While it’s never been as popular among evildoers as anthrax or other biological agents, ricin, the toxin believed to be contained in at least three letters sent to officials in Washington this week, including the president, is nasty and lethal in its own right. There’s no known antidote, it’s relatively easy to manufacture, and it's deadly in small quantities, rapidly destroying the functioning of the nervous system, with effects similar to sarin.The U.S. government first investigated potential offensive uses of ricin, which can be rendered from a byproduct of castor oil, during World War I as a coating for bullets, and then during World War II for deployment in cluster bombs, but it was never weaponized on a mass scale as the military found other agents more effective. And while doses the size of a grain of salt can kill you, that’s still far bigger than the lethal dosage of agents like anthrax or the toxin that causes botulism.Continue Reading... … Read More
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