A PROJECT REPORT ON – “PRESENT DAY POISONING SCENARIO AND

ROLE OF CHEMICAL ANALYSIS”

MANIPAL UNIVERSITY JAIPUR

UNDER SUPERVISION OF:- SUBMITTED

BY:-
Dr. V.N MATHUR GAUTAM WARIKOO
GUEST FACULTY 151301032

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 CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that Mr. Gautam Warikoo student of B.A.LL.B (Hons.), Seventh Semester,
School of Law, Manipal University Jaipur has completed the project work entitled “present day
poisoning scenario and role of chemical analysis”, under my supervision and guidance.
It is further certify that the candidate has made sincere efforts for the completion of the project
work.

SUPERVISOR NAME

(Dr. V.N MATHUR)

GUEST FACULTY

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I express deep sense of gratitude and indebtness to our teacher Dr. V.N Mathur under whose
guidance valuable suggestions, constant encouragement and kind supervision the present project
was carried out. I am also grateful to college and faculty of law for their feedback and for
keeping us on schedule.
I also wish my sincere thanks to my friends who helped directly or indirectly by giving their
valuable suggestions.

GAUTAM WARIKOO

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................5
HISTORY OF POISON..................................................................................................................6
ORIGIN OF POISON......................................................................................................................6
INDIA..............................................................................................................................................7
PRESENT DAY..............................................................................................................................7
ROLE OF CHEMICAL ANALYSIS IN PRESENT DAY POISONING SCENARIO.................9
MATERIALS AND METHODS............................................................................................10
PRESENT DAY STUDY.........................................................................................................10
CONCERNS.............................................................................................................................11
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................13
WEBLIOGRAPHY.......................................................................................................................14

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 INTRODUCTION

When human illness results from an unintentional or intentional release of a toxin (chemicals
produced by metabolism in an organism [e.g., ricin]) or a toxicant (natural or synthetic chemicals
not metabolically produced by an organism [e.g., nerve agents]) into the environment, uniform
reporting is necessary to direct appropriate resources, assess the extent of morbidity and
mortality, track poisoned persons, and monitor response to intervention. In this report, CDC
presents case definitions to facilitate uniform reporting among local, state, and federal public
health agencies of illness resulting from a chemical release. The report also explains the rationale
for the structure of the case definitions, the audience for whom it is intended, the setting in which
the case definitions might be used, and reasons each chemical presented in the report was
selected.
Clinical knowledge and diagnostic tools (e.g., biologic laboratory tests) for detecting chemical
poisoning are likely to improve over time. CDC will create new case definitions and revise
existing definitions to meet the needs related to emerging threats and to enhance case definition
sensitivity and specificity, when possible, with developing clinical information.
Toxins are chemicals that are produced by organisms as a result of cellular metabolism (e.g.,
marine toxins such as saxitoxin or plant toxins such as ricin). Toxicants are synthetic (i.e.,
manufactured) or naturally found chemicals that are not produced by organisms as a result of
cellular metabolism (e.g., nerve agents or arsenic). When illness results from an intentional or
unintentional chemical release (either known or suspected on the basis of a credible threat) into
the environment, uniform reporting is paramount to direct appropriate resources, assess the
extent of morbidity and mortality, track poisoned persons, and monitor response to intervention.
In this report, CDC presents case definitions to facilitate uniform reporting of illness resulting
from a chemical (i.e., toxin and toxicant) release.

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 HISTORY OF POISON

The history of poison stretches from before 4500 BC to the present day. Poisons have been used
for many purposes across the span of human existence, most commonly as weapons, anti-
venoms, and medicines. Poison has allowed much progress in branches, toxicology, and
technology, among other sciences.
In Medieval Europe, poison became a more popular form of killing, though cures surfaced for
many of the more widely known poisons. This was stimulated by the increased availability of
poisons; shops known as apothecaries, selling various medicinal wares, were open to the public,
and from there, substances that were traditionally used for curative purposes were employed for
more sinister ends. At approximately the same time, in the Middle East, Arabs developed a form
of arsenic that is odorless and transparent, making the poison difficult to detect. This "poison
epidemic" was also prevalent in parts of Asia at this time, as well.
Over the centuries, the variety of harmful uses of poisons continued to increase. The means for
curing these poisons also advanced in parallel. In the modern world, intentional poisoning is less
common than the Middle Ages. Rather, the more common concern is the risk of accidental
poisoning from everyday substances and products.
Constructive uses for poisons have increased considerably in the modern world. Poisons are now
used as pesticides, disinfectants, cleaning solutions, and preservatives. Nonetheless, poison
continues to be used as a hunting tool in remote parts of developing countries, including Africa,
South America, and Asia.

