Mumbai Woman Dies After Accidentally Eating Poisonous Tomatoes

In a bizarre incident, a woman in her late twenties Rekhadevi Phulkumar Nishad, died after accidentally eating poisoned tomatoes.

According to the news report, Nishad had injected tomatoes with rat poison around 21 July to kill rodents in her house. A week later, while watching television, she unknowingly picked those poison-laced tomatoes to add them to Maggi, and consumed the food.

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Her ingesting of the tomatoes laced with rat poison have caused her to vomit hours after eating the food, eventually killing her. According to police, there were no people in the house when the incident took place. Hours later, when her husband and brother-in-law had arrived, she complained about her deteriorating health, to which they rushed her to the nearest Shatabdi hospital. Unfortunately, she died on 27 July (Wednesday), following which the police registered a case of accidental death.

Why Is Rat Poison Toxic?

Rodenticides, also known as "rat poison," are made of wide array of toxic chemicals. According to a study published in the journal National Centre For Biotechnology Information (NCBI), rat poisons are basically categorised into three categories based on their labels: danger, warning, caution.

Rodenticides with a label of "danger" may include toxic chemicals like thallium, strychnine, aluminium phosphide, arsenic, elemental phosphorus and sodium monofluoroacetate. On the other hand, rat poisons with the label "warning" may contain cholecalciferol and alpha-naphthyl thiourea, while those with the label "caution" may contain anticoagulants like warfarin and red squill. [1]

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When ingested, these rat poisons tend to decrease the clotting ability of the blood, thus making the blood thinner and causing internal bleeding or sudden bleeding from the skin, nose or gums. Other symptoms may include vomiting, shortness of breath, stomach problems, swelling in the brain, loss of consciousness and kidney damage. Longer exposure to rat poison may lead to coma and death.

Treatment For Rat Poison Toxicity

In the case of rat poisoning, a person needs to be taken to the nearest hospital immediately for supportive treatment methods like support for breathing and circulation. Based on the patient's severity, a medical expert may administer vitamin K, which is an effective antidote for rat poisoning. Other suggested treatment methods may include intravenous fluids, ipecac and medications to control certain symptoms.