# Can you actually poison someone by candle? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 4, 2014, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-actually-poison-someone-by-candle/685331 "2014-04-04T12:12:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![The\_Piranha\_Brothers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aca169/32.png) [@The\_Piranha\_Brothers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Piranha_Brothers)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-actually-poison-someone-by-candle/685331/1 "2014-04-04T12:12:46Z")
Can you actually poison someone by candle? Poisoning someone through a candle - I don’t mean making him eat a candle, I mean putting something in the wax or wick - occurs in a few fiction works like Terry Pratchett’s _Feet of clay_ and he probably got the idea from the TV series _The Accursed Kings_ based on a French series of historical novels. There are probably other uses that I don’t know about. But is this actually chemically possible? ---
**Author:** ![Habeed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a587f6/32.png) [@Habeed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Habeed)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-actually-poison-someone-by-candle/685331/2 "2014-04-05T00:42:08Z")
Mix nerve gas into the candle wax? Sounds entirely plausible. [http://emergency.cdc.gov/agent/vx/basics/facts.asp](http://emergency.cdc.gov/agent/vx/basics/facts.asp) It mentions that when heated to high temperature, it becomes a gas. It is a liquid normally, so it would probably mix right into the candle wax mixture (might take a solvent, maybe not) ---
**Author:** ![Karen\_May](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Karen\_May](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Karen_May)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-actually-poison-someone-by-candle/685331/3 "2014-04-05T01:06:26Z")
I am a sherlock holmes fan, in one of the stories adapted for television in the 1950’s, an arsenic candle killed a man… almost killed Holmes , too. :o ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-actually-poison-someone-by-candle/685331/4 "2014-04-05T01:48:51Z")
Arsine is an actual compound that’s gaseous at room temperature and poisonous in large amounts or prolonged exposure. It’s known that people were poisoned by arsenic-pigmented wallpaper that when rotted by fungus gave off arsine. I’m presuming the poison candle could be done, but I have no idea if it ever actually has. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-actually-poison-someone-by-candle/685331/5 "2014-04-05T02:18:58Z")
Hamlet’s dad got ear-poisoned. Some people believe (debunked by Cecil) that earwax can be removed using “ear candles.” Combine the two? Or alternatively, poisoned by shoddy manufacturing. Not poisoning, but explosion via candle and flour in the air. ---
**Author:** ![butterfiles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b3f665/32.png) [@butterfiles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butterfiles)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-actually-poison-someone-by-candle/685331/6 "2014-04-05T07:00:31Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Hamlet’s dad got ear-poisoned. > Some people believe (debunked by Cecil) that earwax can be removed using “ear candles.” > Combine the two? Or alternatively, poisoned by shoddy manufacturing. > Not poisoning, but explosion via candle and flour in the air. I loved the way this was phrased. Cracked me up with “ear-poisoned.” Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-actually-poison-someone-by-candle/685331/7 "2014-04-05T10:44:55Z")
Good OP/poster handle combo. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-actually-poison-someone-by-candle/685331/8 "2014-04-05T15:14:12Z")
> [@Karen\_May](#): > > I am a sherlock holmes fan, in one of the stories adapted for television in the 1950’s, an arsenic candle killed a man… almost killed Holmes , too. :o Sounds like a crude adaptation of [this story](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adventure_of_the_Devil's_Foot) (spoiler alert if you’ve never read it). I am still looking for a specimen of Radix pedis diaboli to grow. I’m beginning to suspect that Conan Doyle made it up. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-actually-poison-someone-by-candle/685331/9 "2014-04-05T17:07:38Z")
The question remains unanswered. It boils down to whether there is a substance that can be incorporated into the candle, which turns to a gas or emits suspended particulate at wax-melting temperature, and that is sufficiently toxic that a few grams of it in the air of a room, would likely be fatal. Or, like charcoal briquets, when a pound or two smolders for many hours, convert enough oxygen to carbon monoxide to cause death in an small enclosed space. I have a sense that the answer is probably No, at lest in practical terms, although there might be some very expensive and not readily available chemical that would meet the requirements. ---
**Author:** ![Habeed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a587f6/32.png) [@Habeed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Habeed)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-actually-poison-someone-by-candle/685331/10 "2014-04-05T19:02:23Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > The question remains unanswered. It boils down to whether there is a substance that can be incorporated into the candle, which turns to a gas or emits suspended particulate at wax-melting temperature, and that is sufficiently toxic that a few grams of it in the air of a room, would likely be fatal. Or, like charcoal briquets, when a pound or two smolders for many hours, convert enough oxygen to carbon monoxide to cause death in an small enclosed space. > > I have a sense that the answer is probably No, at lest in practical terms, although there might be some very expensive and not readily available chemical that would meet the requirements. Did you just not read my post? Liquid VX is one of the deadliest substances known. Even if a candle is a poor method of distribution, as long as at least some of it gets into the air, and the wax of the candle is loaded heavily with it, it’s gonna kill people. If the candle flame isn’t hot enough, you could probably mess with the chemistry there. Honestly, this isn’t gonna be a Sherlock Holme’s mystery. VX is such a big deal that the authorities are certain to figure out it came from the candle. So you might as well just make the lower part of the candle stick into a bomb. