"recommends 14 elixir formulas he found successful, most of which seem poisonous, containing mercury and lead, if not arsenic, as ingredients (Needham et al. 1976: 133). Sun's medical c. 659 ""Qianjin yifang"" 千金要方 (Supplement to the Thousand Golden Remedies) categorically states that mercury, realgar, orpiment, sulphur, gold, silver, and vitriol are poisonous, but prescribed them in much larger amounts for elixirs than for medicines. In contrast to drinking soluble arsenic (as in groundwater), when powdered arsenic is eaten ""astonishing degrees of tolerance can be achieved"", and Sun Simiao might have thought that when human beings reached to a level ""approaching"
"disagreeable odor. Hydrogen sulfide quickly deadens the sense of smell and a victim may breathe increasing quantities without noticing the increase until severe symptoms cause death. Dissolved sulfide and hydrosulfide salts are toxic by the same mechanism. Sulfur Sulfur or sulphur is a chemical element with symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent, and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with a chemical formula S. Elemental sulfur is a bright yellow crystalline solid at room temperature. Chemically, sulfur reacts with all elements except for gold, platinum, iridium, tellurium, and the noble gases. Sulfur"
"turn yellow due to the presence of sulfur. It is violently oxidized by nitric acid and will releases hydrogen cyanide gas after contact with acid, which is toxic. High amounts of heat such as that produces in a house fire will releases sulfur dioxide gas, also toxic. Like other metal cyanides, Lead thiocyanate explodes on heating when mixed with sodium nitrite. Skin and eye irritant, can induce lead poisoning by ingestion or inhalation. Symptoms include gastrointestinal disorders, irritation of digestive tract, leg cramps, muscle weakness, paresthesia. High doses can result in coma or death. Symptoms present in 1 to 2"
"Pararealgar Pararealgar is an arsenic sulfide mineral with the chemical formula AsS also represented as AsS. It forms gradually from realgar under exposure to light. Its name derives from the fact that its elemental composition is identical to realgar, AsS. It is soft with a Mohs hardness of 1 - 1.5, is yellow orange in colour, and its monoclinic prismatic crystals are very brittle, easily crumbling to powder. It is one of the sulfides of arsenic and is one of two isomers of AsS. It forms upon exposure of the symmetrical isomer to light. Its name derives from the fact"
"with the deadly toxin. Cinnabar Cinnabar () and cinnabarite (), likely deriving from the (""kinnabari""), refer to the common bright scarlet to brick-red form of mercury(II) sulfide (HgS) that is the most common source ore for refining elemental mercury, and is the historic source for the brilliant red or scarlet pigment termed vermilion and associated red mercury pigments. Cinnabar generally occurs as a vein-filling mineral associated with recent volcanic activity and alkaline hot springs. The mineral resembles quartz in symmetry and in its exhibiting birefringence; cinnabar has a mean refractive index of approximately 3.2, a hardness between 2.0 and 2.5,"
"Sulfuric acid Sulfuric acid (alternative spelling sulphuric acid), also known as vitriol, is a mineral acid composed of the elements sulfur, oxygen and hydrogen, with molecular formula HSO. It is a colorless, odorless, and syrupy liquid that is soluble in water, in a reaction that is highly exothermic. Its corrosiveness can be mainly ascribed to its strong acidic nature, and, if at a high concentration, its dehydrating and oxidizing properties. It is also hygroscopic, readily absorbing water vapor from the air. Upon contact, sulfuric acid can cause severe chemical burns and even secondary thermal burns; it is very dangerous even"
"yellow and S is red. Treatment of sulfur with hydrogen gives hydrogen sulfide. When dissolved in water, hydrogen sulfide is mildly acidic: Hydrogen sulfide gas and the hydrosulfide anion are extremely toxic to mammals, due to their inhibition of the oxygen-carrying capacity of hemoglobin and certain cytochromes in a manner analogous to cyanide and azide (see below, under ""precautions""). Reduction of elemental sulfur gives polysulfides, which consist of chains of sulfur atoms terminated with S centers: This reaction highlights a distinctive property of sulfur: its ability to catenate (bind to itself by formation of chains). Protonation of these polysulfide anions"
