Potassium cyanide

Synonyms

Cyanide of potassium; Cyanure de potassium [French]; Hydrocyanic acid, potassium salt; Kalium cyanid [German]; M-44 capsules (potassium cyanide); Potassium cyanide; Potassium cyanide (K(CN)); [ChemIDplus] UN1680

Category

Cyanides

Description

White, granular or crystalline solid with a faint, almond-like odor; [NIOSH] Deliquescent; [CHEMINFO]

Sources/Uses

Used mainly for silver plating; Also used in steel hardening, gold and silver extraction, and fumigation (fruit trees, ships, railroad cars, and warehouses); [HSDB] Used in photography (reducer); [www.ci.tucson.az.us/arthazards/medium.html]

Comments

There are two common scenarios for cyanide poisoning in the industrial setting: 1) mixing acid and cyanide solutions, and 2) pouring cyanide wastes into non-alkaline solutions. Mixing cyanide salts with water, e.g., showering in clothes contaminated with cyanides, will generate hydrogen cyanide gas. Dermal absorption of cyanide salts deposited on large areas of skin can result in fatal poisoning. [Sullivan, p. 705-6] The moist solid form is caustic to skin. [CHRIS] A severe skin, eye, and respiratory tract irritant; [ICSC] "The substance may cause effects on the cellular respiration, resulting in convulsions and unconsciousness; The substance may have effects on the thyroid"; [ICSC]

"This chemical ingredient is not found in any products." [National Pesticide Information Retrieval System]

Biomedical References

Yes

Yes

Yes

5 mg/m3, as CN

5 mg/m3, as CN

5 mg/m3, as CN, inhalable fraction

25 mg/m3, as CN

Excerpts from Documentation for IDLHs

Human data: Absorption of the alkali cyanides in amounts as low as 50 to 100 mg from a single, instantaneous dose may be followed by immediate collapse and cessation of respiration [Clayton and Clayton 1982]. It has been stated that although the fatal oral dose will vary considerably, depending on whether or not food is present in the stomach, it is probably in the order of 1 to 2 mg/kg [Clayton and Clayton]. [Note: An oral dose of 50 to 100 mg or 1 to 2 mg/kg is equivalent to a 70­kg worker being exposed to about 50 mg/m3 (as CN) for 30 minutes, assuming a breathing rate of 50 liters per minute and 100% absorption.]

Explanatory Notes

For TLV, see "Hydrogen cyanide." Not TIH in land-based spills, but TiH substance released when spilled in water; [ERG 2016]

Reference Link #2

will not burn

Skin burns

Other Poison

Chemical Asphyxiant

Diseases

Occupational diseases associated with exposure to this agent:

• Asphyxiation, chemical

Processes

Industrial Processes with risk of exposure:

• Electroplating
• Photographic Processing
• Steel Producing
• Toxic Gas from Spilling Chemical in Water