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'''Thallium poisoning''' is [[poisoning]] that is due to [[thallium]] and its compounds, which are often highly toxic.<ref name=EMedicine821465>{{EMedicine|article|821465|Thallium Toxicity}}</ref> Contact with skin is dangerous and adequate ventilation should be provided when melting this metal.<ref name="WebEl">{{cite web |url=http://www.webelements.com/webelements/elements/text/Tl/biol.html |title=Biology of Thallium |website=Web Elements |access-date=2008-11-11}}</ref> Many thallium compounds are highly [[solubility|soluble]] in water and are readily absorbed through the skin.<ref>{{Citation|last1=Kemnic|first1=Tyler R.|title=Thallium Toxicity|date=2022|url=http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK513240/|work=StatPearls|place=Treasure Island (FL)|publisher=StatPearls Publishing|pmid=30020612|access-date=2022-01-28|last2=Coleman|first2=Meghan}}</ref> Exposure to them should not exceed 0.1
Part of the reason for thallium's high [[toxicity]] is that when present in aqueous solution as the univalent thallium(I) ion (Tl<sup>+</sup>) it exhibits some similarities with essential [[alkali metal]] cations, particularly [[potassium]] (owing to similar [[Ionic radius|ionic radii]]). It can thus enter the body via potassium uptake pathways.<ref>{{cite web |author=Zheng, Wei |title=A homogenous thallium flux assay for high throughput screen of potassium channels |website=Aurora Biomed |url-status=dead |url=http://www.aurorabiomed.com/download/presentations/pres09/Wei_Zheng.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141021160520/http://www.aurorabiomed.com/download/presentations/pres09/Wei_Zheng.pdf |archive-date=2014-10-21}}</ref> Other aspects of thallium's chemistry differ strongly from that of the alkali metals, such as its high [[Chemical affinity|affinity]] for [[sulfur]] ligands. Thus this substitution disrupts many cellular processes by interfering with the function of proteins that incorporate [[cysteine]], an amino acid containing sulfur.<ref>{{cite web |author=Mandzyuk, Bogdan |title=Eliminating thallium poisoning |url=http://sites.google.com/site/vogteh/assignments/eliminatingthalliumpoisoning-bogdanmandzyuk |access-date=25 December 2011 |archive-date=23 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151023173943/https://sites.google.com/site/vogteh/assignments/eliminatingthalliumpoisoning-bogdanmandzyuk |url-status=dead }}</ref> Thallium was originally used as rat poison, but was discontinued due to the exposure risk.
Among the distinctive effects of thallium poisoning are [[Peripheral neuropathy|peripheral nerve damage]] (victims may experience a sensation of
==Interactions==
===Thallium compounds===
The [[odor]]less and [[taste]]less [[Thallium(I) sulfate|thallium sulfate]] was also used as [[rat poison]] and [[ant]] killer. Since 1975, this use in the
=== Symptoms ===
{{Unreferenced section|date=August 2023}}
Thallium
=== Main causes ===
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== Treatment ==
There are two main methods of removing both radioactive and stable isotopes of thallium from humans. First known was to use [[Prussian blue]]
== Notable cases ==
There are numerous recorded cases of fatal thallium poisoning.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/02/thallium_is_favored_method_of.html|title=A 15-year-old case yields a timely clue in deadly thallium poisoning|date=13 February 2011}}</ref> Because of its use for
===Australia's "Thallium Craze"===
In Australia, in the early 1950s, there was a notable spate of cases of murder or attempted murder by thallium poisoning. At this time, due to the chronic rat infestation problems in overcrowded inner-city neighbourhoods (notably in Sydney), and thallium's effectiveness as a rat poison, it was still readily available over the counter in [[New South Wales]], where [[Thallium(I) sulfate|thallium(I) sulphate]] was marketed as a commercial rat bait, under the brand ''[[Sayers, Allport & Potter#Products|Thall-rat]]
* In September 1952 [[Yvonne Gladys Fletcher]], a housewife and mother of two from the inner
* A month later, in October 1952, [[Bathurst, New South Wales|Bathurst]] grandmother Ruby Norton was tried for the murder of her daughter's fiancé, Allen Williams, who died of thallium poisoning at [[Cowra, New South Wales|Cowra]] Hospital in July 1952. Despite allegations that Norton hated all the men in her family and that she did not want Williams as a son-in-law, Norton was acquitted.<ref name="dailytelegraph.com.au"/>
