Information about Bradford Sweets Poisoning
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Background
William Hardaker, known to locals as "Humbug Billy", sold sweets from a stall in the Green Market in central Bradford (now the site of Bradford's Arndale Centre, named Kirkgate Market). Hardaker made his purchases of stocks from Joseph Neal, who made the sweets (or "lozenges") on Stone Street. The lozenges in question were peppermint humbugs, made of peppermint oil incorporated, theoretically, into a base of sugar and gum.[1] However, sugar was expensive and so Neal would substitute a cheaper, inert substance known as "daft" for the sugar. The adulteration of foodstuffs with "daft" was common practice at the time. Jones reports that "the precise identity of 'daft' was variable: plaster of Paris, powdered limestone and sulphate of lime had been reported."[1]Accidental poisoning
On the occasion in question, Neal sent the lodger who lived at his house - James Archer - to collect daft for Hardaker's humbugs from druggist Charles Hodgson, whose pharmacy was located at Baildon Bridge in Shipley. Hodgson was at his pharmacy, but did not serve Archer due to illness and so his requests were seen to by William Goddard. He went to Hodgson as he was unclear on where the "daft" was to be found and was told that it was in a cask in one corner of the cellar.[2] However, rather than "daft", Goddard sold Archer 12 pounds of arsenic trioxide.[2]The mistake remained undetected even during manufacture of the sweets by James Appleton, an "experienced sweetmaker"[1] employed by Neal, though Appleton did observe that the finished product looked different from the usual humbugs; reportedly, he was suffering symptoms of illness during the sweet-making process. Reportedly, Appleton mixed the 12lbs of arsenic with 40lbs of sugar and 4lbs of gum to make the sweets. Forty lbs of lozenges were sold to Hardaker[2] who also noticed the sweets looked unusual and used this to obtain a discount from Neal. Like Appleton, Hardaker, as one of the first to taste the sweets, also promptly became ill.
Regardless, Hardaker sold 5lbs of the sweets from his market stall that night[2] - reportedly at a price of three halfpence for two ounces.[1] Of those who purchased and ate the sweets, around 20 people died with a further 200 or so becoming severely ill with arsenic poisoning within a day or so.
Consequences
Originally the first deaths - those of two children - were thought to be due to cholera, a major problem in Britain at the time; but the growing number of casualties soon showed that the purchase of lozenges from Hardaker's stall was the cause, and from there the trail led to Neal and Hodgson. Goddard was arrested and stood before magistrates in the court house in Bradford on 1 November with Hodgson and Neale later committed for trial with Goddard on a charge of manslaughter. Dr John Bell identified arsenic as the cause, and this was confirmed by Felix Rimmington, a prominent chemist and druggist and analytical chemist.[1] (The current business of F. M. Rimmington Ltd remains to this day as a prominent city centre pharmacy.) Rimmington estimated that each humbug contained between 11 and 16 grains of arsenic, though a contemporary account suggests 9 grains, with 4.5 grains being a lethal dose. As such, each lozenge would have contained enough arsenic to kill two people, and enough distributed by Hardaker in total to kill 2,000.[2] The prosecution against Goddard and Neal was later withdrawn and Hodgson was acquitted when the case was considered at York Assizes on 21 December 1858.The tragedy and resulting public outcry was a major contributing factor to The Pharmacy Act 1868 which recognized the chemist and druggist as the custodian and seller of named poisons (as medicine was then formally known). The requirement for record keeping and the requirement to obtain the signature of the purchaser is currently upheld under the Poisons Act 1972 for "non medicinal" poisons. W. E. Gladstone's ministry of 1868 - 1874 also brought in legislation regulating the adulteration of foodstuffs as a result of the events.
Further reading
- Holloway SWF. Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain 1841-1991. A Political and Social History. London: Pharmaceutical Press: 1991. pp 221-30.
- Sheeran G. The Bradford Poisoning of 1858. Halifax: Ryburn Publishing Ltd; 1992.
- "Wholesale poisoning by arsenic at Bradford." Pharm J 1858; 18:340-43.
Notes
Toxicology (from the Greek words toxicos and logos) is the study of the adverse effects of chemicals on living organisms.[1] It is the study of symptoms, mechanisms, treatments and detection of poisoning, especially the poisoning of people.
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Forensic toxicology is the use of toxicology and other disciplines such as analytical chemistry, pharmacology and clinical chemistry to aid medicolegal investigation of death, poisoning, and drug use.
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history of poisons[1] stretches over a period from before 4500 BC to the present day. Poisons have been used for many purposes across the span of human existence as weapons, anti-venoms and medicines.
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poisons are substances that can cause damage, illness, or death to organisms, usually by chemical reaction or other activity on the molecular scale, when a sufficient quantity is absorbed by an organism.
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A toxicant is a chemical compound that has an effect on organisms. Toxicants are typically introduced into the environment by human activity.The effects depend on the concentration of the compound.
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An antidote is a substance which can counteract a form of poisoning.
Sometimes, the antidote for a particular toxin is manufactured by injecting the toxin into an animal in small doses and the resulting antibodies are extracted from the animals' blood.
