Paraquat, Symptoms, Treatments

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Paraquat Latest News

Recently, a 24-year old woman was awarded the death sentence by a Thiruvananthapuram court which found her guilty of poisoning her boyfriend in 2022 with a chemical herbicide called paraquat.

About Paraquat

Paraquat, also known as paraquat dichloride or methyl viologen, is one of the world’s most-used herbicides.
It is primarily used to control the growth of weeds and desiccate crops like cotton before harvest.
The WHO classifies paraquat as Category 2 (moderately hazardous and moderately irritating) chemical.
Its sale is banned in over 70 countries, including China and the European Union, due to its potent toxicity. It is widely used in the US and in India.

How does Paraquat Poisoning occur?

Ingestion is the most common route of exposure,
It may also be transferred and absorbed through prolonged skin contact.

Symptoms of Paraquat Poisoning

It depends on the amount, means and length of exposure to the chemical.
If ingested in a small amount, a person would display signs of damage to the heart, kidneys, liver and lungs over several days or weeks.
If ingested in large amount then the person could face acute kidney failure, rapid heart rate, failure of the heart and liver, seizures, and respiratory failure.
The person would immediately display abdominal pain, swelling and pain in the mouth and throat, bloody diarrhoea and nausea.