What is poison: Definition and 16 Discussions

Poison is a chemical substance that has a detrimental effect to life. The term is used in a wide range of scientific fields and industries, where it is often specifically defined. It may also be applied colloquially or figuratively, with a broad sense.
Whether something is considered a poison may change depending on the amount, the circumstances, and what living things are present. Poisoning could be accidental or deliberate, and if the cause can be identified there may be ways to neutralise the effects or minimise the symptoms.
In biology, a poison is a chemical substance causing death, injury or harm to organisms or their parts. In medicine, poisons are a kind of toxin that are delivered passively, not actively. In industry the term may be negative, something to be removed to make a thing safe, or positive, an agent to limit unwanted pests. In ecological terms, poisons introduced into the environment can later cause unwanted effects elsewhere, or in other parts of the food chain.

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  1. G

    MCNP6 BURN -- Testing about burnable poison depletion

    Hello, I'm testing about burnable poison depletion with mcnp6. I'm using m1 92233.82c -7.91619E-01 90232.82c -8.75802E-02 8016.82c -1.20800E-01 for fuel and m12 64152.82c -1.39023E-03 $ gd-152 64154.82c -1.53529E-02 $ gd-154...
  2. C

    Do both the oxide & oxygenless ammonia combine with bleach to make poison?

    Is it just that both versions: Hydrochloric acid [H+(aq) Cl−(aq) or H3O+ Cl−], also known as muriatic acid Are always in solution? Or does only one or both combine with bleach to create that fatal poison?
  3. jedishrfu

    Useful Resource for Poison Mushroom Identification

    https://www.vox.com/down-to-earth/22800793/mushroom-plant-poison-facebook-help-dog-pet
  4. Addez123

    Conditional probability of dying from eating a poison fruit

    Summary:: There's 11 fruits, 3 of which is poisionous. A guy eats 4 of them, a girl eats 6 and a dog gets the last one. What is the conditional probability of both the girl and guy dying IF the dog made it? One fruit is enough to kill you. $$P(dog lives) = 8/11$$ $$P(allPeopleDie | dog...
  5. K

    How does the dose of a chemical affect its toxicity?

    Hi all It's said, the dose makes the poison, which is easy to understand. Under enough dose, the chemical would not cause harmful effects to us. However, when it's under dose, the toxin chemical is still there, even the amount is not much, how would our body handle the chemical ? Would it...
  6. mfb

    Just add poison: Bacteria outperform plants in efficiency

    The authors call them "cyborg bacteria", but as far as I can see they didn't change the bacteria artificially, they just put them in unusual conditions, including poison. They used bacteria that get rid of poisonous substances (such as cadmium) by forming crystals out of them. Under the right...
  7. D

    Working out young's modulus and Poison ratio

    I have a question wondering if you guys could check over for me . I have a solution no sure on its accuracy! the question is in two parts a bar has a 25mm diameter and is subjected to a tensile force of 61Kn, the extension on a gauge length of 50mm is 0.1mm. calculate the youngs modulus in...
  8. azizlwl

    There is a kingdom where if a person drinks poison he will die. The

    There is a kingdom where if a person drinks poison he will die. The only way to counteract the poison is to drink a stronger one. Then the reaction stops. The king decides that he must have the strongest poison available in his possession. So, he sets up a contest between his court adviser and...
  9. V

    Is Iron the Ultimate Killer of Stars?

    How Iron is poison for a star. I have not read this thing in my course book. Today I was watching Discovery channel. there was a show on stars which describe this. I think this is related to binding energy per nucleon of Iron which is highest of all.(I am not sure it is just an Idea)
  10. M

    Xenon Poisoning: Decay & First Order Diff. Eqns

    whats the concentration when the reactor is not able to be turned back on without waiting for the xenon to decay and how does this relate to the first order differential equations of the decay of iodine and xenon.
  11. A

    Poison in cellular respiration.

    When a poison such as cyanide blocks the electron transport chain during cellular respiration, glycolysis and the krebs cycle soon grind to halt as well. Which of the following is the best explanation for this? a) A high level of NADH is present in the cell. b) the uptake of oxygen stops...
  12. Ivan Seeking

    Is Your Pet's Food Safe? A Look at Recent Recalls and Alternatives

    http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/03/23/pet.food.recall.ap/index.html?eref=rss_topstories
  13. hypatia

    Is non-stick cookware releasing harmful toxins into our food and air?

    In two to five minutes on a conventional stovetop, cookware coated with Teflon and other non-stick surfaces can exceed temperatures at which the coating breaks apart and emits toxic particles and gases linked to hundreds, perhaps thousands, of pet bird deaths and an unknown number of human...
  14. LeonhardEuler

    Evolution of Poison: How Ladybugs Gained a Defensive Trait

    I was just thinking today that I remember hearing that some insects like ladybugs and monarch butterflies are poisonous to birds that eat them. I got around to wondering how such a trait could evolve. The thing is that, while I see how being poisonous is advantageous to ladybugs in general, I...
  15. A

    Can Leaving Green Tea Out Overnight Poison You?

    i've heard that if you leave green tea out overnight, it'll become poisonious. is that true?
  16. S

    Finding the Poison Bottle: 1023 Bottles, 10 Sacrifices

    I've mentioned this before, but that thread was moved to homework, so I'll put it here again: There are 1023 bottles. One out of them is a poison bottle. You have ten persons who can be sacrificed for the purpose. Find the poison bottle in a systematical way. Hint:Use the unique property of...
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