* In 1953 Sydney woman Veronica Monty, 45, was tried for the attempted murder of her son-in-law, noted [[Balmain, New South Wales|Balmain]] and Australian rugby league player [[Bob Lulham]], who was treated for thallium poisoning in 1952. After separating from her husband Monty had moved in with her daughter Judy and Judy's husband, Bob Lulham. The sensational trial revealed that Lulham and Monty had an "intimate relationship" while Lulham's wife was at [[Mass (liturgy)|Sunday mass]]. Monty was found not guilty; Judy Lulham divorced her husband as a result of the revelations about his affair and Monty killed herself with thallium in 1955.<ref name="dailytelegraph.com.au"/>
* In July 1953, Sydney woman Beryl Hague was tried for "maliciously administering thallium and endangering her husband's life". Hague confessed to buying ''Thall-rat'' from a corner shop and putting it in her husband's tea because she wanted to "give him a headache to repay the many headaches he had given me" in violent disputes.<ref name="dailytelegraph.com.au"/>
* In 1953 Australian [[Caroline Grills]] was sentenced to life in prison after three family members and a close family friend died. Authorities found thallium in tea that she had given to two other family members. Grills spent the rest of her life in Sydney's [[Long Bay Correctional Centre|Long Bay Gaol]], where fellow inmates dubbed her "Aunt Thally".<ref name="dailytelegraph.com.au"/><ref name="bbc-thallium">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6163520.stm |title=What is thallium? |website=[[BBC News]] |date=19 November 2006 |access-date=21 November 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/post-war-days-of-thallium-and-old-lace/story-fn6ccwsa-1226060629402 |first=Marea |last=Donnelly |title=Post-war days of thallium and old lace |newspaper=Daily Telegraph |date=23 May 2011 |place=Australia}}</ref>
The Australian TV documentary ''[[Recipe for Murder (film)|Recipe for Murder]]'', released in 2011, examined three of the most sensational and widely reported Australian thallium poisonings, the Fletcher, Monty and Grills cases.
===Others===
* [[Félix-Roland Moumié]], a
* In 1971, thallium was the main poison that [[Graham Frederick Young]] used to poison around 70 people in the English village of [[Bovingdon]],
* From 1976 to late 1979, thallium was used as a [[chemical warfare]] agent, most notably by a unit of the [[British South Africa Police]] (BSAP) attached to the [[Selous Scouts]] during the [[Rhodesian Bush War]].<ref>{{cite book |first=Glenn |last=Cross |title=Dirty War: Rhodesia and chemical-biological warfare,
* In 1977, a 19 month-old girl living in [[Qatar]] fell ill due to thallium poisoning (from pesticides used by her parents). While doctors were unable to identify the cause, a [[Nursing|nurse]] named Marsha Maitland managed to do it from the description of the symptoms given in ''[[The Pale Horse]]''.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yeyfuCFgDj8C&pg=PA325 |via=Google Books |title=The Elements of Murder: A history of poison|isbn=9780191517358 |last1=Emsley |first1=John |date=28 April 2005 |publisher=OUP Oxford }}{{full citation|date=July 2020}}</ref>
* In summer 1981 the East German secret service
*In 1985, spiritual leader [[Rajneesh]] first accused US President [[Ronald Reagan]] of poisoning him while he was briefly incarcerated in [[Oklahoma]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-08-01 |title=Rajneesh Claimed He Was Poisoned While in Oklahoma |url=https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/1990/01/20/rajneesh-claimed-he-was-poisoned-while-in-oklahoma/62577791007/ |access-date=2023-08-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230801084023/https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/1990/01/20/rajneesh-claimed-he-was-poisoned-while-in-oklahoma/62577791007/ |archive-date=1 August 2023 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-08-14 |title=Osho: "I Have Been Poisoned by Ronald Reagan's American Government." – OSHOTimes |url=https://www.oshotimes.com/insights/the-times/power/osho-i-have-been-poisoned-by-ronald-reagans-american-government/ |access-date=2023-08-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200814073135/https://www.oshotimes.com/insights/the-times/power/osho-i-have-been-poisoned-by-ronald-reagans-american-government/ |archive-date=14 August 2020 }}</ref> Rajneesh's accusations were unsubstantiated.