"agents. Its principal component is potassium bicarbonate (78–82% by weight), with addition of sodium bicarbonate (12–15%), mica (1–3%), Fuller's earth (1–3%), amorphous silica (0.2–%), and is made hydrophobic by methyl hydrogen polysiloxane (0.2–1%). Purple-K is normally non-toxic, but ingestion of large amount can cause alkalosis. In high temperatures (891 °C), it's main component, potassium bicarbonate, decomposes to carbon dioxide and potassium oxide, the last product is highly corrosive. Purple-K is commonly used in oil refineries, airport ramps, service stations, military facilities, naval warships, power plants, and other places where large volumes of flammable liquids are handled. It is often paired"
"of the other three atoms by a single bond. This unstable allotrope, being molecular, is the most volatile, least dense, and most toxic. Solid yellow arsenic is produced by rapid cooling of arsenic vapor, . It is rapidly transformed into gray arsenic by light. The yellow form has a density of 1.97 g/cm. Black arsenic is similar in structure to black phosphorus. Black arsenic can also be formed by cooling vapor at around 100–220 °C. It is glassy and brittle. It is also a poor electrical conductor. Arsenic occurs in nature as a monoisotopic element, composed of one stable isotope,"
"combining aromatic compounds and sulfur sources. The most important member of the class is Sulfur Black 1. It is produced by the reaction of 2,4-dinitrophenol and sodium sulfide in hot water. Like many sulfur dyes, details on the chemical reactions are poorly understood. It is accepted that the sulfide reduces the nitro groups to aniline derivatives, which are thought to form indophenol-containing intermediates that are further crosslinked by reaction with sulfur. The result are insoluble, high molecular weight species. Sulfur Black 1 is imperfectly understood, and the material is probably heterogeneous. It is speculated to be a polymer consisting of"
"Arsenic trisulfide Arsenic trisulfide is the inorganic compound with the formula AsS. It is a bright yellow solid that is insoluble in water. It also occurs as the mineral orpiment (Latin: auripigment), which has been used as a pigment called King's yellow. It is produced in the analysis of arsenic compounds. It is a group V/VI, intrinsic p-type semiconductor and exhibits photo-induced phase-change properties. The other principal arsenic sulfide is AsS, a red-orange solid known as the mineral realgar. AsS occurs both in crystalline and amorphous forms. Both forms feature polymeric structures consisting of trigonal pyramidal As(III) centres linked by"
"Orpiment Orpiment is a deep orange-yellow colored arsenic sulfide mineral with formula . It is found in volcanic fumaroles, low temperature hydrothermal veins, and hot springs and is formed both by sublimation and as a byproduct of the decay of another arsenic mineral, realgar. It takes its name from the Latin ""auripigmentum"" (""aurum"" − gold + ""pigmentum"" − pigment) because of its deep-yellow color. Orpiment was traded in the Roman Empire and was used as a medicine in China even though it is very toxic. It has been used as a fly poison and to tip arrows with poison. Because"
"a pale yellow non-edible oil, called ""argemone oil"" or ""katkar oil"", which contains the toxic alkaloids sanguinarine and dihydrosanguinarine. Four quaternary isoquinoline alkaloids, dehydrocorydalmine, jatrorrhizine, columbamine, and oxyberberine, have been isolated from the whole plant of ""Argemone mexicana"". The seed pods secrete a pale yellow latex when cut open. This argemone resin contains berberine and protopine. The seeds resemble the seeds of ""Brassica nigra"" (mustard). As a result, mustard can be adulterated by argemone seeds, rendering it poisonous. Several significant instances of katkar poisoning have been reported in India, Fiji, South Africa and other countries. The last major outbreak in"
