Metal finishing Q&As since 1989

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Cyanide effects

How does Cyanide effect living organisms? (how does it kill?)

Brentan
- Vale, Oregon
2002

Cyanide forms an extremely tight bond with iron. It reacts with the iron in your red blood cells to a point that the cell can no longer carry oxygen, Therefore, you literally suffocate to death in a very short period of time.

James Watts
- Navarre, Florida
2002

I gave the very same answer to somebody a couple of years ago which they submitted for their homework. I was corrected by the biology teacher. Apparently this is the reason, I did get this from the web and utilised the standard student technique of cut & paste, I'm no biochemist.

Pathophysiology: Cyanide affects virtually all body tissues, attaching itself to ubiquitous metalloenzymes and rendering them inactive. Its principal toxicity probably results from inactivation of cytochrome oxidase (cytochrome aa3) and, thus, cellular respiration, even in the presence of adequate oxygen stores. Consequently, the tissues with the highest oxygen requirements (eg, brain, heart, liver) are the most profoundly affected by acute cyanide poisoning. There is extensive information on the one of the army chemical defence sites, see this link chemdef.apgea.army.mil/textbook/Ch-10.pdf

Regards,

Richard Guise
- Lowestoft, U.K.
2002

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Another way to get this information is from a Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS). There is a sheet for any chemical that explains the hazards and required safety precautions. If you are exposed to cyanide at work, then by US law your employer is responsible to inform you of the hazards and train you to deal with them safely. There are some internet sites with free MSDS information including the University of Vermont.

Tim Neveau
Rochester Hills, Michigan
2002