Yet negligence persisted. Every year, there were examples, some as shocking as a farmer who, after using a Gramoxone container, washed it and repurposed it as a water bottle. It happened more than once. And despite the washing, traces of paraquat’s toxicity lingered, landing that reckless farmer in the hospital in varying degrees of severity.
There was more. Though less common, suicides also occurred. Seeing the “poison” label on the container, some chose to drink it. This was a different beast altogether, and I certainly wouldn’t recommend it as a suicide method. There are faster, less painful options. Drinking paraquat, even just a sip, tears apart the internal tissues it touches. The emetic might trigger vomiting, but the damage is already done. At the hospital, there’s no specific antidote; the only option is a thorough gastric lavage, followed by a tube delivering a solution of one liter containing 150 g of Fuller’s earth in suspension and 20% mannitol. That’s it. And, of course, pray.
Such was Gramoxone (paraquat), the world’s most widely used herbicide, marketed for farmers to apply “on any weed, at any time, anywhere.” It was easily accessible to anyone.
But over the years, accidents, lack of protection, and overconfidence earned it the nickname “the poison without an antidote.” Many years have passed since then, and you might wonder: “What’s become of it?”
(To be continued…)
There was more. Though less common, suicides also occurred. Seeing the “poison” label on the container, some chose to drink it. This was a different beast altogether, and I certainly wouldn’t recommend it as a suicide method. There are faster, less painful options. Drinking paraquat, even just a sip, tears apart the internal tissues it touches. The emetic might trigger vomiting, but the damage is already done. At the hospital, there’s no specific antidote; the only option is a thorough gastric lavage, followed by a tube delivering a solution of one liter containing 150 g of Fuller’s earth in suspension and 20% mannitol. That’s it. And, of course, pray.
Such was Gramoxone (paraquat), the world’s most widely used herbicide, marketed for farmers to apply “on any weed, at any time, anywhere.” It was easily accessible to anyone.
But over the years, accidents, lack of protection, and overconfidence earned it the nickname “the poison without an antidote.” Many years have passed since then, and you might wonder: “What’s become of it?”
(To be continued…)
A journey through the history of the pharmaceutical industry and one of its great laboratories that had its origins in Alfred Nobel...
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