Farm1 wrote:

"Martin Brown" wrote in message
Duncan wrote:

but Nicotiana probably kills more than all the other poisonous
plants put
together.

It used to kill the people who smuggled the leaves in olden days
(nasty way to go).

So how did they die, or perhaps more correctly, I mean what was the
cause of death?

To smuggle it sailors wrapped the leaves around their body inside their
clothes. When they sweated profsely on a hot day the nicotine dissolves
slightly and crosses into the body. Death by nicotine poisoning is very
unpleasant. Tobacco pickers often suffer a milder form of nicotine
poisoning - I think it targets the central nervous system.

It used to be used as an insecticide in the old days but these days is
considered too toxic in mammals (and can harbour tobacco mosaic virus -
which will infect many other plants)..

You can extract LD50 of nicotine from a couple of cigarettes with the
right solvents. On toxicological grounds you would not sell tobacco to
the general public if it was discovered today. And as for smoking the
stuff - in theory at a chemical plant you should fill in a hazardous
experiment form each time before lighting up (for doing an experiment
that will synthesise and release known carcinogens into the
environment).

Regards,
Martin Brown