What should I know about ricin?
Ricin is a poison that can be made from the waste left over from processing castor beans. Ricin poisoning is highly unlikely. Moreover, it has never been deployed as a weapon of mass destruction. It would be an unlikely biological weapon because an extremely large amount of ricin is necessary to produce the desired effect, and wide dispersal methods are difficult for terrorists to achieve. It can be in the form of a powder, a mist, or a pellet, or it can be dissolved in water or food. Symptoms of ricin exposure include fever, cough, and excess fluid in the lungs.
