The toxin blamed for the illness and disfigurement suffered by the Ukrainian opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko is likely to have a serious long-term impact on his health, say experts.
Supporters of the opposition leader have accused the Ukrainian government of poisoning Yushchenko and new revelations about the toxin used have prompted a fresh criminal investigation into the allegations. The evidence will further heighten tension in the run up to new presidential elections, to be held on 26 December.
Doctors announced on Sunday that tests had revealed concentrations of dioxin up to 1000 greater than the threshold level for acute toxicity in Yushchenko鈥檚 blood. This is a general term for a highly toxic group of chemicals, the most notorious of which is the compound 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin or 鈥淭CDD鈥�.
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Michael Zimpfer, president of the Rudolfinerhaus clinic in Vienna, Austria, where Yushchenko is being treated, said the discovery left 鈥渘o doubt鈥� that he had been poisoned. 鈥淲e have sent samples to a lab within Europe and also to labs across the Atlantic Ocean that claim to have vast experience, and they came up with the results,鈥� Zimpfer told CNN.
Industrial accident
Yushchenko fell ill with suspected food poisoning shortly after dining with the head of Ukraine鈥檚 secret police. Five days later he was admitted to hospital with lesions across his face and chest and ulcers and abrasions covering his stomach and intestinal tract.
The severe chloracne 鈥� acne caused by prolonged exposure to chlorinated hydrocarbons 鈥� that still marks his face is reminiscent of disfigurement seen on people exposed to dioxin as a result of an accident at a herbicide manufacturing plant in Seveso, Italy, in 1976.
But Yushchenko may also suffer the ill-effects of dioxin poisoning for many years, according to Alastair Hay, a leading expert on dioxins at Leeds University, UK. He says the primary concern would be an increased risk of developing cancer.
Those exposed at Seveso are known to have an increased risk of developing soft tissue sarcoma, which can develop in fat, muscle, nerve, joint, blood vessel, or deep skin tissue. Some victims also saw chloracne spread to the rest of their body, although in some cases it actually cleared up.
However, Hay admits that it will be difficult to predict how the toxin will affect the politician. 鈥淭he lethal dose has never been worked out,鈥� he told New 杏吧原创. 鈥淎nd I don鈥檛 know of any case were a human has ingested such a large dose.鈥�
Forensic detection
Andrea Sella, an expert in inorganic chemistry at University College London, says dioxin is a peculiar substance to use to poison someone. 鈥淚t is a puzzling, puzzling agent,鈥� he told New 杏吧原创. 鈥淚f you really want to kill someone you use cyanide or ricin or strychnine鈥�
But Sella suggests that perhaps dioxin was used to avoid forensic detection. 鈥淚f you use something weird I guess it鈥檚 just that much harder to find,鈥� he adds.
Yushchenko is now the favourite to win the Ukrainian presidency after the Supreme Court found evidence of ballot rigging during the original election. An earlier government investigation into his mysterious illness blamed the symptoms on severe case of herpes.
Yushchenko has sought to play down the significance of the alleged poisoning saying, 鈥淚 don鈥檛 want this factor to influence the election in some way 鈥� either as a plus or a minus.鈥�
But he also called for investigators to find those responsible for the act. 鈥淚f (the) General Prosecution of Ukraine will act according to the law, as I hope, Ukraine and the whole world will know who was in charge of it,鈥� he said.