Cyanide is not always deadly poison, but can form compounds and salts used in various industries. It was infamously used in the Holocaust and by Saddam Hussein. Exposure is difficult to avoid, but long-term exposure can be dangerous. Cyanide poisoning can be treated if caught in time.
It’s easy to assume that the word “cyanide” is always synonymous with deadly poison. Chemically speaking, however, cyanide describes a triple bond between carbon and nitrogen atoms. This carbon-nitrogen combination can be combined with metals or other elements to form any number of compounds or salts, such as potassium cyanide, sodium cyanide, or hydrogen cyanide. It is also found naturally in sugars, cassava roots, large fruit stones and tobacco leaves.
Different cyanide salts are used to process film, remove gold from ore, plating or cleaning metals, and making paper or plastics. In the form of a gas, hydrogen cyanide is used to fumigate warehouses and cargo areas of ships. Compounds can be stored in liquid, solid or gaseous form. The infamous “suicide pills” used by spies were often derived from prussic acid, a solid form of the compound.
Perhaps its most insidious use occurred during World War II. Tasked with the gruesome task of exterminating large groups of Jewish prisoners, German concentration camp directors ordered cylinders of hydrogen cyanide, sold under the brand name Zyklon B. The victims were sorted into airtight chambers, ostensibly for showers, and the gas would be introduced through the ventilation system. There have also been claims that former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein used this gas to kill thousands of Kurds during an uprising in the late 1980s.
Because cyanide, especially hydrogen cyanide, is naturally produced, it is very difficult for humans to completely avoid exposure. However, it is not considered carcinogenic (cancer causing) and the gas evaporates quickly from groundwater. Long-term exposure to smoke, such as from forest fires or cigarettes, is considered dangerous, as this gas is a natural byproduct of smoke production. Liquid cyanide products such as insecticides and industrial cleaners can cause localized rashes and blisters on exposed skin.
Hydrogen cyanide gas causes death and disease by preventing the normal uptake of oxygen by blood cells. As the ions block oxygen in the blood, the heart and brain suffer severe damage. If the gas concentration is high enough, death will occur within minutes of exposure. Victims of cyanide poisoning can be treated in hospital if transported in time. Lower level exposure can cause dizziness, rapid heart rate, general weakness and difficulty breathing. Evacuation to a fresh air source is usually the first response, followed by decontamination and oxygen treatments.
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