* In 1987, in [[Kyiv|Kiev]], a woman named [[
* In 1988, members of the Carr family from [[Alturas, Florida|Alturas]], [[Polk County, Florida]], fell ill from what appeared to be thallium poisoning. Peggy Carr, the mother, died slowly and painfully from the poison. Her son and stepson were critically ill but eventually recovered. The Carrs' neighbor, chemist [[George Trepal|George J. Trepal]], was convicted of murdering Mrs. Carr and attempting to murder her family, and sentenced to death. The thallium was slipped into bottles of [[Coca-Cola]] at the Carr and Trepal homes.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Case of Trepal, George (w/m) |department=The Commission on Capital Cases |publisher=State of Florida |url=http://www.floridacapitalcases.state.fl.us/case_updates/121965.doc |access-date=2007-11-29 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080216100348/http://www.floridacapitalcases.state.fl.us/case_updates/121965.doc |archive-date=2008-02-16}}</ref>
* Thallium was the poison of choice for [[Saddam Hussein]] to use on dissidents, which even allowed for them to emigrate before dying.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,251-2461655,00.html |title=Slow-acting killer that was Saddam's favourite instrument of vengeance |website=timesonline.co.uk |publisher=[[The Times]] |place=London, UK}}{{full citation |date=July 2020}}</ref>
* In 1995, [[Zhu Ling (poisoning victim)|Zhu Ling]] was the victim of an [[Thallium poisoning case of Zhu Ling|unsolved attempted thallium poisoning]] in
* In 1999, Norwegian
* In June 2004, 25 Russian soldiers
* In 2005, a 17 year-old girl in [[Izunokuni, Shizuoka|Izunokuni, Shizuoka, Japan]] admitted to attempting to murder her mother by lacing her tea with thallium, causing a national scandal.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4961768.stm |title=Ruling on Japan poison-diary girl |website=BBC News |date=1 May 2006}}</ref>
* In February 2007, two Americans, Marina and Yana Kovalevsky, a mother and daughter, visiting Russia were hospitalized for thallium poisoning. Both had emigrated from the [[Soviet Union]] to the United States in 1991 and had made several trips to Russia since then.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,257278,00.html |title=Embassy confirms hospitalization of two Americans for thallium poisoning |website=Foxnews.com |date=7 March 2007 |access-date=7 March 2007}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/mar/07/russia.topstories3|title = US pair fall ill in Moscow from thallium poisoning|website = [[TheGuardian.com]]|date = 7 March 2007}}</ref>
* In January 2008, 10 members of two families associated with an
* In 2011, a chemist at [[Bristol-Myers Squibb]] in [[New Jersey]], Li Tianle, was charged with the murder of her husband. According to an investigation by the [[Middlesex County, New Jersey|Middlesex County]] Prosecutor's Office, Li Tianle was able to obtain a chemical containing thallium and fed it to her husband.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local-beat/Death-by-Poison-NJ-Police-Charge-Woman-in-Death-of-her-Husband-115590444.html |title=Death by poison N.J. police charge woman in death of her husband |website=NBC New York |date=8 February 2011}}</ref> Li was a chemistry student at
* In 2012 a chemistry [[Postgraduate education|postgraduate]] student at the [[University of Southampton]], UK, was found to be suffering from the effects of thallium and [[arsenic]] poisoning after presenting with neurological symptoms.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-hampshire-19603564 |title=Southampton University labs shut after student poisoning |website=[[BBC News]] |date=14 September 2012 |access-date=8 June 2017}}</ref> The student underwent an intensive course of treatment and, although he has shown improvement, faces an uncertain long-term prognosis for the recovery of full locomotion. Urine screening revealed elevated thallium levels in a small number of other members of the chemistry department, though none were at toxic levels. The source of the poisoning remains unknown, and although police investigations were fruitless, foul play is strongly suspected.{{citation needed|date=June 2017}}
* In 2018, authorities charged Yukai Yang, a student at [[Lehigh University]], with the attempted murder of his roommate, Juwan Royal. Yang allegedly poisoned Royal with thallium and possibly other chemicals. Royal experienced vomiting, pain and numbness in his lower extremities, and a long-lasting burning sensation on his tongue.<ref>{{cite news |last=Yates |first=Riley |title=Former Lehigh University student charged with trying to poison his roommate |url=https://www.mcall.com/news/police/mc-nws-lehigh-university-student-attempted-murder-20181220-story.html |newspaper=The Morning Call |access-date=21 December 2018}}{{full citation|date=July 2020}}</ref>
* In 2022, an English family court found an unnamed doctor guilty of using thallium in a pot of coffee to kill his partner's father and injuring the partner and her mother in 2012. The case is unusual because it was in a [[family court]], arising out of child-custody matters, rather than a criminal case.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/law/2022/jan/31/nhs-doctor-killed-his-partners-father-with-poison-civil-court-finds|title=NHS doctor killed his partner's father with poison, civil court finds|website=[[TheGuardian.com]]|date=31 January 2022}}</ref>
=== In fiction ===
{{In popular culture|date=May 2023}}
* [[Ngaio Marsh]] used [[Thallous acetate|thallium acetate]] in her 1947 detective novel, ''[[Final Curtain (novel)|Final Curtain]]''. It was being used legitimately for [[scalp]] problems in a group of school children just after World War II, housed in a private estate. A relative living there used it in place of the heart medicine intended for the owner.
