Ricin is not widely known, however, despite the ease of making the
substance. It is so dangerous that the person making it is putting
himself at great risk. People
have been known to accidently get some on their skin and die.

It only takes 1/100 gram to cause the strongset person to die of
pneumonia within 3-5 days. Bear in mind that pneumonia is a technical
term for fluid accumulation
in the lungs caused by any number of reasons. Ricin can be inhaled, or
taken internally. It is almost impossible to determine as the cause of
death even if suspected.

Ricin is very easy to use to kill someone because a small amount placed
in an air duct is sufficient to be easily inhaled upon operation of the
A/C or heater. Used in
this way, it is virtually impossible to detect as the toxin without
first suspecting it and then doing specific tests for ricin poisoning.

Consider the story of Georgi Markov, a Bulgarian journalist. In 1968, he
fled to Italy after writing stories about corruption in high places. A
few years later, he
resumed his attacks from London as a reporter for Radio Free Europe.
Then one morning while waiting for the bus, he was jabbed in the thigh
with an umbrella tip.
Markov's health deteriorated rapidly and he died four days later. An
autopsy revealed a tiny metal pellet near the umbrella wound. Although
it contained less than a
hundreth of a gram of ricin, this was enough to cause massive blood
poisoning.

Ricin is being taken very seriously by the Army. At fort Detrick,
Maryland, they have developed a vaccine for use in soldiers because of
the threat of this type of
chemical used in the Gulf war by Iraq. Two "militia members" were
arrested last year for posession of ricin with intent to use on
government officials in the U.S.



                                         Ricin (Castor oil plant,
Ricinus Communis)

                                                General Information

CAS No. 9009-86-3

NIOSH/RTECS No. VJ 26250000

Merck 8211

Synonyms: Ricin A,. Ricin B, RCA (Ricin Communis Agglutin) RCA60,
RCA120, Ricin D, RCL 111, RCA11.

Physical Properties: It is a white powder obtained from castor beans. It
is normally preformulated due to its great toxicity; RCA60 and RCA120
refer to molecular
weights of 60000 and 120000 respectively.

Synthesis: Castor oil seeds are pressed to remove the commercially
valuable castor oil. The oil cake residue is mainly protein and it is
the source of the poisonous
albumin called ricin which is a polymeric protein. The ricin is
destroyed by steam treatment of the oil seed cake that is then used for
animal feeds or fertilizer.

Toxicity: Amongst the most poisonous substances known. The lowest
published lethal concentration (LDLo) is 300 ug/kg. It is a deadly
poison by ingestion or
inhalation. The effect of inhalation/ingestion is violent purging which
leads to collapse and death; it causes destruction of red blood cells;
as few as 5 castor beans
have resulted in the death of children.



                             The United States Army Medical Materiel
Development Activity

                                                Fort Detrick, Maryland
21702-5009

                                  Applied Medical Systems Project
Management Division

                                          ADVANCED DEVELOPMENT
INFORMATION PAPER

                                               BPL# 362
PRODUCT: RICIN A CHAIN VACCINE

DA PROJECT/TASK: 809SB

RAD IV: Medical Chemical & Biological Defense Research Program

DESCRIPTION:
This second generation vaccine candidate is prepared using the
deglycosylated ricin A chain sub-unit as the immunogen. The vaccine is
intended to protect U.S.
Forces against the effects of ricin toxin when used as a biological
warfare agent. The project addresses OCR 3-Preventive Medicine.

MAMP RANK: Not Ranked

CURRENT FY PLANNED ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
The product has been identified as a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS)
item. Dose, schedule, and adjuvant selection studies will be completed
during the first half of
FY96. The product is to be bottled in its final formulation during the
second half of FY96. cGLP product safety and stability studies will be
initiated during the last
half of FY96. Preparation of an Investigational New Drug Application
will be initiated during the last quarter of FY96.

ISSUES:
As a second generation product, development will be accelerated to a
point that this product can be directly compared with the toxoided
vaccine candidate and a
selection made for continued development.

REQUIRED ACTION:
Accelerate exploration and development of this product as a vaccine
candidate. Initiate an abbreviated Cost and Operational Effectiveness
Analysis comparing this
product to the toxoided vaccine candidate.

SCHEDULE OBJECTIVES:
Milestone I:                            4th Quarter FY 1996
Milestone II:                           1st Quarter FY 1999
Milestone III:                          1st Quarter FY 2001

DATE: 16 OCT 95

Michael A. Shapiro  MD
V. Chairman
Dept. of Emergency Medicine
WCA Healthcare System
Jamestown NY  14701

mshapiro@madbbs.com