Remember when i was a kid on the side of the road, black and bright like little beads, wearing bracelets on my hands and sneaking through it。
A lot of people have played with ricin, but no one knows it's got a deadly toxin。
As an invasive alien plant, the ricin protein in its seeds is 1,000 times more likely to kill adults and children 3 are in danger
In 2015 there was a group poisoning in yunnan shan county: 49 primary school students picked seed from the scabs near the school, and some people thought it was “all right when cooked” and made a large pot for their classmates。
As a result, 23 people who had vomiting, abdominal pain and difficulty in breathing were brought to medical attention before they were rescued, three of them children who spent half a month in a hospital because of their food。
Also, there have been cases abroad of the use of ricin as a “weapons of intimidation”, when a canadian woman wrote it into a letter, sending six letters to the united states, one of which was sent to the white house。
Five were delivered to several officials in texas and the letter sent to the white house was intercepted by the united states mail centre, which conducted a security screening of the letter sent to united states president trump。
The ricin toxin was also made into a “toxic weapon” by humans, and during the first world war and the second world war, countries such as the united states, canada and others applied its toxic characteristics militarily。
1 mg killed! How bad is the invisible killer in the ricin seed
The most dangerous place for ricin is hidden in its black and bright seed -- the ricin toxin, a highly toxic protein that can directly damage human cells, with no specific antidote。
Adult ingestion of 10-15 ricin seeds (approximately 2 mg of toxins) is likely to cause death, children are more sensitive, 1-2 are in danger of life, and infants and young children are likely to suffer from half-particle poisoning。
If it is not carefully eaten, symptoms occur for 3-24 hours after eating, and organ failure is possible for 2-3 days。
The toxicity of ricin is 1,000 times that of arsenic, 300 times that of cyanide, and even if the skin is exposed to broken ricin seeds, the toxin can enter the body through wounds, causing red swelling, itching and severe allergy。
Most of the ricin we planted in our yard when we were kids were artificially selected "industrial varieties," and the toxin content was 30-50 percent lower than the wild ricin。
For example, in xinjiang, in inner mongolia, the ricin plant, which is exclusively grown on low-drugs and used to extract industrial oil, is relatively less dangerous but is still not available。
In 2021, there was a pastoralist in mongolia who mistakenly thought that "planted seed can cure the disease" and cooked 10 grains, and then threw up and down, so that it would be all right in time for the medical treatment。
It's poison, but it's "baby"
Although the ricin toxin is terrible and lethal, it is not without defects, and it is no longer toxic when the temperature rises to 40 degrees。
Although the ricin is toxic, it's not "nothing" and it's "baby" in the right place, in the right way。
The ricin oil in the ricin seed is industrial "smelling." - it has a special attribute: 18°c free of ice, 150°c free of boiling and acid-resistant, non-oxidizing。
It is therefore often used as advanced lubricant for aircraft, ships, paints, paints and even biodiesel。
But industrial ricin oil is “detoxified” and presses with high-temperature pressure plus chemical extraction removes the toxin, and it is absolutely impossible to drink it directly。
And ricin is of practical value in medicine, and in chinese medicine, ricin is also a good drug, but it's “detoxicated ricin” and “paralyte leaf” and must be used under medical guidance。
The ricin (high temperature evaporates after removal from the shell) is free, and the ricin leaves are worn out and the swelling is removed。
Many districts, schools around them, as well as waste slopes, roadsides, still see the shadow of ricin。
Especially when there are children in the family, they must be given the ability to identify the ricin and be careful not to eat the ricin。
If the child accidentally ate the seed, even if he ate one of them, he would not be surprised, he would vomit first and immediately take the child to a doctor。
It's not even a native plant
In fact, it's not a native-born plant in china, but a veritable alien invasive species。
It originated in north-eastern africa and was first introduced into china as a “cash crop” - at the end of the nineteenth century。
When it was introduced into china, it became apparent that it was extremely resilient: drought-resistant, infertile, and even in roadside, wall corner, and wasteland。
And its seeds can spread through animal faeces, currents and even human activity, slowly “runaways” from planted areas to the wild and crowd out the living space of native plants。
What you see now in rural roads and urban wastelands is basically wild-spreading invasive individuals who are listed in china's list of invasive species (third series) as species that need to be warned about。
The ricin spring sows seed in the summer, so that it can grow up to two metres high and the leaves so long that it can “squeal out of food” the surrounding native grass and bushes。
And a ricin can condensate 200-300 shears, each containing three seedlets, which can survive in the earth for more than five years, and can spread in the desert slopes and by the roadside, even if it is left unattended。
Whether it is dry northern or wet southern, it can take root, even in waste dumps, even if the soil is poor and heavily contaminated。
Because of the fast-growing, proliferating and well-adapted nature of ricin, native plant life space is squeezed。
In the mountains of yunnan and guangxi, for example, ricin has spread to the margins of nature reserves, making it difficult for local low-dwarf plants to grow and affecting the habitat of insects and birds。
There are two colours of ricin, one that is more common in life, one that is green, another that is red, and the fruit and leaves are red。
Concluding remarks
One could use the right approach to make ricin provide economic benefits to humanity, with some value in medicine and industry。
But we can't ignore its dual attributes of "invasive + lethal toxin" and now look at the ricin on the side of the road, and perhaps we'll be more vigilant -- not to "kill," but to learn to "rightfully treat."。
Although ricin contains lethal toxins, everything in the biological world is present and has a “diverse character”, depending on whether value is created in the right way。
What do you think about that
