BLOG

Quit complaining about gnats and mosquitoes. David Rivers, Ph.D., professor of biology at Loyola University Maryland, is here to remind us that no matter how much you may hate getting stung by a bee, your interaction with an insect could always be worse.

Food poisoning, also called foodborne illness, is illness caused by eating contaminated food. Infectious organisms — including bacteria, viruses and parasites — or their toxins are the most common causes of food poisoning. Infectious organisms or their toxins can contaminate food at any point of processing or production. Contamination can also occur at home if food is incorrectly handled or cooked. 

Food poisoning symptoms, which can start within hours of eating contaminated food, often include nausea, vomiting or diarrhea. Most often, food poisoning is mild and resolves without treatment. But some people need to go to the hospital. 

Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the order Scorpiones. They have eight legs and are easily recognized by the pair of grasping pedipalps and the narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back, ending with a venomous sting. Scorpions range in size from 9–12 mm (0.35–0.47 in) in Microtityus minimus to 23 cm (9.1 in) in Heterometrus swammerdami.

The evolutionary history of scorpions goes back to the Silurian period 435 million years ago. They have adapted to a wide range of environmental conditions, and they can now be found on all continents except Antarctica. There are about 1,750 described species, with 13 extant (living) families recognised to date. Their taxonomy is being revised in the light of genomic studies.

Less aggressive than some common species of wasps, with the exception of the Africanized honey bee, bees are an essential part of our ecosystem. With their ability to pollinate flowers, fruit trees and other food-producing crops, not to mention the ones that make honey, bees are an important insect for farmers and our environment.

However, for people who are allergic to bee stings and those who are not, the threat of being stung can be scary. And, since different bees tend to be more threatening than others, it's important to properly identify what type of bee you're seeing before you take any action.

While plants and flowers are a great way to decorate, not every plant is safe for your home. We know poison oak shouldn’t be touched, and to keep poinsettias away from our pets, but did you know some of your favorite blooms may have toxic properties as well?

It’s important to err on the side of caution and educate yourself on the harmful effects a poisonous plant or flower can have. Common flowers like heathers, foxgloves and even some of the blooms on our site can have toxic properties. But with ProFlowers, you won’t go without knowing if a plant is poisonous or not. Our packaging includes information on plants and flowers that may be potentially unsafe if ingested.

Be careful what you touch, and what you eat. Some vegetation can snuff out your life as surely as a venomous snake. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of poisonous plants in the world, and some of them are deadly.

In 2014, a gardener on a country estate in the UK mysteriously died of multiple organ failure. The cause of his death remains unclear, but an inquest heard evidence suggesting he had been killed by a popular flowering plant, a member of the buttercup family.

The plant in question, called Aconitum, has blooms said to resemble monk’s hoods. But the plant is also known by other more sinister names; wolf’s bane, Devil’s helmet and the Queen of Poisons.

We are exposed to environmental toxins all the time. Even the simplest of daily routines can expose one to several common pollutants found in the water we drink, food we eat, and air we breathe. While our liver, kidneys and lymphatic system play a major role in removing biologically harmful compounds, our bodies have not evolved to deal with the growing number of toxins we unknowingly interact with every day. Detoxification systems can easily become overwhelmed, causing toxin overload. This happens when your body has taken in more toxins than it can process. When this happens, real damage is imminent.

Warm summer weather means more insects — along with more people trying to enjoy the outdoors while avoiding pesky pests. However, some are more than a mere nuisance. Although bugs are a crucial part of the ecosystem, some small creepy crawlers pose big threats to humans and animals.

When you think of deathly, dangerous bugs, it's a good bet you think of some myth-like monster in some far-flung locale. You know, the Tse Tse fly in Tanzania, or the wandering spider in Brazil. It might feel like the United States is an insect-free oasis—at least compared to Australia, where spiders literally fall like raindrops, by the thousands, in a terrifying phenomenon aptly dubbed, "spider rain." But the unfortunate reality is that dangerous insects are likely lurking in your own backyard.

Food poisoning, also called foodborne illness, is illness caused by eating contaminated food. Infectious organisms — including bacteria, viruses and parasites — or their toxins are the most common causes of food poisoning. Infectious organisms or their toxins can contaminate food at any point of processing or production. Contamination can also occur at home if food is incorrectly handled or cooked. 

Food poisoning symptoms, which can start within hours of eating contaminated food, often include nausea, vomiting or diarrhea. Most often, food poisoning is mild and resolves without treatment. But some people need to go to the hospital. 

In the case of Hawley Crippen, the unusual poison choice, Hyoscine, led investigators to question the validity of the remains. It seemed unusual for the toxicologist to check immediately for the common alkaloids before looking for more common poisons. But what are the more common poisons used in murders?

As far as the murder of individuals is concerned there are relatively few agents that have been used and of course there is no way of knowing how many people have been deliberately killed this way because no doubt many such deaths were attributed to natural causes.

Mithridatism is the practice of protecting oneself against a poison by gradually self-administering non-lethal amounts. The word is derived from Mithridates VI, the King of Pontus, who so feared being poisoned that he regularly ingested small doses, aiming to develop immunity.