Thallium
From Ganfyd
Symbol: Th Atomic No: 81Thallium
Importance in Man of Thallium
salts extremely toxic and said to be tasteless
Web Resources for Thallium
Relevant Clinical Literature
RCT with Thallium from Pubmed
UK Guidance
Tl. Heavy metal element. Toxic, but interestingly name from 'thallos' (Greek) - green shoot. Discovered in 1861 by Sir W. Crookes. The name came from a bright green line in the spectrum [1]
Used in the Middle East as a rat poison. Has been used as a weapon of assassination and to poison political prisoners.[2]
The 201-isotope is used to scintrigraphically localise parathyroid tissue.
 | Expected to be present in higher concentrations in worlds nearer the core of the galaxy, and used as a plot device in Larry Niven's science fiction novel Protector on this basis. Agatha Christie also used it as a fictional murder weapon. |