ORIGIN OF POISON

Archaeological findings prove that while ancient mankind used conventional weapons such as
axes and clubs, and later swords, they sought more subtle, destructive means of causing death—

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something that could be achieved through poison. Grooves for storing or holding poisons such as
tubocurarine have been plainly found in their hunting weapons and tools, showing that early
humans had discovered poisons of varying potency and applied them to their weapons. Some
speculate that this use and existence of these strange and noxious substances was kept secret
within the more important and higher-ranked members of a tribe or clan, and were seen as
emblems of a greater power. This may have also given birth to the concept of the stereotypical
"medicine man" or "witch doctor".
Once the use and danger of poison was realized, it became apparent that something had to be
done. Mithridates VI, King of Pontus (an ancient Hellenistic state of northern Anatolia), from
around 114–63 BC, lived in constant fear of being assassinated through poison. He became a
hard-working pioneer in the search for a cure for poisons. In his position of power, he was able
to test poisons on criminals facing execution, and then if there was a possible antidote. He was
paranoid to the point that he administered daily amounts of poisons in an attempt to make
himself immune to as many poisons as he could. Eventually, he discovered a formula that
combined small portions of dozens of the best-known herbal remedies of the time, which he
named Mithridatium. This was kept secret until his kingdom was invaded by Pompey the Great,
who took it back to Rome. After being defeated by Pompey, Mithridates' antidote prescriptions
and notes of medicinal plants were taken by the Romans and translated into Latin.

INDIA

Indian surgeon Sushruta defined the stages of slow poisoning and the remedies of slow
poisoning. He also mentions antidotes and the use of traditional substances to counter the effects
of poisoning.
Poisoned weapons were used in ancient India, and war tactics in ancient India have references to
poison. A verse in Sanskrit reads "Jalam visravayet sarmavamavisravyam ca dusayet," which
translates to "Waters of wells were to be mixed with poison and thus polluted."
Chānakya (c. 350–283 BC), also known as Kautilya, was adviser and prime minister to the first
Maurya Emperor Chandragupta (c. 340–293 BC). Kautilya suggested employing means such as
seduction, secret use of weapons, and poison for political gain. He also urged detailed
precautions against assassination—tasters for food and elaborate ways to detect poison. In

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addition, the death penalty for violations of royal decrees was frequently administered through
the use of poison.

PRESENT DAY

In the late 20th century, an increasing number of products used for everyday life proved to be
poisonous. The risk of being poisoned nowadays lies more in the accidental factor, where poison
be induced or taken by accident. Poisoning is the 4th most common cause of death within young
people. Accidental ingestions are most common in children less than 5 years old.
However, hospital and emergency facilities are much enhanced compared to the first half of the
20th century and before, and antidotes are more available. Antidotes have been found for many
poisons, and the antidotes for some of the most commonly known poisons are shown in the table
above:
However, poison still exists as a murderous entity today, but it is not as popular form of
conducting murder as it used to be in past times, probably because of the wider range of ways to
kill people and other factors that must be taken into consideration. One of the more recent deaths
by poisoning was that of Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko in 2006 from lethal polonium-
210 radiation poisoning.

Other uses

Today, poison is used for a wider variety of purposes than it used to be. For example, poison can
be used to rid an unwanted infestation by pests or to kill weeds. Such chemicals, known as
pesticides,[ have been known to be used in some form since about 2500 BC. However, the use of
pesticides has increased staggeringly from 1950, and presently approximately 2.5 million tons of
industrial pesticides are used each year. Other poisons can also be used to preserve foods and
building material.

