Department of Emergency Medicine

UMEM Educational Pearls

Title: Ricin - of course

Category: Toxicology

Keywords: Ricin (PubMed Search)

Posted: 4/18/2013 by Fermin Barrueto (Updated: 5/23/2025)
Click here to contact Fermin Barrueto

With recent events, a few notes about ricin seems appropriate:

  1. Easy to make from castor bean though heat labile
  2. No antidote, though Fab like digibind is in development
  3. Granule size of the grain of sand can kill
  4. Inhalation, IM, IV all effective
  5. After immediate exposure likely no symptoms
  6. Vomiting and diarrhea initially, acute lung injury and death in 3-5 days

CDC website: http://www.bt.cdc.gov/agent/ricin/


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