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Piranha\_Brothers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aca169/32.png) [@The\_Piranha\_Brothers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Piranha_Brothers)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2014, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-actually-poison-someone-by-candle/685331/11 "2014-04-06T12:42:47Z")
So it looks like it’s not totally unlikely at least. Thanks. > [@Karen\_May](#): > > I am a sherlock holmes fan, in one of the stories adapted for television in the 1950’s, an arsenic candle killed a man… almost killed Holmes , too. :o See, I knew there must be more instances of poisoned candles as a plot device. I had completely forgotten about that story, although I must have read it once. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2014, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-actually-poison-someone-by-candle/685331/12 "2014-04-06T14:00:49Z")
> [@Habeed](#): > > Did you just not read my post? Liquid VX is one of the deadliest substances known. Even if a candle is a poor method of distribution, as long as at least some of it gets into the air, and the wax of the candle is loaded heavily with it, it’s gonna kill people. > > If the candle flame isn’t hot enough, you could probably mess with the chemistry there. Honestly, this isn’t gonna be a Sherlock Holme’s mystery. VX is such a big deal that the authorities are certain to figure out it came from the candle. So you might as well just make the lower part of the candle stick into a bomb. Did you not read mine? I said “readily available”. I assume you cannot buy VX online or from an auto parts store, nor cook it up in your kitchen from common ingredients, although your link carefully skirted the question of the availability of the material, or the international regulations concerning acquisition of a stockpile of it. And, unless the perp had a lifetime of acquired skill in handling VX and similar toxins (like mixing it in with candle wax), it is highly likely he would kill himself before any victims. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2014, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-actually-poison-someone-by-candle/685331/13 "2014-04-06T16:58:58Z")
You could make a candle using a wick with lead in it, but that is more of a slow burn kill. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2014, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-actually-poison-someone-by-candle/685331/14 "2014-04-06T21:07:37Z")
Edgar Allen Poe had someone killed by a candle in **The Imp of the Perverse** (1845). He later retrieved the stubs, making this the Perfect Crime. I recall that the idea was used in an episode of the 1960s TV show **The Prisoner** – “The Girl that was Death”, and the Prisoner defeated it by a very clever means (this episode was originally supposed to be an episode of McGoohan’s earlier series, _Danger Man/Secret Agent_) This site claims that there have been cases of slow poisoning by candles, but it’s mostly lead in the wicks (as suggested above): [http://www.anapsid.org/cnd/mcs/candles.html](http://www.anapsid.org/cnd/mcs/candles.html) This site gives a supposed example predating even Poe’s use of it, published in 1839 > **[The Museum of Foreign Literature, Science, and Art](https://books.google.com/books?id=GME2AQAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA128&dq=%22poisoned%2Bcandle%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=jcFBU4eJEYSCrgeZooHoDQ&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22poisoned%20candle%22&f=false)** ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2014, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-actually-poison-someone-by-candle/685331/15 "2014-04-06T22:04:52Z")
Wood and leaves of the oleander tree are deadly if ingested in even a small quantity - and the smoke from burning any part of the plant is also toxic. I’m fairly sure the poisonous glycoside from that plant could be concentrated and incorporated into a candle with sufficient potency to kill a person when used in a confined space. ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2014, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-actually-poison-someone-by-candle/685331/16 "2014-04-07T07:10:09Z")
Need answer fast??? Homework??? Actual plot??? I won’t be giving specific examples but there are dozens of chemicals in the poison gas category that are used in industrial applications shipped on a regular basis. Although some of them have additional hazards such as being corrosive (not good in a candle) - others could be incorporated in a cavity in a large candle. Most are also flammable gases which would dump the contents into a room’s atmosphere quicker. There are a dozen of so poisonous solids/liquids that give off dusts/vapors with similar “qualities” when heated or exposed to flame. Many of these chemicals have IDLH concentrations in the order of 0.1 ppm or less. Small spills or leaks require downwind evacuation in excess of 1 mile. IDLH Immediately dangerous to life and health. In the event of the accidental exposure to a chemical, this is the concentration below which an individual could escape within 30 minutes without experiencing any escape-impairing or irreversible health effects.