February 3, 2004

Tests have confirmed that a white powder found in a mailroom in Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist’s office is the deadly poison ricin, the Tennessee Republican announced Tuesday. Three Senate office buildings remained closed as other mail was removed for testing. Frist provided updates throughout the afternoon. Here’s background on this poison you can use as you prepare your stories for evening newscasts, websites, and newspapers.

Previous Ricin Cases

On October 15, 2003, an envelope with a threatening note and a sealed container was processed at a mail processing and distribution facility in Greenville, S.C. The note threatened to poison water supplies if demands were not met. The envelope was isolated from workers and other mail and removed from the facility, and an investigation was begun. On October 21, laboratory testing at CDC confirmed that ricin was present in the container. At the time, the Postal Service said, the incident was NOT considered to be an act of “terrorism.”


CBS reported:



A letter inside the package said the author could make much more ricin and will “start dumping” large quantities of the poison if new federal trucking rules went in effect, according to information released by the FBI and other federal agencies Thursday (Jan 8). The rules, which require more rest hours for truck drivers, took effect Jan. 1. The letter, signed “Fallen Angel,” said the author was “a fleet owner of a tanker company.”


Other ricin cases: (from CDC)



  • In 1978, Georgi Markov, a Bulgarian writer and journalist who was living in London, died after he was attacked by a man with an umbrella. The umbrella had been rigged to inject a poison ricin pellet under Markov’s skin.

  • Some reports have indicated that ricin may have been used in the Iran-Iraq war during the 1980s and that quantities of ricin were found in Al Qaeda caves in Afghanistan. Fox News said: “British anti-terror squads seized a small amount of ricin in early January 2003 in northern London and arrested seven men. Recipes to make ricin were reportedly found in Al Qaeda hideouts in Kabul, Afghanistan in November 2001, and traces of the substance were found at suspected Al Qaeda biological weapons sites. Some U.S. supremacist groups have reportedly stockpiled the agent.”

What is Ricin?

Here is background on the castor plant from which ricin is derived (includes pictures). Here is a close-up of the plant leaf.


Here is a quick reference page from Homeland Security.

Reuters explained: “Made from the same castor bean used to make castor oil, ricin is considered a likely biowarfare or bioterrorist agent and is on the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s ‘B’ list of agents — considered a moderate threat.”


The Centers for Disease Control website contains this information:



What ricin is



  • Ricin is a poison that can be made from the waste left over from processing castor beans.

  • It can be in the form of a powder, a mist, or a pellet, or it can be dissolved in water or weak acid.

  • It is a stable substance. For example, it is not affected much by extreme conditions such as very hot or very cold temperatures.

Where ricin is found and how it is used



  • Castor beans are processed throughout the world to make castor oil. Ricin is part of the waste “mash” produced when castor oil is made.

  • Ricin has some potential medical uses, such as bone marrow transplants and cancer treatment (to kill cancer cells).

How you could be exposed to ricin



  • It would take a deliberate act to make ricin and use it to poison people. Accidental exposure to ricin is highly unlikely.

  • People can breathe in ricin mist or powder and be poisoned.

  • Ricin can also get into water or food and then be swallowed.

  • Pellets of ricin, or ricin dissolved in a liquid, can be injected into people’s bodies.

  • Depending on the route of exposure (such as injection), as little as 500 micrograms of ricin could be enough to kill an adult. A 500-microgram dose of ricin would be about the size of the head of a pin. A much greater amount would be needed to kill people if the ricin were inhaled (breathed in) or swallowed.

  • Ricin poisoning is not contagious. It cannot be spread from person to person through casual contact.

How ricin works



  • Ricin works by getting inside the cells of a person’s body and preventing the cells from making the proteins they need. Without the proteins, cells die. Eventually this is harmful to the whole body, and death may occur.

  • Effects of ricin poisoning depend on whether ricin was inhaled, ingested, or injected.

Signs and symptoms of ricin exposure



  • The major symptoms of ricin poisoning depend on the route of exposure and the dose received, though many organs may be affected in severe cases.

  • Initial symptoms of ricin poisoning by inhalation may occur within 8 hours of exposure. Following ingestion of ricin, initial symptoms typically occur in less than 6 hours.

