12 Facts About Paraquat

Paraquat was first manufactured and sold by ICI in early 1962 under the trade name Gramoxone, and is today among the most commonly used herbicides.

Paraquat is an oxidant that interferes with electron transfer, a process that is common to all life.

Paraquat is often used in science to catalyze the formation of ROS, more specifically, the superoxide free radical.

Paraquat will undergo redox cycling in vivo, being reduced by an electron donor such as NADPH, before being oxidized by an electron receptor such as dioxygen to produce superoxide, a major ROS.

Paraquat is toxic to humans by the oral route and moderately toxic through the skin.

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Paraquat is toxic when inhaled and is in the Toxicity Category I for acute inhalation effects.

Paraquat is widely used as a suicide agent in third-world countries because it is widely available at low cost.

Paraquat was used in the UK in 1981 by a woman who poisoned her husband.

Paraquat-induced toxicity in rats has been linked to Parkinson's-like neurological degenerative mechanisms.

Paraquat is structurally similar to MPP, a known fast-acting inducer of Parkinson's disease in primate brains.

Paraquat induces oxidative stress in invertebrates such as Drosophila melanogaster.

Paraquat-fed flies suffer early-onset mortality and significant increases in superoxide dismutase activity.