Lexitoxin: A Deadly Biological Weapon

2. Using the atom and bond library below, construct the following molecule. It may be

In chapter 1 titled “Chloroform (CHCI3 )” of The Poisoner’s Handbook by Deborah Blum, the most interesting story developed within the chapter was the unsolved mystery of eight deaths in a refuge called Odd Fellows Home. Frederic Mors, who claimed to be responsible for all these eight murders, confessed his own guilt in front of the district attorneys. As it was said, “To prove that these elderly residents had been poisoned, they needed solid evidence. [Rumors, suspicions, and anecdotes, a confession by a suspect who might just be crazy, weren’t enough to charge a man with murder.]” (Blum 13).

The “Philadelphia Poison Ring” in 1938 was caused by two people, cousins that were career criminals from Philadelphia. The leader was Herman Petrillo, but his cousin Paul Petrillo was also highly involved. Paul was known for insurance scams his entire life, and another cousin named Morris Bobler also joined and was highly involved in the process. Herman and Paul Petrillo were the two people responsible for this as they were convicted of 70 murders. Some being drownings and most being poisonings. The two cousins immigrated into the United States from Italy in 1910, and as soon as they showed up started criminal activity. The criminal activity started with small things such as theft, however the crimes grew darker and more serious until they committed their first murder in 1931. It all started with an insurance scam business, and how it worked was the business would take widows and find them new husbands were they would then be given their life insurance. The company would take it upon themselves to kill the new husbands so that the wifes can get their life insurance. Almost all of the husbands were killed with arsenic, which is an element that either is used alone or combined with an inorganic substance makes it deadly to almost any biological system. The symptoms of arsenic poisoning contain abdominal pains, destruction of red blood cells, shock, or a quick death. I could not find how the arsenic got into their victims bodies but on the toxicology

2. Describe the three different types of bonds, providing examples of molecules formed through each type of bond. (3 points) Covalent bond, methane. Ionic bond, table salt. Hydrogen bond, water.

Mysterious white powder carrying the anthrax/ricin bacillus could result in "inhalation anthrax," which is nearly always fatal without treatment (Grabenstein, 2003, p. 714). Due to the use of ricin in the past and the real threat of its use in the future, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services commissioned a report outlining an effective response to both "overt" (e.g., white powder in an

A covalent bond is a bond that occurs when atoms in a molecule share a pair of electrons. For example, “the atoms in sugar do not form ions; instead, they are held together because of shared electrons.”

As Ms CD has frequent episodes of diarrhoea, a stool test should be done to check for the presence of Clostridium Difficile toxins in the stool. The toxins are used to diagnose antibiotic-associated diarrhoea and pseudomembranous colitis caused by C. diff (Labtestsonline.org.uk, 2016).

Also, the anthrax spores can take between 1 - 60 days to begin to germinate in the body.

In the 19th century a group of people know as the Poison Squad began testing these chemicals by consume these products in order to find out how these substances affected the human body; their results were very alarming. From the testing or the Meat Inspection Act and the Food and Drug Act, which

It seems to me that the most realistic threat to our nation is that of a Biological Weapon [BW].

Before the atoms are bonded, the single, non-bonded pairs of electrons are called lone pairs of electrons. When the atoms combine by means of covalent bonding they form molecules. Simple covalent compounds consist of many small molecules. The covalent bonds within the molecules are strong but the bondings between them to form the compounds are relatively weak, the force that occurs between them is called the intermolecular force.

On April 1915, The first poison gas attack began when the German forces shocked the Allied forces along the Western Front by firing more than 150 tonnes of lethal chlorine gas against two French colonial divisions at Ypres, Belgium (History.com Staff, 2010). Poison gas was the most feared of all weapons in World War One. Poison gas was used in the trenches even when there was no attack going on. If a Soldiers got trapped with poison gas, it would mean that soldiers have to put a crude gas mask (Figure 1) on because it helped protect the soldiers from inhaling airborne pollutants and toxic gases. Poison gas can leave the victim in agony for days and weeks before they succumbed to their injuries.

Anthrax is not your common disease. It does not cause a simple cough or a small upset stomach. It doesn’t pass in the air from human to human. It is a tedious almost undetectable disease that has plagued the lives of many. Anthrax has been a major factor in human history, although the disease doesn’t always hit the race first. Anthrax is mainly caused by herbivore’s that graze in infected land. The plagues that were written in Exodus may have been anthrax in domesticated animals followed by the disease spreading to humans. The disease that was described in Virgil’s Georgics was more than likely anthrax in domesticated and wild animals. During the 16th to the 18th centuries in Europe, anthrax was an extremely economically important disease that affected agriculture. So in short anthrax has been around for quite some time, but even today it imposes a threat to the human race because of it’s ability to be one of the most dangerous bioterrorist weapons used.

poison called Bacillus Thuringitesis (BT) toxin in every cell and every bite of it. Although the biotech seed companies like Monsanto claim that their genetically modified organisms (GM) are harmless, that 's not what the independent scientists are finding” in their researches (Smith, 2015, n.p).

Breathe in and it could have been your last breath! Ricin, staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB), botulinum toxin, T-2 mycotoxin, anthrax, brucellosis, cholera, pneumonic plague, tularemia, Q fever, smallpox, glanders, Venezuelan equine encephalitis, and viral hemorrhagic fever have one thing in common. The ability to be used as a biological weapon. Biological weapons when used are the unnecessary killing of men, women and even children and should be a practice that is not used.