  • Inhalation: Within a few hours of inhaling significant amounts of ricin, the likely symptoms would be respiratory distress (difficulty breathing), fever, cough, nausea, and tightness in the chest. Heavy sweating may follow as well as fluid building up in the lungs (pulmonary edema). This would make breathing even more difficult, and the skin might turn blue. Excess fluid in the lungs would be diagnosed by x-ray or by listening to the chest with a stethoscope. Finally, low blood pressure and respiratory failure may occur, leading to death. In cases of known exposure to ricin, people having respiratory symptoms that started within 12 hours of inhaling ricin should seek medical care.

  • Ingestion: If someone swallows a significant amount of ricin, he or she would develop vomiting and diarrhea that may become bloody. Severe dehydration may be the result, followed by low blood pressure. Other signs or symptoms may include hallucinations, seizures, and blood in the urine. Within several days, the person’s liver, spleen, and kidneys might stop working, and the person could die.

  • Skin and eye exposure: Ricin in the powder or mist form can cause redness and pain of the skin and the eyes.

  • Death from ricin poisoning could take place within 36 to 72 hours of exposure, depending on the route of exposure (inhalation, ingestion, or injection) and the dose received. If death has not occurred in 3 to 5 days, the victim usually recovers.

  • Showing these signs and symptoms does not necessarily mean that a person has been exposed to ricin.

How ricin poisoning is treated


Because no antidote exists for ricin, the most important factor is avoiding ricin exposure in the first place. If exposure cannot be avoided, the most important factor is then getting the ricin off or out of the body as quickly as possible. Ricin poisoning is treated by giving victims supportive medical care to minimize the effects of the poisoning. The types of supportive medical care would depend on several factors, such as the route by which victims were poisoned (that is, whether poisoning was by inhalation, ingestion, or skin or eye exposure). Care could include such measures as helping victims breathe, giving them intravenous fluids (fluids given through a needle inserted into a vein), giving them medications to treat conditions such as seizure and low blood pressure, flushing their stomachs with activated charcoal (if the ricin has been very recently ingested), or washing out their eyes with water if their eyes are irritated.


How you can know whether you have been exposed to ricin



  • If we suspect that people have inhaled ricin, a potential clue would be that a large number of people who had been close to each other suddenly developed fever, cough, and excess fluid in their lungs. These symptoms could be followed by severe breathing problems and possibly death.

  • No widely available, reliable test exists to confirm that a person has been exposed to ricin.
The CDC says that if injected, as little as 500 micrograms of ricin — which would fit on the head of a pin — could kill an adult. Much more would be needed to kill if the ricin were inhaled or swallowed.


Producing Ricin


The CDC says:

Castor bean plants are common outdoor plants that are often used as an ornamental garden plant. They are large shrubs that can grow as high as 12 feet, and have large, deep-green palmate leaves. These plants are native to Africa and common in warm climates worldwide.


Castor beans are light brown and have a mottled appearance. The beans are one-half to 2 cm long and are contained in soft spined, grayish-brown capsules.


More than 1 million tons of castor beans are processed every year worldwide. Castor beans are a commercial source of castor oil, which is extracted from the castor bean and used as an industrial lubricant, as a medical purgative, and as a laxative. Castor oil is also used in pharmaceutical preparations and as an emollient in folk remedies. Castor oil itself contains no ricin. During the preparation of castor oil, the ricin-containing resin portion of the plant is separated from the non-ricin-containing oil portion. The resin is then further treated with heat to inactivate any remaining ricin. Castor bean cakes, the material remaining after oil is removed, are fed to animals as a protein source. Again, remaining ricin is heat inactivated before feeding.


Ricin can be prepared in three different forms: liquid, crystalline, or dry powder. Ricin is water soluble, odorless, tasteless, and stable under ambient conditions.

Support high-integrity, independent journalism that serves truth and democracy. Make a gift to Poynter today. The Poynter Institute is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, and your gift helps us make good journalism better.
Donate
Al Tompkins is one of America's most requested broadcast journalism and multimedia teachers and coaches. After nearly 30 years working as a reporter, photojournalist, producer,…
Al Tompkins

More News

Back to News