Look What I Found! Poison Hunting on eBay®

Abstract

Background. Many substances deemed too dangerous for commercial use are still available to the general public. The purchase of these substances may potentially place members of the general public at risk for serious poisonings. This study was designed to document the large variety of dangerous poisons readily available on a popular online auction Web site. Methods. Over a 10-month period, the online auction Web site eBay® was searched daily using the terms “poison” and “contents.” Product name, active ingredients, what form the product is in, amount in container, and relative toxicity rating [Clinical Toxicology of Commercial Products, Gosselin, et al. ] were recorded. If available, pictures of the products were saved. Results. One hundred twenty-one individual products were identified. Fifty-five were in solid/tablet form, 37 were powders, and 29 were liquids. Product containers were full for 56 items and partially full for 65. Twenty-four products contained ingredients rated as “supertoxic” and included strychnine (10), arsenic trioxide (8), cyanide (2) and nicotine, pilocarpine, phosphorus, powdered conium maculatum (1 each). Sixty-three products contained “extremely toxic” ingredients including thallium, picrotoxin, soluble barium, antimony, mercury, arsenates, podophyllin, fluoride, zinc phosphide, atropine, scopolamine, and plant extracts of gelsemium, aconite, larkspur, and croton. Twenty-one products contained “very toxic” ingredients including lead, copper, camphor, caffeine, theobromine, creosote, pyrogallic acid, sparteine, quinine, lindane, warfarin, phenol, and digitalis. The remaining 13 were “moderately-slightly toxic.” Conclusion. While the viability of the labeled ingredients could not be verified, the transportation, handling, and potential utilization of these dangerous poisons by the general public could result in serious poisonings.

Keywords :

• Poisons
• Internet
• Auctions
• Web