Potassium Cyanide

Wear full protective clothing. Wear positive pressure breathing apparatus and special protective clothing. Move container from fire area if you can do it without risk. Fight fire from maximum distance. Dike fire control water for later disposal; do not scatter the material.

Excerpt from ERG Guide 157 [Substances - Toxic and/or Corrosive (Non-Combustible / Water-Sensitive)]:

NO hydrous agents. NO water. NO carbon dioxide. In case of fire in the surroundings, use appropriate extinguishing media. In case of fire: keep drums, etc., cool by spraying with water.

- Potassium cyanide is non-combustible.

Administration of oxygen may be needed. Fresh air, rest. No mouth-to-mouth artificial respiration. Refer immediately for medical attention.

Wear protective gloves when administering first aid. Remove contaminated clothes. Rinse skin with plenty of water or shower. Refer immediately for medical attention .

First rinse with plenty of water for several minutes (remove contact lenses if easily possible), then refer for medical attention.

Rinse mouth. Administration of oxygen may be needed. NO mouth-to-mouth artificial respiration. Do NOT induce vomiting. Refer immediately for medical attention.

· CALL 911. Then call emergency response telephone number on shipping paper. If shipping paper not available or no answer, refer to appropriate telephone number listed on the inside back cover.

· ELIMINATE all ignition sources (no smoking, flares, sparks or flames) from immediate area.

· CALL 911. Then call emergency response telephone number on shipping paper. If shipping paper not available or no answer, refer to appropriate telephone number listed on the inside back cover.

· ELIMINATE all ignition sources (no smoking, flares, sparks or flames) from immediate area.

Warning: Effects may be delayed. Caution is advised. Vital signs should be monitored closely. Heart palpitation may occur within minutes after exposure.

Excerpt from ERG Guide 157 [Substances - Toxic and/or Corrosive (Non-Combustible / Water-Sensitive)]:

General First Aid:

General First Aid:

(General first aid procedures)

· Wear positive pressure self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA).

· Wear positive pressure self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA).

TIH (Toxic Inhalation Hazard) - Term used to describe gases and volatile liquids that are toxic when inhaled. Some are TIH materials themselves, e.g., chlorine, and some release TIH gases when spilled in water, e.g., chlorosilanes. [ERG 2016].

5.0 [mg/m3], as CN, inhalable fraction[German Research Foundation (DFG)]

Do not use carbon dioxide extinguisher. Extinguish fire using agent suitable for surrounding fire. Water may be used on nearby fires not involving potassium cyanide. Use water spray to keep fire-exposed containers cool. Use alkali dry chemical.

Carbon dioxide fire extinguishers must not be used where cyanide salts are present. /Cyanide salts/

If material involved in fire: Extinguish fire using agent suitable for type of surrounding fire. (Material itself does not burn or burns with difficulty.) Use water in flooding quantities as fog. Cool all affected containers with flooding quantities of water. Use "alcohol" foam, dry chemical, or carbon dioxide. Use water spray to knock-down vapors. /Potassium cyanide solution/

If material involved in fire: Extinguish fire using agent suitable for type of surrounding fire. (Material itself does not burn or burns with difficulty.) Use foam, dry chemical, or carbon dioxide. Do not use water on material itself. If large quantities of combustibles are involved, use water in flooding quantities as spray and fog. Use water spray to knock-down vapors. /Potassium cyandie, solid/

PROTECT FROM LIGHT.

ALL CONTAINERS OF CYANIDE SALTS SHOULD BE KEPT COVERED OR IN EXHAUST HOOD WHEN NOT IN USE. /CYANIDES/

Store in a cool, dry, well-ventilated location. Separate from water, acids, and carbon dioxide. Outside or detached storage in preferred.

Cyanide salts as solids must be stored in sealed or tightly closed containers. No hooks should be used in handling cyanide containers. ... Storage areas must be adequately ventilated to ensure that cyanide concentrations do not exceed the recommended workplace environmental limits. /Cyanide salts/

For more Storage Conditions (Complete) data for POTASSIUM CYANIDE (6 total), please visit the HSDB record page.