In culture

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Today, in many developing peoples of countries such as certain parts of Africa, South America
and Asia, the use of poison as an actual weapon of hunting and attack still endures.
In Africa, certain arrow poisons are made using floral ingredients, such as of that taken from the
plant Acokanthera. This plant contains ouabain, which is a cardiac glycoside, oleander, and
milkweeds. Poisoned arrows are also still used in the jungle areas of Assam, Burma and
Malaysia. The ingredients for the creation of these poisons are mainly extracted from plants of
the Antiaris, Strychnos and Strophanthus genera, and Antiaris toxicaria (a tree of the mulberry
and breadfruit family), for example, is used in the Java island of Indonesia, as well as several of
its surrounding islands. The juice or liquid extracts are smeared on the head of the arrow, and
inflicts the target paralysis, convulsions and/or cardiac arrest, virtually on strike due to the speed
in which the extracts can affect a victim.

As well as plant based poisons, there are others that are made that are based on animals. For
example, the larva or pupae of a beetle genus of the Northern Kalahari Desert is used to create a
slow-acting poison that can be quite useful when hunting. The beetle itself is applied to the arrow
head, by squeezing the contents of the beetle right onto the head. Plant sap is then mixed and
serves as an adhesive. However, instead of the plant sap, a powder made from the dead,
eviscerated larva can be used.

ROLE OF CHEMICAL ANALYSIS IN PRESENT DAY POISONING

SCENARIO

A Poison is any substance, which when administered to the body through any route, produces ill
health, disease or death while Poisoning refers to the damaging physiologic effects of ingestion,
inhalation, or other exposure to a range of pharmaceuticals, illicit drugs and chemicals, including
pesticides, heavy metals, gases/vapors and common household substances, such as bleach and
ammonia. Death due to poisoning has been known since time immemorial and poisoning
continues to be a major problem all over the world although its type and the associated morbidity
and mortality vary from country to country or even place-to-place in the same country (Sharma
and Singh, 2003). The influence of scientific and technical progress, social factors and personal
lifestyles is hardly more apparent in any other area of medico legal activity than in the specialist

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field of forensic toxicology. For example, the use of heavy metals for the purpose of homicide is
very rarely found these days (Sharma et al., 2002). In their place toxic chemicals have moved
into the foreground and so is the misuse of pharmaceutical drugs or the abuse and addictive use
of narcotic drugs. Deliberate self-poisoning is one of the methods, commonly used in suicides
and suicide attempts.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The present study was conducted at the department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, Govt.
Medical College Hospital, Chandigarh, a tertiary care hospital and referral center for the
adjoining states of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. The subjects of
our study were 712 cases of poisoning out of a total number of 3178 cases of unnatural deaths
subjected to medicolegal autopsy during the period 1996-2005. Autopsy records of those cases,
whose test samples of body tissues, organs and fluids were examined for chemical analysis at
the Forensic Science Laboratory/Chemical Examiner’s laboratory, were included in the study.
Type of the poison consumed was verified from the reports furnished by the Forensic Science
Laboratory/Chemical Examiner. Information regarding age, gender, marital status,
demographics, socio-economic status and type and manner of poison consumed was collected
from the Hospital records and documented versions of relatives of the victim and the
investigating officer at the time of autopsy.

PRESENT DAY STUDY

The present study reveals that out of a total 3178 medicolegal autopsies conducted, poisoning
was responsible for 712 (24%) of the unnatural deaths in Northern India. The percentage of the
poisoning deaths remained steady around 19% during the period 1996-2000 followed by an
abrupt increase to 27% in 2001 and 31% in 2002. This was followed by a decrease to 25% in
2004 and 24% in 2005. Overall, there was a steady increase in the incidence of poisoning from
18% in 1996 to 24% in 2005.

