She was sometimes called 'Good Mie'. Maria Catharina Swanenburg, who cared for the sick in the poor neighborhoods of Leiden at the end of the nineteenth century. Many of them died, but at first no one was suspicious. For years, Mie was able to secretly take out funeral insurance for her victims and collect the money after their death. Until, at the end of 1883, three people in one family died at the same time and an alert coroner sounded the alarm. The three were poisoned, as were dozens of others. The poison? A powder that Mie bought in large quantities at the local drugstore 'to combat bedbugs': arsenic.
The 'king of toxins' is called arsenic – arsenic for short. According to some historians, the odorless and tasteless (and at the time still unnamed) substance was already used in the Roman Empire to eliminate enemies. It was distilled into its pure form around 1250 by a German alchemist and philosopher, and over the centuries murderers happily stirred it into the food of unsuspecting victims. Acute arsenic poisoning begins with vomiting and diarrhea and can lead to death within an hour.
Arsenic is a metalloid, which in terms of properties falls between metals and non-metals, but is nevertheless considered a heavy metal. The substance occurs in the earth's crust in various inorganic (not carbon-bound) compounds and sometimes ends up in food via groundwater. Rice – and especially brown rice – contains up to ten times as much arsenic as other grains. Arsenic is also found in fish and shellfish, in an organic, much less toxic form. A reassurance for rice lovers: in a varied diet, arsenic intake remains far below the risky values. The Nutrition Center does advise not to give children rice products every day because of their low body weight. If an excessive amount of rice is eaten, chronic arsenic poisoning can occur. This includes hyperkeratosis and hyperpigmentation: parts of the skin harden and discolor, which can lead to skin cancer.
Beauty product
Arsenic has also been used over the centuries by people who did not want the lives of their fellow human beings: for example, it appears as gallium arsenide in LEDs and solar cells. In the past, inorganic arsenic was found in certain pesticides and the compound arsenic trioxide was nicknamed 'rat powder' because it was used against rodents. And in the nineteenth century, women used it as a beauty product: arsenic lotions and pills were intended to provide the much sought-after pale, semi-transparent complexion. The fad turned out to be short-lived.
Another craze was arsenic-containing paint or wallpaper, based on copper hydrogen arsenite, discovered by the Swedish pharmacist Carl Wilhelm Scheele. This Scheeles green became a popular pigment (some pastry chefs colored pastries with it, but that trend also quickly stopped).
Napoleon also had green wallpaper, and according to some this led to his death: his hair contained high concentrations of arsenic. There is even speculation that he was poisoned with the element on purpose. But other historians counter that almost everyone at that time had high doses of arsenic in their hair, and that their death was natural.
Also read Napoleon's death: cancer or murder?
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