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Poisoning

Poisoning Overview

If you or someone you know has swallowed or breathed in a poison, and you or they have serious signs or symptoms (nausea, vomiting, pain, trouble breathing, seizure, confusion, or abnormal skin color), then you must either call an ambulance for transport to a hospital emergency department or call a poison control center for guidance. The National Poison Control Center phone number in the U.S. is 1-800-222-1222.

If the person has no symptoms but has taken a potentially dangerous poison, you should also call a poison control center or go to the nearest emergency department for an evaluation.

Poison is anything that kills or injures through its chemical actions. Most poisons are swallowed (ingested). The word poison comes from the Latin word - potare - meaning to drink. But poisons can also enter the body in other ways:

  • By breathing

  • Through the skin

  • By IV injection

  • From exposure to radiation

  • Venom from a snake bite



Next: Poisoning Causes »

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Poisoning

Risk of Exposure

Injury from chemical weapon agents, known as CWAs, may result from industrial accidents, military stockpiling, war, or a terrorist attack.

Industrial accidents are a significant potential source of exposure to chemical agents. Chemicals such as phosgene, cyanide, anhydrous ammonia, and chlorine are used widely. These chemicals are frequently transported by industry. The accidental release of a methylisocyanate cloud (composed of phosgene and isocyanate) was implicated in the Bhopal, India, disaster in 1984.

  • Chemical weapons first were used in 1915, when the German military released 168 tons of chlorine gas at Ypres, Belgium, killing an estimated 5,000 Allied troops.

  • Two years later, the same battlefields saw the first deployment of sulfur mustard. Sulfur mustard was the major cause of chemical casualties in World War I.

  • CWAs have been used in at least 12 conflicts since, includin...

Read the Chemical Warfare article »



Read What Your Physician is Reading on eMedicine

Food Poisoning »

Food poisoning is defined as an illness caused by the consumption of food or water contaminated with bacteria and/or their toxins, parasites, viruses, or chemicals.

Read More on eMedicine »

Medical Dictionary