"in hydrothermal veins. It also occurs as a result of mine or coal seam fires. Arsenolite Arsenolite is an arsenic mineral, chemical formula AsO. It is formed as an oxidation product of arsenic sulfides. Commonly found as small octahedra it is white, but impurities of realgar or orpiment may give it a pink or yellow hue. It can be associated with its dimorph claudetite (a monoclinic form of AsO) as well as realgar (AsS), orpiment (AsS) and erythrite, Co(AsO)·8HO. Arsenolite belongs to the minerals which are highly toxic. It was first described in 1854 for an occurrence in the St"
"Mercury (element) Mercury is a chemical element with symbol Hg and atomic number 80. It is commonly known as quicksilver and was formerly named hydrargyrum ( ). A heavy, silvery d-block element, mercury is the only metallic element that is liquid at standard conditions for temperature and pressure; the only other element that is liquid under these conditions is bromine, though metals such as caesium, gallium, and rubidium melt just above room temperature. Mercury occurs in deposits throughout the world mostly as cinnabar (mercuric sulfide). The red pigment vermilion is obtained by grinding natural cinnabar or synthetic mercuric sulfide. Mercury"
"States' Environmental Protection Agency states that all forms of arsenic are a serious risk to human health. The United States' Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry ranked arsenic as number 1 in its 2001 Priority List of Hazardous Substances at Superfund sites. Arsenic is classified as a Group-A carcinogen. The three most common arsenic allotropes are gray, yellow, and black arsenic, with gray being the most common. Gray arsenic (α-As, space group Rm No. 166) adopts a double-layered structure consisting of many interlocked, ruffled, six-membered rings. Because of weak bonding between the layers, gray arsenic is brittle and has"
"state. Common indicators are cobalt(II) chloride and methyl violet. Cobalt (II) chloride is deep blue when dry and pink when wet, but it is toxic and carcinogenic, and was reclassified by the European Union in July 2000 as a toxic material. Methyl violet can be formulated to change from orange to green, or orange to colorless. It is also toxic and potentially carcinogenic, but is safe enough to have medicinal uses. Silica gel is non-toxic, non-flammable, and non-reactive and stable with ordinary usage. It will react with hydrogen fluoride, fluorine, oxygen difluoride, chlorine trifluoride, strong acids, strong bases, and oxidizers."
"the bond dipole moments cancel each other out. Aluminum chloride is a neurotoxin. Anhydrous AlCl reacts vigorously with bases, so suitable precautions are required. It can cause irritation to the eyes, skin, and the respiratory system if inhaled or on contact. Aluminium chloride Aluminium chloride (AlCl) is the main compound of aluminium and chlorine. It is white, but samples are often contaminated with iron(III) chloride, giving it a yellow color. The solid has a low melting and boiling point. It is mainly produced and consumed in the production of aluminium metal, but large amounts are also used in other areas"
"Mercury(I) sulfate Mercury(I) sulfate, commonly called mercurous sulphate (UK) or mercurous sulfate (US) is the chemical compound HgSO. Mercury(I) sulfate is a metallic compound that is white, pale yellow or beige powder. It is a metallic salt of sulfuric acid formed by replacing both hydrogen atoms with mercury(I). It is highly toxic; it could be fatal if inhaled, ingested, or absorbed by skin. The crystal structure of mercurous sulfate is made up of Hg dumbbells and SO anions as main building units. Hg dumbbell is surrounded by four Oxygen atoms with Hg₋O distance ranging from 2.23 to 2.93 Å, whereas"
"Juglone Juglone, also called 5-hydroxy-1,4-naphthalenedione (IUPAC) is an organic compound with the molecular formula CHO. In the food industry, juglone is also known as C.I. Natural Brown 7 and C.I. 75500. It is insoluble in benzene but soluble in dioxane, from which it crystallizes as yellow needles. It is an isomer of lawsone, which is the staining compound in the henna leaf. Juglone occurs naturally in the leaves, roots, husks, fruit (the epicarp), and bark of plants in the Juglandaceae family, particularly the black walnut (""Juglans nigra""), and is toxic or growth-stunting to many types of plants. It is sometimes"
