• Question: IS CYANIDE DANGEROUS IF SO HOW IS IT DANGEROUS

    Asked by submarine3 to Emma on 19 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Emma Bennett

      Emma Bennett answered on 19 Jun 2011:

      Hydrogen cyanide is very dangerous and lots of plants use this compound as a defence chemical. It has been used in chemical warfare being exposed to 270 ppm in the air can kill you within minutes.

      To put this in context the plant cassava provides a source of carbohydrate for a large proportion of the world population and yet in its raw uncooked form it contains cyanide. The bitter forms contain the most cyanide and this can be as much as 1g/kg of cassava but it only takes about 40 mg of cassava cyanide to kill a cow! Therefore you really have to make sure it’s cooked properly before eating it.

Comments

  • Photo: Michael

    Michael commented on :

    Yes, I agree with Emma – it is very dangerous. I used cyanide in my experiments for about 10 years and it has a very faint smell of almonds that you become very good at detecting at a hundred yards. It can be used in low amounts as an experimental tool becuase it inhibits the function of mitochondria – these are the organelles in your cells that produce a lot of the molecule ATP that is necessary to give the energy for all your cell functions.

  • Photo: Michael

    Michael commented on :

    If you’re quick submarine3 and get over to the vanadium zone, you’ll see that Rika studies how bacteria produce cyanide in the lung!

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