Ricin poisoning is not contagious-it cannot be spread from person to person through casual contact. Ricin pellets, or ricin dissolved in a liquid, can also be injected into people's bodies.

If that were done, people could be exposed by inhaling ricin mist or powder, or by eating food or drinking water that contains ricin.

It would take a deliberate act to make ricin and use it to poison people. Unintentional exposure is highly unlikely. Reports also indicate that ricin has been found in Al Qaeda caves in Afghanistan. Ricin may have been used as a chemical warfare agent in the Iran-Iraq war during the 1980s. Ricin has some medical uses, such as bone marrow transplants and cancer treatment (to kill cancer cells). Where is ricin found and how is it used?Ĭastor beans are processed throughout the world to make castor oil. It can be in the form of a powder, a mist, or a pellet, or dissolved in water or weak acid. Ricin is a poison that can be made from waste left over from processing castor beans.

Ricin antidote