page_title: Poison
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Poison / History
caption_attribution_description: Polski: Otrucie królowej Bony. Беларуская: Атручэньне каралевы Боны. Ян Матэйка English: Poisoning of Queen Bona Italiano: L'avvelenamento della regina Bona Sforza Русский: Отравление королевы Боны. Ян Матейко
context_page_description: In biology, poisons are substances that cause death, injury or harm to organs, usually by chemical reactions or other activity on the molecular scales, when an organism is exposed to a sufficient quantity.
  The fields of medicine and zoology often distinguish a poison from a toxin, and from a venom. Toxins are poisons produced by organisms in nature, and venoms are toxins injected by a bite or sting. The difference between venom and other poisons is the delivery method.
  Industry, agriculture, and other sectors employ poisonous substances for reasons other than their toxicity. Most poisonous industrial compounds have associated material safety data sheets and are classed as hazardous substances. Hazardous substances are subject to extensive regulation on production, procurement and use in overlapping domains of occupational safety and health, public health, drinking water quality standards, air pollution and environmental protection. Due to the mechanics of molecular diffusion, many poisonous compounds rapidly diffuse into biological tissues, air, water, or soil on a molecular scale.
context_section_description: Throughout human history, intentional application of poison has been used as a method of murder, pest-control, suicide, and execution. As a method of execution, poison has been ingested, as the ancient Athenians did (see Socrates), inhaled, as with carbon monoxide or hydrogen cyanide (see gas chamber), or injected (see lethal injection). Poison's lethal effect can be combined with its allegedly magical powers; an example is the Chinese gu poison. Poison was also employed in gunpowder warfare. For example, the 14th-century Chinese text of the Huolongjing written by Jiao Yu outlined the use of a poisonous gunpowder mixture to fill cast iron grenade bombs.
  While arsenic is a naturally occurring environmental poison, its artificial concentrate was once nicknamed inheritance powder. In Medieval Europe, it was common for monarchs to employ personal food tasters to thwart royal assassination, in the dawning age of the Apothecary.
caption: "Poisoning of Queen Bona" by Jan Matejko.
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