It made Robert Bunsen seriously ill, Michael Faraday thought it 'barbaric' to use in battle and even Fritz Haber – the 'father of chemical warfare' – abandoned it after a fatal accident in his lab. This week, Mike Freemantle tells the story of tetramethyldiarsine, otherwise known as cacodyl.

Kit Chapman takes us back to the 1904 Olympics in St Louis, via the bronze age and ancient Greece

Louise Crane introduces the antioxidant that led to exaggerated claims that 'whisky helps fight cancer'

The spice that gives your Christmas eggnog its distinctive taste and aroma is also a toxic narcotic that played an important role in international history. Florence Schechter shares the history of myristicin – the active ingredient in nutmeg

Post-nuclear steel is a little bit radioactive, so for some specialist jobs we need to find a source of steel from before the bomb

The compounds that put the 'tin' in tin cans and help you to reflect on your appearance

Kat Arney's investigation of the pungent chemical in onions is enough to bring tears to your eyes

Epoxies – including hard-wearing resins and strong adhesives – can be found almost everywhere, from your household white goods to the Large Hadron Collider. And the aroma of these compounds cemented their place in Brian Clegg's childhood memories.

How one footballer's climate concerns led to the creation of a green chemistry company: Mike Freemantle discovers the story of Mathieu Flamini, GFBiochemicals and levulinic acid.

Florence Schechter discovers how a seemingly healthy grapefruit-based breakfast could disrupt your daily drugs