Tox on the Web: sarin, lithium, strychnine, and much more!

  Toxicologist as Man on Couch with Laptop: This video shows a short presentation by Larissa Laskowski a first year fellow at the NYC Poison Control Center, describing the work of Eliot Higgins and the Brown Moses blog. Higgins — an unemployed finance worker several years ago with no knowledge about weapons of warfare — started blogging about the use of different weapons in Syria, and posting online videos appearing on sites such as YouTube that demonstrated use of these weapons. He is now an acknowledge expert in the field. His work led to the identification of sarin as the agent used in the Ghouta chemical attack on August 21, 2013. Dr. Laskowski ends by challenging toxicologists to make use of their knowledge to effect positive change in the outside world. Inspiring stuff. For more on Higgins and Brown Moses, read this story in the Guardian (U.K.). [HT @acmt] Would you like some lithium with that? In a New York Times opinion piece, psychiatrist Anna Fels reviews the evidence suggesting that we’d all be better off if a little lithium were added to our water, soda, and beer. All white powders look alike: The Los Angeles Times reports that a 14-year-old boy in the town of Anderson may be charged after he allegedly gave a white powder to another youth, say it was cocaine. The other youth died after snorting the powder. Subsequent analysis revealed that it was actually strychnine. Must-read: Lake Erie and the Toxic Bloom: In a long story that’s both...
Source: The Poison Review - Category: Toxicology Authors: Tags: Medical albert hoffman brown moses eliot higgins lithium LSD nicotine sarin strychnine syria toledo ohio tox on the web toxic algae Source Type: news