One of the most common poisons in the world is arsenic. It’s actually only poisonous in large doses of regular exposure and also has certain benefits and has enjoyed a fair bit of popularity in colouring clothes and even face makeup. It’s now used a lot as a conductor in Electronic Devices. It was useful for wood paint and in pesticides but not so much now as it’s very dangerous to use.
Arsenic is a mineral and is minded like any other substance. It’s usually taken from the dust found in gold, copper and lead when they are put through the smelting process. Before we knew about it, was quite deadly to workers in the industry. It Is thought to be in the top 16 abundant minerals on earth. Most of that is in China with Morocco being a long way second.
Its most infamous use is as a popular poison. There is a reason for that. First off, it’s easy to get hold of due to its abundance. The other reason it is used is that it was difficult to pin the guilt on those suspected of using it as the symptoms vary in the person being poisoned. Having said that, two tests have now been developed so the King of poisons is not as widespread as it once was. Why was it called the King of poisons? In the murky world of royalty and aristocracy the slippery pole to the top of the family tree was littered with offed relatives. Arsenic was the most popular, as it was easy to sneak into food. As the people most likely to have the stuff to use it were the upper classes and the monarchy it got his royal moniker. It was the perfect secret killer as it was deadly but not easy to detect. Death was put down to lifestyle or some unknown illness.
Arsenic was not just used for doing in Kings and Queens, Viscounts, Dukes and Duchesses or other Aristocrats. It was known as far back as the Bronze Age that adding it to Bronze made it stronger and all the better for cutting or bashing your enemies into tiny bits. This was a vital age when faced with similar tribes. It’s also been used for the health and beauty. Elizabeth the first used to paint on her head as it was thought to give vitality. It wasn’t an assignation attempt, they really did believe that. In Victorian times women ate and arsenic mixture and also applied it their face along with a white chalk mixture and added vinegar. Why did they do that? Especially as now we have much better cosmetic procedures such as those done by the Belfast Dermal Fillers at https://www.glamskinclinic.com/dermal-fillers They wanted to have a pasty appearance. The reason for this is that the “pale and interesting look” was very, very in in Victorian times as it meant that you were not some rural farmworker out out in the fields all day getting suntan and therefore poor. This all changed when the working populace found themselves stuck inside mills and factories the tanned look became popular again as it showed you had decent leisure time!