Ok from what could gather, the difference between poison, toxins, and venom is really complicated and confusing. Because we all know from that one tumblr text post that venom is when something bites you and you die and poison is when you bite it and you die and kinky is when you bite each other and no one dies. But I never understood what the chemical difference was. Are there any differences? Do venoms and poisons fundamentally function differently? Or is it just a naming convention like magma and lava where they are effectively the same thing just in different situations? And what is a toxin and how does that fit into all of this?

Well as it turns out. Poison is actually the most encompassing one. Poison refers to anything that when introduced to the body, causes illness or death. But this definition is extremely vague and open to interpretation. Because technically every substance has a poison threshold. Water is poisonous if you drank enough. And it’s not quite clear if the method of administering the poison matters. Because I can shoot you with a gun and say bullets are poisonous. But something tells me that doesn’t actually check out.

So we’ve established that poison is extremely hard to define. Toxin becomes a little bit easier. Because there are actually clear rules for something to qualify as a toxin. Toxin has to be a naturally occurring organic chemical. It typically is a type of protein that causes antibody formation when coming into contact with your cells. But this is confusing because the word toxic, which toxin is derived from, does not have to be organic in origin. Toxic, the adjective, is essentially synonymous with poisonous. And it does not have to be organic in nature. It simply means the condition of being able to harm you. I’ve read sources that say “poison implies levels of toxicity” and ones that say “poison is more likely to refer to biological organisms” but that doesn’t seem to be universally agreed upon as radiation poisoning or lead poisoning are a thing.

So venom is actually the most specific out of all the terms mentioned. Venom is specifically a toxin that has to be injected into the body. Which includes stingers, fangs, it appears a lot of venom isn’t directly harmful unless it enters the bloodstream. Certain venoms are harmless enough where you can drink them without problem, unless you have a cut in your mouth or something. But venoms are still poisons. In the broadest sense, enough of it will kill you.