"Sarin Sarin (), or NATO designation GB (G-series, ""B""), is an extremely toxic synthetic organophosphorus compound. A colorless, odorless liquid, it is used as a chemical weapon due to its extreme potency as a nerve agent. Exposure is lethal even at very low concentrations, where death can occur within one to ten minutes after direct inhalation of a lethal dose, due to suffocation from lung muscle paralysis, unless antidotes are quickly administered. People who absorb a non-lethal dose, but do not receive immediate medical treatment, may suffer permanent neurological damage. Sarin is generally considered a weapon of mass destruction. Production"
"it is considered critically endangered. The fungus is usually classified as inedible in guidebooks, although there have been reports of poisoning. Symptoms are predominantly gastrointestinal with some neurological. Tricholoma sulphureum Tricholoma sulphureum, also known as sulphur knight or gas agaric, is an inedible or mildly poisonous mushroom found in woodlands in Europe. It has a distinctive bright yellow colour and an unusual smell likened to coal gas. It occurs in deciduous woodlands in Europe from spring to autumn. ""Tricholoma sulphureum"" was first described in 1784 by the French botanist Pierre Bulliard and given the name ""Agaricus sulphureus"", before being placed"
"toxic than pure antimony. Bismuth itself is largely nontoxic, although consuming too much of it can damage the liver. Only one person has ever been reported to have died from bismuth poisoning. However, consumption of soluble bismuth salts can turn a person's gums black. Pnictogen A pnictogen is one of the chemical elements in group 15 of the periodic table. This group is also known as the nitrogen family. It consists of the elements nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), arsenic (As), antimony (Sb), bismuth (Bi), and perhaps the chemically uncharacterized synthetic element moscovium (Mc). In modern IUPAC notation, it is called"
"to carbon monoxide in that it is a gas which strongly binds to iron in hemoglobin, preventing the blood from absorbing oxygen. PF is highly toxic, comparable to phosgene. Phosphorus trifluoride Phosphorus trifluoride (formula PF), is a colorless and odorless gas. It is highly toxic and reacts slowly with water. Its main use is as a ligand in metal complexes. As a ligand, it parallels carbon monoxide in metal carbonyls, and indeed its toxicity is due to its binding with the iron in blood hemoglobin in a similar way to carbon monoxide. Phosphorus trifluoride has an F−P−F bond angle of"
"OH group. This test can be used to detect the presence of gamma-hydroxybutyric acid and gamma-butyrolactone, which cause it to turn red-brown. Iron(III) chloride is harmful, highly corrosive and acidic. The anhydrous material is a powerful dehydrating agent. Although reports of poisoning in humans are rare, ingestion of ferric chloride can result in serious morbidity and mortality. Inappropriate labeling and storage lead to accidental swallowing or misdiagnosis. Early diagnosis is important, especially in seriously poisoned patients. Iron(III) chloride Iron(III) chloride, also called ferric chloride, is an industrial scale commodity chemical compound, with the formula FeCl and with iron in the"
"and were reduced to ""the necessity of pleading for the collection of data"". In 1884, Blake described an apparent connection between toxicity and the atomic weight of an element. The following sections provide historical thumbnails for the ""classical"" toxic heavy metals (arsenic, mercury and lead) and some more recent examples (chromium and cadmium). Arsenic, as realgar () and orpiment (), was known in ancient times. Strabo (64–50 BCE – c. AD 24?), a Greek geographer and historian, wrote that only slaves were employed in realgar and orpiment mines since they would inevitably die from the toxic effects of the fumes"
