Shopping Around for Poison

Poison has been around for quite a number of years. Chemicals have been added to the Periodic Table many times over and we learn something new about chemistry every day. Mad scientists everywhere are cackling a little bit on the inside with every laboratory explosion.

However, in the past, not much was known about the poisons that were readily available to nearly any humdrum. Radium, over one million times more radioactive than the same amount of Uranium, was available in pantries and cabinets. Radium was used in candy, for a quick picker-upper. It was used in facial cream for glowing skin. And one can't forget that it was used in paint for watches, switches, and most things people touched. Due to the frequency of contact with the body, there were serious side effects: sores, anemia, bone cancer, just to name a few. It was treated as calcium, getting into the bones to degrade bone marrow and mutate bone cells.

In the Victorian era, arsenic was used to treat the skin, to help improve complexion and make skin paler. Mixed with vinegar and chalk? Sounds almost sinfully delicious! In 1858, there was a whole incident where candy was accidentally made with arsenic: the Bradford Sweets Poisoning. It was purely accidental. After all, what an easy mistake for a pharmacist to confuse "daft" with arsenic?

Chloroform, a chemical that can cause respiratory or cardiac arrest, was used in cough syrups and sedatives. Before ways of detecting chemicals in a corpse, a killer could get away with murder, literally. No chemical treatments to see if there was a scandal afoot.

Now, you may be asking: what makes a good poison? One that is subtle. Subtle like carbon monoxide. It was ranked a major subtle killer from the '20s to present day. At least 500 Americans die annually from carbon monoxide poisoning, particularly due to unventilated heating systems producing the gas. Remember "Snowmaggedon"? Well, carbon monoxide struck again.

Another subtle killer? Cyanide. It attaches to hemogloblin much more efficiently than oxygen, which starves the bloodstream. How do you know when it's hit you? After your death, a sample of your tissue turns blue when mixed with iron sulfate.

Remember to keep your complexion looking good, ladies. We all want that "Radium Glow."