Hungarian winemaker kills thief with poisoned wine

A relatively small amount of adult toothpaste swallowed by a child can be fatal.

What on earth is in "adult tooth paste" that would cause this? I remember trying my father's brand when I was a kid and thinking that could happen (it was very 'hot' to my undeveloped palate), but of course it was only my imagination.

Flouride?

List of ingredients in fouride-free Colgate Total--notice numbers 5, 6, 10, and 11.

1. water
2. hydrated silica
3. glycerin
4. sorbitol
5. PVM/MA
6. copolymer
7. sodium lauryl sulfate
8. flavor
9. cellulose gum
10. sodium hydroxide
11. propylene glycol
12. carrageenan
13. sodium saccharin
14. titanium dioxide

A relatively small amount of adult toothpaste swallowed by a child can be fatal.

What on earth is in "adult tooth paste" that would cause this? I remember trying my father's brand when I was a kid and thinking that could happen (it was very 'hot' to my undeveloped palate), but of course it was only my imagination.

Btw, hope you pipe up more often, one post a year is not enough!

A 50 lb child can start to have headache/nausea symptoms after only a few milligrams of fluoride. Typical full size tubes of children's toothpaste have about 150 mg and adult toothpaste has a bit more. The firm "lethal dose" threshhold probably would have that 50lb child downing an adult tube or more, but significant symptoms would occur well before.

Naturally occurring fluoride is a significant health issue in many developing countries.

It makes me wonder what the Cesium in wine is doing to us?

A relatively small amount of adult toothpaste swallowed by a child can be fatal.

Btw, hope you pipe up more often, one post a year is not enough!

That's odd. It does say I joined in 2011, but really it was 2013...last Thursday.

It makes me wonder what the Cesium in wine is doing to us?

Hmmmmmm....cesium in wine??? I presume you are referring to the Cs-137 that is present in post-1940's wine from the days of
atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons, and some in Northern Europe wines from Chernobyl?? That's also present, at probably equal
concentrations, in our drinking water.
Or is there some other source of Cesium in wine??
Tom

[Robin Garr]

That's odd. It does say I joined in 2011, but really it was 2013...last Thursday.

Long story that has to do with sysadmin shortcuts. Welcome, Kevin!

It makes me wonder what the Cesium in wine is doing to us?

Hmmmmmm....cesium in wine??? I presume you are referring to the Cs-137 that is present in post-1940's wine from the days of
atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons, and some in Northern Europe wines from Chernobyl?? That's also present, at probably equal
concentrations, in our drinking water.
Or is there some other source of Cesium in wine??
Tom

That's the one.

I wonder if he actually died from the antifreeze. Maybe there's a different formulation overseas.

I've been a paramedic for about 20 years and we're always fascinated at conferences to hear from the poison control docs about the realities of how everyday products affect people. They've told us of people that drink decent amounts of straight antifreeze on a regular basis in an odd attempt at suicide. It typically doesn't kill them, but it does kill some brain cells and their personalities become slower and more lethargic with each dose.

I presume Ethylene Glycol was the poison. If so, death is not likely, but a distinct possibility. From Wikipedia:

According to the annual report of the American Association of Poison Control Centers' National Poison Data System in 2007, there were about 1000 total cases resulting in 16 deaths. The 2008 American Association of Poison Control Centers' National Poison Data System annual report lists 7 deaths.

Poisoning the wine is a major over-reaction, in my opinion. Moderation in all things include one’s response to a wrong.

We have a large lot with many trees. When my kids were in high school it was popular for their friends and classmates to come out and T.P. (throw toilet paper into our trees) a few times a year, usually associated with some school function or sporting event. It was a bit of an annoyance just because of the volume of toilet paper used and the time required to pick up what was on the ground. On one occasion I picked up more than ninety cardboard cores.

As I was cleaning up after one episode a neighbor from down the street pulled up and said “You know what these kids are doing is vandalism and trespass? I have an Ithaca .410 at the house that I’ll let you borrow if you want to.” I politely declined, but the notion that someone would even consider shooting “friendly” teenagers for throwing a short lived, harmless, biodegradable substance into my trees was disturbing to me. That takes “eye for an eye” to whole new and troubling level.

If my wine was being stolen the only thing I might have done, other than locking it up, would be to spike some of it with a large portion of grain alcohol and let them catch a real buzz. A bottle of grape juice and Everclear – that’s the ticket!