"Sulfur Sulfur or sulphur is a chemical element with symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent, and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with a chemical formula S. Elemental sulfur is a bright yellow crystalline solid at room temperature. Chemically, sulfur reacts with all elements except for gold, platinum, iridium, tellurium, and the noble gases. Sulfur is the tenth most common element by mass in the universe, and the fifth most common on Earth. Though sometimes found in pure, native form, sulfur on Earth usually occurs as sulfide and sulfate minerals. Being abundant"
"covalent. Various transition group metals can substitute for iron in arsenopyrite. The arsenopyrite group includes the following rare minerals: Arsenopyrite Arsenopyrite is an iron arsenic sulfide (FeAsS). It is a hard (Mohs 5.5-6) metallic, opaque, steel grey to silver white mineral with a relatively high specific gravity of 6.1. When dissolved in nitric acid, it releases elemental sulfur. When arsenopyrite is heated, it produces poisonous sulfur and arsenic fumes which can be fatal if inhaled in large quantities. With 46% arsenic content, arsenopyrite, along with orpiment, is a principal ore of arsenic. When deposits of arsenopyrite become exposed to the"
"""rahj al-ġār"" (, ""powder of the mine""), via Catalan and Medieval Latin, and its earliest record in English is in the 1390s. Realgar most commonly occurs as a low-temperature hydrothermal vein mineral associated with other arsenic and antimony minerals. It also occurs as volcanic sublimations and in hot spring deposits. It occurs in association with orpiment, arsenolite, calcite and barite. It is found with lead, silver and gold ores in Hungary, Bohemia and Saxony. In the US it occurs notably in Mercur, Utah; Manhattan, Nevada and in the geyser deposits of Yellowstone National Park. It is commonly held that after"
"Sulfur dioxide Sulfur dioxide (also sulphur dioxide in British English) is the chemical compound with the formula . It is a toxic gas with a burnt match smell. It is released naturally by volcanic activity and is produced as a by-product of the burning of fossil fuels contaminated with sulfur compounds and copper extraction. SO is a bent molecule with ""C"" symmetry point group. A valence bond theory approach considering just ""s"" and ""p"" orbitals would describe the bonding in terms of resonance between two resonance structures. The sulfur–oxygen bond has a bond order of 1.5. There is support for"
"vapour. When α-HgS is used as a red pigment, it is known as vermilion. The tendency of vermilion to darken has been ascribed to conversion from red α-HgS to black β-HgS. However β-HgS was not detected at excavations in Pompeii, where originally red walls darkened, and was attributed to the formation of Hg-Cl compounds (e.g., corderoite, calomel, and terlinguaite) and calcium sulfate, gypsum. Mercury sulfide Mercury sulfide, mercuric sulfide, mercury sulphide, or mercury(II) sulfide is a chemical compound composed of the chemical elements mercury and sulfur. It is represented by the chemical formula HgS. It is virtually insoluble in water."
"Paris green Paris green (copper(II) acetate triarsenite or copper(II) acetoarsenite) is an inorganic compound. It is a highly toxic emerald-green crystalline powder that has been used as a rodenticide and insecticide, and also as a pigment, despite its toxicity. It is also used as a blue colorant for fireworks. The color of Paris green is said to range from a pale blue green when very finely ground, to a deeper green when coarsely ground. Paris green may be prepared by combining copper(II) acetate and arsenic trioxide. At the turn of the 20th century, Paris green, blended with lead arsenate, was"
"yellow-grey mixture. No chemical process occurs, and the material can be identified as a mixture by the fact that the sulfur and the iron can be separated by a mechanical process, such as using a magnet to attract the iron away from the sulfur. In contrast, if iron and sulfur are heated together in a certain ratio (1 atom of iron for each atom of sulfur, or by weight, 56 grams (1 mol) of iron to 32 grams (1 mol) of sulfur), a chemical reaction takes place and a new substance is formed, the compound iron(II) sulfide, with chemical formula"