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Sometimes, the antidote for a particular toxin is manufactured by injecting the toxin into an animal in small doses and the resulting antibodies are extracted from the animals' blood.
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Acceptable Daily Intake or ADI is a measure of the amount of a specific substance (usually a food additive, or a residue of a veterinary drug or pesticide) in food or drinking water that can be ingested (orally) over a lifetime without an appreciable health risk.
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Acute toxicity describes the adverse effects of a substance which result either from a single exposure[1] or from multiple exposures in a short space of time (usually less than 24 hours).
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Bioaccumulation occurs when an organism absorbs a toxic substance at a rate greater than that at which the substance is lost. Thus, the longer the biological half-life of the substance the greater the risk of chronic poisoning, even if environmental levels of the toxin are very
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The fixed-dose procedure (FDP) was proposed in 1984 to assess a substance's acute oral toxicity using fewer animals with less suffering than the older LD50 test developed in 1927.
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A lethal dose (LD) is an indication of the lethality of a given substance or type of radiation. Because resistance varies from one individual to another, the 'lethal dose' represents a dose (usually recorded as dose per kilogram of subject body weight) at which a given
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Toxic capacity can mean the toxicity of a substance, possibly in relation to a specific organism and toxic capacity can mean the capacity of an organism, organic system or ecosystem to contain a toxic substance or a selection of toxic substances (a compound) without showing
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Toxicity Class refers to a classification system for pesticides created by a national or international government-related or -sponsored organization. It addresses the acute toxicity of agents such as soil fumigants, fungicides, herbicides, insecticides, miticides, molluscicides,
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toxin (Greek: τοξικόν, toxikon, lit. (poison) for use on arrows) is a poisonous substance produced by living cells or organisms.
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Venom (literally, poison of animal origin) is any of a variety of toxins used by certain types of animals, for the purpose of defense and hunting. Generally, venom is injected while other toxins are absorbed by ingestion or through the skin.
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A neurotoxin is a toxin that acts specifically on nerve cells – neurons – usually by interacting with membrane proteins such as ion channels. Many of the venoms and other toxins that organisms use in defense against vertebrates are neurotoxins.
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Necrosis (in Greek Νεκρός = Dead) is the name given to accidental death of cells and living tissue. Necrosis is less orderly than apoptosis, which is part of programmed cell death.
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Hemotoxins, haemotoxins or hematotoxins are toxins that destroy red blood cells (that is, cause hemolysis), disrupt blood clotting, and/or cause organ degeneration and generalized tissue damage.
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Mycotoxin (from the Greek μύκης (mykes, mukos) "fungus") is a toxin produced by an organism of the fungus kingdom, which includes mushrooms, molds and yeasts. Most fungi are aerobic (use oxygen).
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Aflatoxins are naturally occurring mycotoxins that are produced by many species of Aspergillus, a fungus, most notably Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus. Aflatoxins are toxic and carcinogenic.
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Phototoxins are toxins that can cause allergic reactions in particularly susceptible individuals and which can cause dangerous photosensitivity in a much broader range of subjects.
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Daylight.
This is the list of fictional chemical weapons. Fictional chemical weapons are toxins that are used on large scale, by either military, paramilitary or terrorist organizations.
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Fictional chemical weapons
This is the list of fictional chemical weapons. Fictional chemical weapons are toxins that are used on large scale, by either military, paramilitary or terrorist organizations.
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Minamata disease
Classification & external resources
The crippled hand of a Minamata disease victim (W. E. Smith)
ICD-10 T56.1
ICD-9 985.0
MedlinePlus 001651
Minamata disease
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Classification & external resources
The crippled hand of a Minamata disease victim (W. E. Smith)
ICD-10 T56.1
ICD-9 985.0
MedlinePlus 001651
Minamata disease
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Niigata Minamata disease
Classification & external resources
The crippled hand of a Minamata disease victim
ICD-10 T56.1
ICD-9 985.0
MedlinePlus 001651
Niigata Minamata disease
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Classification & external resources
The crippled hand of a Minamata disease victim
ICD-10 T56.1
ICD-9 985.0
MedlinePlus 001651
Niigata Minamata disease
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Alexander Litvinenko suddenly fell ill and was hospitalised. He died three weeks later, becoming the first known victim of lethal polonium-210-induced acute radiation syndrome.
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The Bhopal Disaster took place in the early hours of the morning of December 3 1984,[1] in the heart of the city of Bhopal in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.
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2007 pet food recalls comprise the contamination and wide recall of many brands of cat and dog foods beginning in March 2007 and the ensuing developments involving the human food supply.
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This is a list of poisonings in chronological order of victim. It also includes confirmed attempted and fictional poisonings. Many of the people listed here committed or attempted to commit suicide by poison; others were poisoned by others.
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Lead poisoning
Classification & external resources
ICD-10 T 56.0
ICD-9 984.9
Lead poisoning is a medical condition, also known as saturnism, plumbism or painter's colic, caused by increased blood lead levels.
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Classification & external resources
ICD-10 T 56.0
ICD-9 984.9
Lead poisoning is a medical condition, also known as saturnism, plumbism or painter's colic, caused by increased blood lead levels.
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