Buzz
Recently, Texas oncologist Ana Maria Gonzalez-Angulo was charged with aggravated assault after trying to poison her lover, fellow doctor George Blumenschein, by slipping ethylene glycol—the toxic component of antifreeze—into his coffee. Many others have attempted similar acts of murder, and according to the latest Annual Report by the American Association of Poison Control Centers, there were 6,241 accidental ethylene glycol poisonings in 2011. Why do so many people not realize they're ingesting a poison?
In a rare turn of events, Dr. Blumenschein noticed something was off. He usually drank his coffee black, but when Gonzalez-Angulo served him his cup, it tasted sweet. He asked for another, but she insisted he finish the first, claiming she'd added only a little Splenda. This story illustrates why antifreeze poisoning is so common and often successful: ethylene glycol has a surprisingly pleasant taste for something so deadly.
Ethylene glycol is thick, odorless, and sweet, making it easy to blend into drinks like coffee, tea, soda, and juice without detection. Even when the toxin isn't masked by other flavors, its sweet taste doesn't raise alarms the way bitter toxins do, and people or pets may not realize anything is wrong.
The toxin primarily targets the nervous system and kidneys, leading to symptoms like headaches, slurred speech, dizziness, nausea, and—through its metabolic breakdown into other toxic substances—potentially fatal kidney failure. A lethal dose is about a third of a cup.
To reduce ethylene glycol poisonings, some states mandate the addition of bitter-tasting agents to antifreeze to make it unpleasant to consume. Last year, several antifreeze and coolant manufacturers voluntarily agreed to include these agents even when not legally required. With these new, more repellent products on the market, would-be poisoners may have to seek alternative toxins (unless they can access pure ethylene glycol, commonly used in laboratories like Gonzalez-Angulo’s). In the meantime, I wonder if this case will inspire copycat crimes, similar to those the Georgia Poison Center saw after the highly publicized poisoning of a police officer and the subsequent televised trial of his wife.
