Arsenic and Old Lace

For the clan known as Brewster insanity runs in the family. Two dear sweet old aunts take it upon themselves to end the presumed suffering of lonely old bachelors by serving them elderberry wine spiked with Arsenic, strychnine and "just a pinch of cyanide". The bodies are buried in the basement by bugle-blowing brother Teddy, who believes he is digging locks for the Panama Canal and burying yellow fever victims. Nephew Mortimer has just gotten married, and is trying to negotiate his way around the shenanigans of the house, while trying to keep his new bride from fleeing. He also worries that he will go insane like the rest of the Brewster family. As he puts it, "Insanity runs in my family, practically gallops!".

Cary Grant stars in "Arsenic and Old Lace", an energetic comedy-farce of a film from director Frank Capra (1944). It is a madcap look at romance and the lack of it with old maids burying grumpy old men murdered by poisoning, with Arsenic no less.

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Arsenic is notoriously poisonous
and poses a threat around the world
as a contaminant in drinking water

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In spite of the comedy from the movie, Arsenic is notoriously poisonous and poses a threat around the world, being used as an undetectable poison, and found contaminating drinking water and apple juice. A Consumer Reports study, including tests of apple and grape juice, found that roughly 10 percent of the juice samples had total Arsenic levels that exceeded federal drinking-water standards. Most of that Arsenic was inorganic Arsenic, a known carcinogen. Mounting scientific evidence suggests that chronic exposure to Arsenic and Lead, even at levels below water standards, can result in serious health problems.

Arsenic has been known and used since ancient times. Aristotle makes reference to Sandarach (Arsenic Trisulfide) in the 4th century B.C. It was frequently used for murder due to its incredible potency and discreetness; Arsenic Trioxide is a white, tasteless and odorless powder that left no traceable (at the time) elements in the body. Arsenic has been called the Poison of Kings and the King of Poisons due to its use by the ruling class to murder one another. It was a favorite murder weapon in the Middle Ages among ruling classes in Italy. Notable deaths by Arsenic poisoning include King George III of Great Britain, Napoleon Bonaparte, and American explorer Charles Francis Hall. It can now be detected by the Marsh Test, a sensitive chemical test for its presence.

Arsenic is a metaloid element with the symbol As and atomic number 33. Arsenic occurs in many minerals, usually with sulfur and metals, but also as a pure elemental crystal. In 1649 Johann Schroeder discovered Arsenic, publishing two ways of prepare the elemental metal.

The main use of metallic Arsenic is for strengthening alloys of copper and especially lead (as in car batteries). Arsenic is used in semiconductor electronic devices, and gallium arsenide is the most common semiconductor in use after doped silicon. Arsenic and its compounds, especially the trioxide, are used in the production of pesticides (treated wood products), herbicides, and insecticides.

For decades, Arsenic was used as a preservative for pressure-treated lumber commonly used in decks and playground equipment. In 2003 that use was banned but the wood continues to contribute to Arsenic in groundwater when it is recycled as mulch. Increased public exposure to Arsenic still exists as the United States has used roughly 1.6 million tons of it for agricultural and other industrial uses with about half of that cumulative total being used since only the mid-1960s. Arsenic based insecticides were widely used in cotton fields, orchards, and vineyards until they were banned in the 1980s. But residues in the soil still contaminate crops. Today the quantity of Arsenic released into the environment in the United States by human activities is three times more than that released from natural sources.

Inorganic Arsenic is a carcinogen known to cause bladder, lung, and skin cancer in people and to increase risks of cardiovascular disease, immunodeficiency, and type 2 diabetes. Use of organic Arsenic in agricultural products has also caused concern. In 2006 the EPA took steps to stop the use of herbicides containing organic Arsenic because of their potential to turn into inorganic Arsenic in the soil and contaminate drinking water. As recently as 2011, working with the FDA, the drug company Alpharma suspended the sale of Roxarsone, a poultry-feed additive, because it contained an organic form of Arsenic that could convert into inorganic Arsenic inside the bird, potentially contaminating the meat or contaminating the soil when the droppings are used as fertilizer.

Arsenic may have been the villain in a 1944 classic but today it poses a threat to millions everywhere, most notably in contaminated drinking water in developing nations. Even with increasing limits on its use, it will take decades to bring the amount of exposure down to safe levels.

James 3:8 - "But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. (NKJV)"