* [[Agatha Christie]], who worked as an [[apothecary]]'s assistant, used thallium in 1961 as the agent of murder in her [[detective fiction]] novel [[The Pale Horse (novel)|''The Pale Horse'']] – the first clue to the murder method coming from the hair loss of the victims. This novel is notable as being credited with having saved at least two lives after readers recognised the symptoms of thallium poisoning that Christie described.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Jeff |last=Aronson |year=2007 |title=When I use a word: Colourful metals |journal=British Medical Journal |volume=334 |issue=7586 |page=205 |pmc=1781989 |doi=10.1136/bmj.39091.708981.BE |url=}}</ref> ''The Pale Horse'' was found among possessions of convicted thallium poisoner [[George Trepal]]'s wife, the orthopedic surgeon Dr. Diana Carr (see above), who was herself considered a suspect in the Peggy Carr (no relation) murder for a time.
* In [[Nigel Williams (author)|Nigel Williams]]' 1990 novel ''[[The Wimbledon Poisoner]]'', Henry Far uses thallium to [[basting (cooking)|baste]] a roast chicken in a failed attempt to murder his wife.
* Thallium figures prominently in the 1995 film ''[[The Young Poisoner's Handbook]]'', a dark comedy loosely based on the life of [[Graham Frederick Young]].
* In the 2006 film ''[[Big Nothing]]'', Josie is the Wyoming Widow; a murderer who befriended men and killed them with whiskey laced with highly concentrated thallium.
* In the 2007 episode "[[Whatever It Takes (House)|Whatever It Takes]]" of ''[[House (TV series)|House]]'', a character uses thallium to poison a patient to mimic the effects of [[polio]], then appear to cure it with ultra-high doses of [[vitamin C]].
* In the [[NCIS (TV series)|''NCIS'']] episode "Dead Man Walking" (2007), thallium-laced cigars are used to murder a Naval officer.
* "Page Turner", a 2008 episode of ''[[CSI: NY]]'', has radioactive thallium poisoning as its central theme.<ref>{{cite web |last=Huntley |first=Kristine |title=CSI: New York – 'Page Turner' |url=http://www.csifiles.com/reviews/csi/page_turner.shtml |website=csifiles.com |access-date=2 May 2014}}</ref>
* In the 2010 film [[Edge of Darkness (2010 film)|''Edge of Darkness'']], thallium is used to poison both the main character and his daughter.
* In the 2015 [[James Bond]] film ''[[Spectre (2015 film)|Spectre]]'',
* In Season 3 of ''[[Royal Pains]]'', the mysterious German billionaire [[Boris Kuester von Jurgens-Ratenicz]] was poisoned by thallium added to his pool's water.
* In ''[[Drop Dead Diva]]'' episode [[List of Drop Dead Diva episodes#Season 4 .282012.29|"Ashes to Ashes"]], thallium was used to murder a client's husband, affecting the client when she ate the cremation remains.
*In the 2016
*In S6:E10 of the [[Father Brown (2013 TV series)|Father Brown Series]], Hercule Flambeau's wife poisons Father Brown with thallium
*In S6:E9 of [[Elementary (TV series)|''Elementary'']], entitled "Nobody Lives Forever" (2018), a biology professor studying how to prolong life spans is poisoned with thallium. As he dies, he falls onto a shelf containing his [[Laboratory rat|lab rats]], which escape and eventually eat part of his body. Some dead rats are found inside him, suggesting to the detectives that the cause of death was poisoning.
*In S1:E12 of [[NCIS: Hawaiʻi|NCIS: Hawai'i]], a young naval officer is murdered with thallium.
*In S2:E16 of [[CSI:Vegas]], entitled "We All Fall Down" (2023), medical examiner Sonya Nikolayevich is poisoned with thallium when examining a body after the suspect placed thallium under the skin of a deceased victim that was taken to CSI for examination.
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* {{cite web |url=http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/search/r?dbs+hsdb:@term+@na+@rel+thallium,+elemental |series=NLM hazardous substances databank |title=Thallium, elemental |department=National Institutes of Health |publisher=U.S. Department of Health and Human Services}}
* {{cite web |title=Cyril Wecht, Thallium |first=Robert |last=Curley |website=crimelibrary.com |url=http://www.crimelibrary.com/criminal_mind/forensics/cyril_wecht/7.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080417011123/http://www.crimelibrary.com/criminal_mind/forensics/cyril_wecht/7.html |archive-date=2008-04-17}}
* {{cite web |url=
* {{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/Iraq/Story/0,,2254956,00.html |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |series=reports |title=Two Iraqi children die from Thallium poisoning |date=9 February 2008}}
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