Venom and poison what is the difference...

in #stemng7 years ago (edited)

images (5).jpg

Venom and poison, what is the difference


image scource
Sometimes most of us use the word venom and poison as synonyms (interchangeably) but in real time they actually have different meaning and implications.
In a nutshell the major difference is in their mode of delivery: venom is injected whereas poison is absorbed or ingested. Venomous organisms have their mechanism for injecting the venom into the other subject (victim) example fangs, stinger. Most of the time venom is introduced through sting or bites. It is for this reason that snakes bites are considered venomous.!

Frogs on the other hand are not venomous, rather they are poisonous to touch or eat (poisonous absorbance/ ingestion).

According to mirriam-webster Venom: a toxic substance produced by some animals (such as snakes, scorpions, or bees) that is injected into prey or an enemy chiefly by biting or stinging and has an injurious or lethal effect; broadly : a substance that is poisonous.

image scource
poison : a substance that through its chemical action usually kills, injures, or impairs an organism
b (1) : something destructive or harmful (2) : an object of aversion or abhorrence
2 : a substance that inhibits the activity of another substance or the course of a reaction or process a catalyst poison

IMG_20180309_110426_082.JPG
MECHANISM
Venomous organism inject their venom into their victim/prey using a specialized apparatus such as fangs or stinger. Whereas poisonous organisms do not do this directly rather they have special gland that secretes the poison when touched ( frog for instance secretes poison from its poison gland as defence mechanism when frightened). The larger part of the body of the organism may be considered poisonous when eaten as well.


image scource
Example of poisonous organism are the order arthropods: frogs, monarch butterflies, stinging caterpillars. Example of venom organism are snakes, etc. They occur in 3 categories order namely: Hemiptera, Lepidoptara, and Hymenogotera.

image scource

SAFTY MEASURES

Apart from some of these organisms that may be a source of poison and venom some the activities we carry out may also be harmful to us. You have cases of food poisoning and more. It is however advisable that you keep your home clean and safe as 90% of poison occur at home.
mixing of domestic chemical products (if at all) must be done with caution as most of them releases poisonous gas.

Take medications according to prescription. Avoid drug abuse

References

Difference between venom and poison

Poison vs Venom

If you write STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) related posts, consider joining #steemSTEM on steemit chat or discord here. If you are from Nigeria, you may want to include the #stemng tag in your post. You can visit this blog by @stemng for more details. You can also check this blog post by @steemstem here and these guidelines here for help on how to be a member of @steemstem

Sort:  

Nice one @smoothwave,
well that was well understood, I am curious to know in which category you will place toxins then?
Cheers

Thanks @vinnamra

Toxins are substance that act as poison with an organism and they are usually produced by bacteria activity.
What actually different one from the other is their mechanisms and mode of manifestations.

Coin Marketplace

STEEM 0.22
TRX 0.20
JST 0.035
BTC 90822.08
ETH 3148.18
USDT 1.00
SBD 3.11