The document discusses various types of poisons including gas, heavy metal, and cyanide poisoning. It provides details on the causes, symptoms, and treatments for each type. Key points include that gas poisoning can cause difficulty breathing and cyanide poisoning stops cellular respiration. The document also defines different types of antidotes including physiological, chemical, and mechanical and provides examples like sodium nitrite, sodium thiosulfate, and activated charcoal which are used to treat specific poisonings.

1. Taufik Mulla
Asst. Professor
Dept. Of Pharmaceutics
SPBC College Of Pharmacy
POISON AND ANTIDOTE

2. POISON
• Word come from French word Puison (drink).
• Poison is any substance administered by mouth, injection, inhalation, skin, cause illness or
some disease or may be death.
• Acute poisoning may be accidental or suicidal or criminal.
• Treatment of poison depend on identification of ingested poisonous substance so we can
choose specific antidote for this.

3. • Types of poisoning :
» Intentional poisoning – a person taking or giving such substance with
intention of causing harm to self or to other. E.g. suicide / assault
» Unintentional poisoning – if person taking or giving such substance
without knowing its side effect. E.g. accidentally
» Undetermined – when the difference between intentional and
unintentional is not clear . E.g. poison due to insecticide or pesticide.

4. • Other causes of poisoning :
» By heavy metal. Happen because of metallic contamination of food and
water by leaching process.
» Overdose of drug
» Intentionally cyanide poison
• Sign and symptoms :
» Reduced breath rate / Muscle cramp
» Nausea / vomit / diarrhea
» Increase or decrease heart rate / Dilation or contraction of pupil

5. GAS POISONING
• Common example is Carbon monoxide. Major hazardous for those who work in chemical
industry or fire fighter.
• Symptoms may occur immediately or after some time. Person looks like in cherry red color
and having difficulty in breath.
• Treatment – turn off supply of poisonous gas. Open windows to allow proper ventilation.
Place victim in fresh air. Loose the cloth of victim and give mouth to mouth respiration. Check
pulse. Give call to doctor to start medication to reduce swelling of respiratory tract of victim.

6. HEAVY METAL POISONING
• It happen because of intake of salt of arsenic, lead, mercury, iron or cadmium.
• Toxic effect depend on content and type of heavy metal. Most deadly form of arsenic
poisoning is arsine gas.
• Arsine interfere with cellular respiration by combining with –SH group of mitochondrial
enzyme.
• Within 30 minute, symptoms occur like metallic taste with odor of garlic.
• Sources of arsenic poison –
» tobacco, seafood, environmental (insecticide), skin contact (linseed oil)
and drinking water.

7. • Symptoms –
» Nausea / Vomiting
» Abdominal pain
» Excessive salivation / Diarrhea
» Headache
» Muscle paralysis / Blindness
» Mental impairment
» Kidney failure

8. • Treatment –
» Laboratory test (tissue examination) as arsenic deposit mainly in nails
and hairs. Blood paralysis (to check serum arsenic level). Urine spot test
(using chelating agent like EDTA). Blood level of arsenic should be 50
microgram/liter
» Gastric lavage . Hemodialysis and chelation therapy to remove arsenic
» Transfusion to replace loss of blood and fluid. Vit. C by i.v.
» Dimercaprol used as chelating agent. Analgesic to remove pain.

9. CYNAID POISONING
• Occur if inhale fumes of hydrocyanic acid. Ingestion of inorganic salt of cyanide or cyanide
releasing substance like cyanamide, cyanogen chloride, peach of apricot, bitter almond,
photographic chemical and silver polishes.
• 300 mg potassium cyanide cause death.
• Types of cyanide –
Cyanide
Gas form Solid form
Hydrogen cyanide Potassium cyanide
Sodium cyanide

10. Sources of Cyanide

12. • Route of poisoning –
» Inhalation of cyanide gas
» Skin absorption
• Injury skin area
• Skin moist with sweat
» Ingestion
• Usually Potassium Cyanide
• Combine with gastric acid and form hydrogen cyanide gas