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Young adults belonging to the age group 21 to 25 years constituted the majority 210 (30%) of
victims, followed by the age groups 16 to 20 years (19%), 26 to 30 years (16%) and 31 to 40
years (15%). A significant decrease in the higher age groups 41 to 50 years (10%), 51 to 60 years
(6%) and above 60 years (1%) was observed. Males outnumbered the females, the male: female
ratio being 2: 1.
Aluminum Phosphide in 359 cases was the poison responsible for maximum number of fatalities,
followed by insecticides in 169 cases. Alcohol in 45, corrosives and irritant in 9 and
pharmaceuticals in 7 cases were reported to be responsible for the death. In 70 cases, who were
admitted to the hospital and treated for more than three days as a case of poisoning and whose
blood / urine and/or vomitus sample tested positive for poison during admission, the reports
of chemical analysis of viscera on autopsy did not report any poison. 53 (7%) reports of
the chemical analysis were pending at the time of writing this paper, however, in these cases
also the blood / urine/vomitus had been tested positive for poison.
60% Victims were from rural background of which 68% were males. In the rural category,
39.72% males and 23.59% females were married whereas among the urban victims 27.82%
males and 29.58% females were married.
History recorded at the time of admission to hospital or at the time of autopsy revealed that 669
(94%) of the deaths were suicidal in nature, followed by industrial / occupational accidents, 38
(5%) cases. Homicide accounted for 5 (1%) deaths.

CONCERNS

The incidence of poisoning, intentional or accidental is on the rise despite the best efforts of
legislative, punitive, social and educational machinery to combat this menace (Sharma et al.,
2001). An increase in the percentage of deaths due to poisoning from 18.59% in 1996 to about
25% in 2004 and the maximum incidence (48.45%) in the age group of 16-25 years noticed in
our study are in conformity with the reports of other workers (Bhullar et al., 1996; Meena et al.,
1994; Singh, 1999; Sharma, 1996; Bajaj and Wasir, 1988). The reasons for this trend may be that
the younger age group is most susceptible to the lure of riches-the modern society’s yardstick of
success, as well as, frustration caused by the inability to cope with the highly competitive,
indifferent and materialistic society. Some of the other important reasons are failure in exams or

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love affair, scolding/humiliation by peers and parents, inability to live up to the expectations of
others etc.
According to the report, death rates attributed to unintentional and undetermined poisoning
increased in all 11 states, with an average increase of 145% (range: 28-325%); poisoning
homicide rates were stable and poisoning suicide rates declined.
Countries in the developed and developing world seem to have different priorities in dealing with
the public health problem of poisoning. Yet both seem to be making slow progress and ignoring
common links. These common links indicate that the collaboration would be of immense benefit
to both and that its lack is a needless wasted opportunity. Western nations are most concerned
about terrorist use of chemicals. A major concern is the organophosphate chemical weapons or
nerve gases, such as sarin, tabun and VX, which were developed in the middle of the 20th
century (Lee, 2003). They are extremely toxic, with some causing death within minutes of
exposure. The proportion of people who die in any future attack will depend on the gas used and
the form and level of exposure. Meanwhile the developing world is coping with a largely hidden
tragedy. Poisoning is seldom mentioned as a priority for health research in the developing world.
Yet, in some Asian countries, poisoning is a leading cause of premature death (Eddleston et al.,
1998). Every year, hundreds of thousands of people are dying from pesticide poisoning
(Eddleston, 2000; Phillips et al., 2002). Millions more are being treated in overstretched health
services and a substantial number are left with long-term disability. Research or programs to
tackle the problem of poisoning in developing countries has been insufficient, particularly for
pesticides (Buckley et al., 2004). Organo-phosphate poisoning has been reported as an important
issue for developing countries, accounting for most deaths and disability after exposure to
pesticides (Eddleston et al., 1998).
So, In view of the magnitude of this problem, its impact and its relative neglect so far, three
WHO departments (Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Injuries and Violence Prevention and
the Program on the Promotion of Chemical Safety) recently joined forces to produce an action
proposal entitled The impact of pesticides on health: preventing intentional and unintentional
deaths from pesticide poisoning. This initiative has already received strong support from civil
society and some of the governments (WHO, 2006).

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 CONCLUSION

Agrochemical poisoning is a major public health problem in developing countries particularly in

settings of low education and poor regulatory frameworks. Agrochemical usage, both
agricultural and non-agricultural, has increased substantially in the recent past and so has
increased its misuse to commit suicide. Key to the control of agrochemicals-related morbidity
and mortality is the need for accurate, timely and effective surveillance systems that is effective
and can demonstrate usefulness of the data generated at different levels of policy planning.
Appropriate action at different levels – administrative, social, health-care and research need to
follow reporting of the data.

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 WEBLIOGRAPHY

1. https://scialert.net/fulltextmobile/

2. www.who.int/ipcs/publications/training_poisons/guidelines_poison.../en/index3.html

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