors, such as the route by which victims were
poisoned (that is, whether poisoning was by inhalation, ingestion, or skin
or eye exposure). Care could include such measures as helping victims breathe,
giving them intravenous fluids (fluids given through a needle inserted into
a vein), giving them medications to treat conditions such as seizure and
low blood pressure, flushing their stomachs with activated charcoal (if
the ricin has been very recently ingested), or washing out their eyes with
water if their eyes are irritated.
How you can
know whether you have been exposed to ricin
- If we suspect
that people have inhaled ricin, a potential clue would be that a large
number of people who had been close to each other suddenly developed fever,
cough, and excess fluid in their lungs. These symptoms could be followed
by severe breathing problems and possibly death.
- No widely
available, reliable test exists to confirm that a person has been exposed
to ricin.
How you can
protect yourself, and what to do if you are exposed to ricin
- First,
get fresh air by leaving the area where the ricin was released. Moving
to an area with fresh air is a good way to reduce the possibility of death
from exposure to ricin.
- If
the ricin release was outside, move away from the area where the ricin
was released.
- If
the ricin release was indoors, get out of the building.
- If you
are near a release of ricin, emergency coordinators may tell you to either
evacuate the area or to “shelter in place” inside a building
to avoid being exposed to the chemical. For more information on evacuation
during a chemical emergency, see Facts
About Evacuation. For more information on sheltering in place during
a chemical emergency, see Facts
About Sheltering in Place.
- If you
think you may have been exposed to ricin, you should remove your clothing,
rapidly wash your entire body with soap and water, and get medical care
as quickly as possible.
- Removing
your clothing:
- Quickly
take off clothing that may have ricin on it. Any clothing that has
to be pulled over the head should be cut off the body instead of pulled
over the head.
- If
you are helping other people remove their clothing, try to avoid touching
any contaminated areas, and remove the clothing as quickly as possible.
- Washing
yourself:
- As
quickly as possible, wash any ricin from your skin with large amounts
of soap and water. Washing with soap and water will help protect people
from any chemicals on their bodies.
- If
your eyes are burning or your vision is blurred, rinse your eyes with
plain water for 10 to 15 minutes. If you wear contacts, remove them
and put them with the contaminated clothing. Do not put the contacts
back in your eyes (even if they are not disposable contacts). If you
wear eyeglasses, wash them with soap and water. You can put your eyeglasses
back on after you wash them.
- Disposing
of your clothes:
- After
you have washed yourself, place your clothing inside a plastic bag.
Avoid touching contaminated areas of the clothing. If you can't avoid
touching contaminated areas, or you aren't sure where the contaminated
areas are, wear rubber gloves, turn the bag inside out and use it
to pick up the clothing, or put the clothing in the bag using tongs,
tool handles, sticks, or similar objects. Anything that touches the
contaminated clothing should also be placed in the bag. If you wear
contacts, put them in the plastic bag, too.
- Seal
the bag, and then seal that bag inside another plastic bag. Disposing
of your clothing in this way will help protect you and other people
from any chemicals that might be on your clothes.
- When
the local or state health department or emergency personnel arrive,
tell them what you did with your clothes. The health department or
emergency personnel will arrange for further disposal. Do not handle
the plastic bags yourself.
- For more
information about cleaning your body and disposing of your clothes after
a chemical release, see Chemical
Agents: Facts About Personal Cleaning and Disposal of Contaminated Clothing.
- If someone
has ingested ricin, do not induce vomiting or give fluids to drink.
- Seek medical
attention right away. Dial 911 and explain what has happened.
How you can
get more information about ricin
You can contact
one of the following:
- Regional
poison control center (1-800-222-1222)
- Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention
- Public
Response Hotline (CDC)
- English
(888) 246-2675
- Español
(888) 246-2857
- TTY
(866) 874-2646
-
Emergency Preparedness and Response Web site
- E-mail
inquiries: cdcresponse@ashastd.org
- Mail
inquiries:
Public Inquiry c/o BPRP
Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Planning
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Mailstop C-18
1600 Clifton Road
Atlanta, GA 30333
- Agency
for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) (1-888-422-8737)
- E-mail
inquiries: atsdric@cdc.gov
- Mail
inquiries:
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
Division of Toxicology
1600 Clifton Road NE, Mailstop E-29
Atlanta, GA 30333
This fact
sheet is based on CDC’s best current information. It may be updated
as new information becomes available.
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