13. • What happen if cyanide goes in body ?
» Combined with ferric ion of cytochrome oxidase
» Stop respiration
» anoxia

15. • Treatment -
– First aid follow by ABC (Airway / breath / CPR cardio pulmonary resuscitation)
– If cyanide inhale
» Give 100% oxygen
» Give space for clear airway
» antidote

16. – If ingested
» Administer activated charcoal
» Gastric lavage to remove all traces of cyanide from stomach
» Antidote
• Dicobalt edetate 300mg I.V
• Alternative - hydroxocobalamin 5mg I.V
• Sodium thiosulphate 12.5gm I.V.
• Sodium Nitrate 300mg I.V

17. ANTIDOTE
• Antidote are the substance that counteract the effect of poison or neutralize the effect of
poison.
• Classification –
» Physiological antidote
» Chemical antidote
» Mechanical antidote

18. Physiological Antidote
• Also called as antagonist.
• Produce effect opposite to that of poison.
• It used after some traces of poison get absorbed in circulation.
• E.g. sodium nitrate (used in cyanide poisoning) , atropine.

19. Chemical Antidote
• It react by combine with poison and change its chemical nature by converting poison into
inactive or harmless compound.
• E.g. Sodium thiosulphate (convert systemic toxic cyanide to non toxic thiocyanate) , EDTA
(chelating agent in heavy metal poison)

20. Mechanical Antidote
• It act by preventing absorption of poison into body or expel out the poison by emesis or by
urine.
• E.g. activated charcoal (absorb poison before absorption to intestine wall), copper sulphate,
magnesium sulphate.

21. Sodium Nitrite
• Chemical formula – NaNO2 Molecular weight – 69
• Synonym – etinitrit
• Properties –
» Color – yellow or white crystalline powder
» Odor – odorless
» Taste – saline taste
» Solubility – freely soluble in water and less soluble in alcohol

22. • Method of preparation –
It prepared by strongly heating sodium nitrate
2NaNO3 2NaNO2 + O2
• Uses –
– Release smooth muscle of blood vessel
– Used in cyanide poisoning
– Used as anti rust solution to prevent rusting of surgical instrument

23. SODIUM THIOSULPHATE
• Chemical formula – Na2S2O3 Molecular weight – 248.18
• Synonym – anti-chlor
• Properties –
» Color – large transparent crystalline powder
» Odor – odorless
» Taste – tasteless
» Solubility – practically soluble in water and insoluble in alcohol

24. • Method of preparation –
It prepared by boiling sodium sulphite with Sulphur.
Na2SO3 Na2S2O3
Also prepared by passing sulphur dioxide into sodium sulphide solution.
2Na2S + 3SO2 2Na2S2O3 + S

25. • Assay – it is based on iodometric type of titration. Take 0.5gm sample. dissolve it in 20ml water. Solution is
titrate against 0.05M iodine using starch indicator. At end point excess iodine react with starch turning in
blue color.
• Uses –
– Used as antioxidant . Used as a standard titratnt in iodometric analysis
– Used as antidote in cyanide poisoning also in iodine , lead, mercury, bismuth poisoning.
Used as fixer in photographic work.
– In textile industry, used as antichlor in bleaching process. (antichlor is a substance used
to remove excess chlorine)
– Topically used as antifungal

26. ACTIVATED CHARCOAL
• Chemical formula – C Molecular weight – 12.01
• Synonym – activated carbon / active coal / carbon canister
• Properties –
» Color – fine dark greyish or blackish residue powder
» Odor – odorless
» Taste – tasteless
» Solubility – insoluble in water and other solvent

27. • Method of preparation – It prepared by burning wood in absence of air. Collect residue.
• Uses –
– Used as emergency antidote in many type poisoning (lead, cyanide, digitalis, snake bite,
spider bite etc.)
– Used as protective and adsorbent.
– Used as burning fuel
– Used in making gun powder.
– Used as disinfectant
– Used to filter toxin from blood and kidney disease.
– Used to purify blood