Ricinus communis Castor bean plant The castor bean plant known as Ricinus communis is native to Africa but is found in warm climates all over the world Used as a decorative garden plant due to vibrant colors and beautiful leaves ID: 704379
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RICINAgent Specific TrainingSlide2
Ricinus communisCastor bean plant
The castor bean plant known as
Ricinus
communis is native to Africa, but is found in warm climates all over the world.Used as a decorative garden plant due to vibrant colors and beautiful leaves.
Plant contains both female flowers and male flowers on the same plant.
The white male flowers release pollen in a gust of wind and actually “smokes” as it releases its pollen.
The spiny female ovary develops into a bright red structure with feathery branches that receive the pollen.The spiny fruit capsule matures and eventually splits into 3 carpels, each containing a seed, which is expelled when the carpel splits. Slide3
WHERE DOES RICIN COME FROM?
Ricin can be found in all parts of the castor bean plant, but most concentrated in the beans and the mash that remains after processing for castor oil.
Castor oil does not contain ricin. The waste mash that remains after processing the castor bean contains 5% ricin by weight, which is easily extracted from the meal.
By the way, castor oil is used in paints and varnishes, beauty products such as lotions and hair conditioners, nylon fabric and it makes an excellent racing oil for high powered engines.
Castor oil has been also been used as a laxative, insect repellant and fertilizer. Slide4
TOXICITY OF RICINRicin is one of the most deadly natural poisons.
A dose of ricin weighing just 70 µg (2 millionth of an ounce and equivalent to 1 grain of table salt) is enough to kill a 160 pound person.
Weight per weight, ricin is 6,000 x more poisonous than cyanide and 12,000 x more poisonous than rattlesnake venom.
As few as 4 ingested seeds can cause death in an adult with lesser amounts resulting in poisoning symptoms. And just one seed can kill a child.Slide5
HOW IT WORKS
Ricin causes toxicity by inhibiting the formation of proteins in cells, causing cell death.
The ricin molecule is made of an A-chain
and a B-chain linked by a disulfide bond.
B-chain
binds the toxin to the cells, then the
A-chain enters and kills the cell.Both chains must be present to cause toxicity.Slide6
TYPES OF EXPOSURE
Most
reported cases of ricin
intoxication are intentional.
Accidental
poisoning can also occur and is most often due to children eating or chewing castor beans from the decorative house plant.
It has also been noted that accidental inhalation/ingestion of ricin toxin has occurred by jewelry makers who boil the seeds to soften their hard seed coat.Slide7
SIGNS & SYMPTOMS
INGESTIONNausea/vomitingDiarrhea
Abdominal painGenerally less toxic than inhalation, but could progress within 6 hours to severe GI symptoms, vascular collapse and death within 3-5 days.
INHALATIONChest tightness
Cough
Weakness
Sudden onset nasal/throat congestionItchingIf significant exposure, severe respiratory symptoms could develop within 8 hours, leading to acute hypoxia, respiratory failure and death within 36-72 hours.Slide8
SIGNS & SYMPTOMS
INJECTIONAt low doses
- flu-like symptoms, body aches, nausea and vomiting- localized pain/swelling at injection site
Significant exposure - GI bleeding - tissue death
- widespread organ failure
EYE /SKIN ABSORPTION
Ricin dust exposed to the eye can cause delayed localized inflammatory lesions within 2/more hours.Any contact with ricin to the skin, eyes, lungs or moist linings of body cavities can cause severe irritation, inflammation and internal bleeding leading to death within 3-5 days.Slide9
TREATMENT following exposureNo treatment, supportive care only
No vaccine No prophylactic antitoxin
Charcoal lavage has been suggested for ingestion of a large amount of
ricin if it can be done within 1 hour of ingestion; however, another source stated that charcoal lavage
is of little value for large molecules such as
ricin
.Slide10
THREAT ASSESSMENTMore than 750 cases of ricin intoxication have been described since ancient times.
Readily available
InexpensiveEasy to produceStable in aerosolized form
Odorless, tasteless Notoriety via the mediaAll these facts give
ricin
it’s high terrorist potential for use as a
biothreat agent.Slide11
TestingThe LRN laboratory testing protocol utilizes Time-resolved fluorescence (TRF) immunoassay to detect the presence of ricin toxin in a sample.
TRF is essentially a solid-phase, non-competitive, “sandwich” ELISA.
Direct immobilization of excess capture antibody to the wells of a polystyrene microtiter plate is achieved through a biotin-streptavidin interaction. The antigen (toxins, proteins, peptides, bacteria or viruses) and the detector antibody are then incubated with the immobilized capture antibody. Once the immunoreaction between the antigen and the detector antibody has taken place, the excess detector antibody is washed away. An enhancement
solution and a detergent is then added to the plate. The low pH (2-3) buffer interacts with the label producing a chelate with high intensity fluorescence. Slide12
DECONTAMINATIONClean surfaces with a 0.5% sodium
hypochlorite solution with a 30-minute contact time.
0.5% = 1 part household bleach + 9 parts water
Avoid clean-up methods that generate aerosols.Wear appropriate PPE, including PAPRs, chemical resistant clothing and nitrile gloves.