Agonopterix alstroemeriana with the dry weight of the leaf. However, oviposition was not correlated positively with the concentration of alkaloids in the poison hemlock, which varies widely among individual plants. Therefore, it is difficult to predict whether increased alkaloids in the plant would increase or decrease the use of the hemlock moth as a biological control. The effects that the alkaloids in "Conium maculatum" cause on the moth, both physiologically and behaviorally, are relatively unknown. Persons interested in the biological control capabilities of "A. alstroemeriana" see behavioral dependency on the host plant as an asset when using this moth as a biological
Poison drilling rigs). Plant-based contact irritants, such as that possessed by poison ivy or poison oak, are often classed as allergens rather than poisons; the effect of an allergen being not a poison as such, but to turn the body's natural defenses against itself. Poison can also enter the body through the teeth (in the controversial case of dental malpractice), faulty medical implants, or by injection (which is the basis of lethal injection in the context of capital punishment). In 2013, 3.3 million cases of unintentional human poisonings occurred. This resulted in 98,000 deaths worldwide, down from 120,000 deaths in 1990.