What's Your Poison?

Just 3 drops of the herbicide (weedkiller) Paraquat will kill a human. The material has been popular with suicides. Syngenta is a Swiss company, producing and marketing a Paraquat-based preparation called Gramoxone. Jon Heylings, used to work for Syngenta. He now maintains the company resisted making 'tweaks', designed to save lives, to Gramoxone (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/mar/24/syngenta-paraquat-deadly-john-heylings). Heylings, at various times, suggested adding an emetic (a preparation that would cause vomiting), colouring agents (designed to make it look less like tea or a soft drink) and evil-smelling agents (providing warning), to the preparation. He maintains all his suggestions were rejected, on the basis they might hit company profits. Paraquat is now banned in the EU, Switzerland and the UK. The compound can only be used by trained individuals, wearing appropriate protection, in the US. Paraquat preparations are still, however, widely sold and used in many parts of Asia. The compound has been responsible for thousands of deaths. Profits over safety?