This list covers 17 poisons, running alphabetically from “VX” to “Verrucotoxin”. They come from wildly different places, including military labs, garden plants, venomous animals, industrial chemicals, and even household products. Some were built as weapons or pesticides, while others turn up naturally in food, medicine, or the outdoors, and each one affects the body in its own distinct way.
Poisons are substances that disrupt the normal functions of the body, sometimes causing serious harm or death even in small amounts. Some, like VX, were engineered specifically to be lethal, while others, like vitamin A, are only dangerous in excess. One of the more surprising entries is vincristine, a chemotherapy drug that comes from a common flowering plant and is toxic in the wrong dose but lifesaving in the right one.
Below you’ll find the table with the poison, source, effects, antidote, and description for each entry.
Poison: the common or scientific name of the substance, so you can quickly identify what you’re looking at.
Source: where the poison comes from, whether that’s a plant, animal, chemical process, or manufactured product.
Effects: the symptoms and health problems the poison causes, helping you understand how serious exposure can be.
Antidote: the treatment or response used to counter the poison, when one is known to exist.
Description: a short explanation that puts the poison in context, including how it works or why it stands out.
Poisons
| Poison | Source | Effects | Antidote |
|---|---|---|---|
| VX | Synthetic organophosphate nerve agent | Paralysis, seizures, respiratory failure | Atropine and pralidoxime |
| Vacor (Pyriminil) | Synthetic rodenticide compound | Destroys insulin-producing pancreas cells, causes permanent diabetes and nerve damage | Niacinamide (vitamin B3) if given quickly |
| Visine (Tetrahydrozoline) | Over-the-counter eye-drop decongestant | Dangerously slow heart rate, plunging blood pressure, vomiting | Supportive care in a hospital setting |
| Vinyl Chloride | Industrial gas used to make PVC plastic | Liver damage, dizziness, long-term cancer risk | No specific antidote; supportive care |
| Vanadium Pentoxide | Industrial dust from vanadium ore processing | Lung irritation, greenish tongue coating, coughing and breathing trouble | Supportive care |
| Vitamin A (Hypervitaminosis A) | Excess supplements or foods like polar bear liver | Nausea, hair loss, blurred vision, dangerous pressure in the skull | Stop intake; supportive care |
| Vomitoxin (Deoxynivalenol) | Fusarium mold growing on wheat and corn | Nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite | Supportive care |
| Veratridine | Alkaloid from Veratrum (false hellebore) plants | Nausea, dangerously low blood pressure, irregular heartbeat | Atropine and supportive care |
| Veratrum Album (White Hellebore) | Roots and leaves of the white hellebore plant | Severe vomiting, slowed heart rate, low blood pressure | Atropine and supportive care |
| Vinca Alkaloids (Vincristine) | Madagascar periwinkle plant | Nerve damage, severe constipation, organ toxicity in overdose | No specific antidote; supportive care |
| Virginia Creeper Berries | Berries of the Virginia creeper climbing vine | Mouth and throat irritation, stomach upset | Supportive care |
| Vetch (Toxic Vicia Species) | Seeds of certain wild vetch plants | Weakness and breathing difficulty, mainly in grazing animals | Supportive care |
| Viper Venom | Venom of viperid snakes such as adders | Tissue damage, internal bleeding, severe swelling | Species-specific antivenom |
| Vipoxin | Toxin from the horned viper’s venom | Nerve disruption and impaired blood clotting | Antivenom |
| Volkensin | Seeds of the African “poison peach” plant | Shuts down cell protein production, leading to organ failure | No specific antidote; supportive care |
| Viscotoxin | European mistletoe leaves and berries | Heart rhythm disturbances, drop in blood pressure | Supportive care |
| Verrucotoxin | Venom of the stonefish | Intense pain, cardiac distress, breathing difficulty | Stonefish antivenom |