A yellow to brown colored, thick, foul smelling, very toxic oil obtained from the seeds of a tropical plant, Croton Tiglium. Croton oil was used as a drastic purgative agent, but is now mostly used as a standard irritant in pharmacological research. Exposure to this substance causes severe skin irritation and affects the small intestine leading to severe diarrhea. Croton oil is a possible human carcinogen. (NCI05)

Viscous, nauseating oil obtained from the shrub Croton tiglium (Euphorbaceae). It is a vesicant and skin irritant used as pharmacologic standard for skin inflammation and allergy and causes skin cancer. It was formerly used as an emetic and cathartic with frequent mortality.