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Tackling poisoning from castor beans– Kenya’s fast-growing cash crop

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Farmers growing one of Kenya’s fastest-growing cash crops, castor beans, should avoid them or their children ingesting the highly toxic bean which causes severe health issues and can lead to death after eating just two of the beans.

Gotten from the Ricinus communis plant, castor beans are pressed for their oil with the seed cake used in making animal feed and fertiliser. However, as the plant’s name suggests, the seed contains one to five per cent ricin — a naturally occurring but toxic protein. According to the University of Wisconsin’s Horticulture Extension division, despite having been used in traditional therapies, eating only four castor seeds can cause death as ricin contains up to 12,000 times much more poison than the venom from rattlesnakes and contains 6,000 times more toxin as cyanide– a chemical compound whose lethal dose is used to kill people quickly.

In the last five years, castor plants have gone from weeds that grew scattered on Kenya’s arid lands to a cash crop grown by more than 90,000 contracted farmers in 11 counties for their seed oil and a couple of hundred more growing the crop for its leaves which are fed to silkworms to make Eri silk

To become poisonous, castor beans usually have to be chewed to release the ricin before they are swallowed. 

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As little as half a seed can be extremely poisonous for children with two castor beans being the least amount recorded as having caused death. Almost anyone who eats as little as half a castor seed experiences vomiting, nausea, diarrhoea, dehydration, and abdominal pains. Eating one to four beans of castor will often lead to a fever– the main symptom of ricin poisoning– after half an hour to two hours. However, the response can be delayed to as late as 10 hours. 

Loss of body water through vomiting and diarrhoea leads to not only dehydration but also low blood pressure which can cause dizziness, lightheadedness, nausea, weakness, and fainting. If untreated, this can halt the supply of oxygen and food through the body and the lack of removal of carbon dioxide causing the patient to be unconscious or even die 72 hours later.

Over two to five days there are usually 13 initial symptoms. These include sudden and severe abdominal pains that come in waves, vomiting, diarrhoea, heartburn, and pain in the middle part of the throat. Other less common symptoms may include vomiting blood and having blood in your feacal matter.

According to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there is no specific drug that can be taken to cure ricin poisoning. Rather, the ricin toxin that has been ingested is reduced by offering immediate first aid and rushing to the hospital where the various symptoms of the disease can be managed.

This means that the only true control for ricin poisoning is to avoid ingesting it in the first place. This is also why any ricin seeds should be kept away from children.

As symptoms can be delayed by hours, you should never wait for them to develop before getting any available medical help or rushing the person to the nearest hospital.

Within the first hour, activated charcoal if available should be taken to absorb the toxins in the stomach and prevent any further absorption into the blood and other parts of the body. It is mixed with water with the dosage given according to someone’s weight. 25 to 50 grams can be given to adults and 10 to 25 grams to children. 

You should encourage the victim to drink small sips of water to prevent excess dehydration caused by vomiting and diarrheal. Avoid giving them large gulps of water as this might cause them to vomit. If they cannot take any water or are vomiting excessively, skip this step and wait for medical help.

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Do not make them vomit, unless you have been instructed to do so by a medical professional. Vomiting can cause more harm by irritating the esophagus or causing food and liquids to enter the lungs.

Do not also give them food, milk, or any other drinks, apart from small sips of water, unless advised by a professional as they can increase toxin absorption.

Keep track of the various symptoms and look for signs of serious complications, such as difficulty breathing, confusion, or loss of consciousness to track how far the poisoning has progressed and how severe it is.


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