Eating, drinking, breathing are all daily human functions that we can't live without. These processes come subconsciously to us and what we might not even realise is in that moment of touching and eating food, that there might be a potential harmful chemical. Even just by breathing in some chemicals in the air can cause the most dangerous of all, death. Cyanides is a naturally occurring chemical, found in many plants, that has been used in conventional warfare and poisoning. When exposed in high levels, Cyanides can interfere with the body's ability to use oxygen, causing it to be extremely dangerous. Cyanides is a compound containing the functional group of a single C atom bonded by 3 bonds to a Nitrogen atom.
Properties of Cyanide
You might not know that you've been exposed to cyanide as they can be a either a colourless gas or liquid or they could be in solid form. Furthermore, a bitter almond smell has been described when exposed to cyanide.
Where are they found?
Cyanide is released from natural substances in foods and found in plants. They can be released in the air, contaminate foods and beverages, as well as be released in water and commonly found in seeds.
Cyanides might have a fatal aspect to them, however in the Manufacturing business they are very useful. Cyanide is used to make paper, textiles, and even plastic. Moverover, they are present in the development of photographs. Although high levels of exposure to cyanides can be very dangerous, some foods and plants that we see everyday have very little levels of cyanides such as : spinach, almonds, certain bacteria and fungi.
What are the effects of cyanides?
When exposed to high levels of cyanide it can cause many symptoms which eventually cause death. Symptoms such as:
Headache and anxiety
Seizures and coma
Acute lung injury, nausea
Pulmonary edema
So why are these chemicals that we could potentially be exposed to everyday, so lethal and dangerous? Firstly, it has a very fast rate of diffusion into the bloodstream where it goe to the heart and all of your cells in your body. Cyanide's main effect is that it inhibits oxidative phosphorylation, a process where oxygen is utilised for the production of essential cellular energy sources in the form of ATP. To sum up, it blocks the process of cellular respiration by blocking the reduction of oxygen to water, essentially needed for many bodily functions.
Bibliography
CDC (2024). About Chemical Emergencies. [online] Chemical Emergencies. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/chemical-emergencies/about/index.html?CDC_AAref_Val=https://www.cdc.gov/chemicalemergencies/factsheets/cyanide.html [Accessed 24 Sep. 2024].
Citroner, G. (2018). What Is Cyanide Poisoning? [online] Healthline. Available at: https://www.healthline.com/health/cyanide-poisoning [Accessed 24 Sep. 2024].
Graham, J. and Traylor, J. (2023). Cyanide Toxicity. [online] Nih.gov. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK507796/#:~:text=The%20toxicity%20of%20cyanide%20is,reduction%20of%20oxygen%20to%20water [Accessed 24 Sep. 2024].
Hopkins, J. (2022). Cyanide Factsheet. [online] Available at: https://centerforhealthsecurity.org/sites/default/files/2023-02/cyanide.pdf.
Ny.gov. (2024). The Facts About Cyanides. [online] Available at: https://www.health.ny.gov/environmental/emergency/chemical_terrorism/cyanide_general.htm [Accessed 24 Sep. 2024].
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