Spills of cyanide salts should be immediately and carefully cleaned up by shoveling the material into a proper container. Care must be exercised to minimize any dispersal of cyanide dust into the air. /Cyanide salts/

WASTE CYANIDE SALTS FROM CASE HARDENING OF STEEL ARE DESTROYED BY REACTING THE SALTS AT 650-700 °C WITH WASTE FERRIC HYDROXIDE SLUDGES FROM VARIOUS SOURCES. /CYANIDE SALTS/

REMOVAL OF COPPER, NICKEL, ZINC, CADMIUM AND CYANIDE FROM PLATING WASTEWATER BY ELECTROFLOTATION. /CYANIDES/

Keep water away from release. Flush spill area with hypochlorite solution. Cover in noncombustible material for proper disposal. Shovel into suitable dry container. Control runoff and isolate discharged material for proper disposal.

For more Cleanup Methods (Complete) data for POTASSIUM CYANIDE (8 total), please visit the HSDB record page.

Excerpt from ERG Guide 157 [Substances - Toxic and/or Corrosive (Non-Combustible / Water-Sensitive)]:

Excerpt from ERG Guide 157 [Substances - Toxic and/or Corrosive (Non-Combustible / Water-Sensitive)]:

Generators of waste (equal to or greater than 100 kg/mo) containing this contaminant, EPA hazardous waste number P098; D003, must conform with USEPA regulations in storage, transportation, treatment and disposal of waste.

Cyanide salts should not be flushed into any drain which may contain or subsequently receive acid waste. ... Cyanide process waste solutions and flushings from spills should be passed through a cyanide waste disposal system. /Cyanide salts/

Potassium cyanide is a poor candidate for incineration.

Evacuate danger area! Consult an expert! Personal protection: complete protective clothing including self-contained breathing apparatus. Do NOT let this chemical enter the environment. Ventilation. Sweep spilled substance into covered dry, sealable, labelled containers. Cautiously neutralize remainder with sodium hypochlorite solution.

Antidotes to cyanide poisoning include hydroxocobalamin and sodium nitrite, which release the cyanide from the cytochrome system, and rhodanase, which is an enzyme occurring naturally in mammals that combines serum cyanide with thiosulfate, producing comparatively harmless thiocyanate. Oxygen therapy can also be administered. (L97)

CHLORPROMAZINE ANTAGONISM OF CYANIDE INTOXICATION WAS POTENTIATED BY SODIUM THIOSULFATE. CHLORPROMAZINE & SODIUM NITRITE DID NOT PROTECT AGAINST KCN LETHALITY BETTER THAN NITRITE ALONE.

To elucidate the interaction of carbon monoxide (CO) and cyanide, the fluorescence which represents the intracellular reduced pyridine nucleotide was measured on the rabbit kidney surface in situ. Various doses of potassium cyanide, 2-8 umol/kg, were administered intravenously with and without inhalation of 1, 2 and 3% carbon monoxide via a respirator. The dose-response relationship between potassium cyanide and the fluorescence increase fitted a salient sigmoid curve with a steep slope, and carbon monoxide was potent to increase fluorescence independently and shifted the dose response curve for potassium cyanide to the left. The combined effect of carbon monoxide and potassium cyanide was of a critical dose for intracellular respiration, it had the appearance of synergism.

Previous reports indicated that prophylactic protection against cyanide intoxication in mice can be enhanced by administration of chlorpromazine when it is given with sodium thiosulfate. The mechanism of potentiation of sodium thiosulfate by chlorpromazine was studied alone and in combination with sodium nitrite. Although chlorpromazine was found to induce a hypothermic response, the mechanism of enhancement of the antagonism of cyanide by chlorpromazine does not correlate with the hypothermia produced. Various other possible mechanisms were investigated, such as rate of methemoglobin formation, enzymatic activity of rhodanese and cytochrome oxidase, and alpha-adrenergic blockade. The alpha-adrenergic blocking properties of chlorpromazine may provide a basis for its antidotal effect, since this protective effect can be reversed with an alpha-antagonist, methoxamine. /Cyanide/

The interaction of 7 beta-adrenergic blocking agents with salbutamol and isoproterenol was studied in the potassium cyanide test in rats. Salbutamol (albuterol) was used at a dose that provided protection from potassium cyanide (KCN) lethality and isoproterenol at an overdose that failed to protect, presumably because of latent cardiotoxicity. Salbutamol-induced protection was abolished by drugs at the following doses (sc, mg/kg); timolol (0.0085), bunolol (0.010), propranolol (0.038), pindolol (0.15), metoprolol (3.93), atenolol (5.69), and practolol (>10.0). Survival was restored dose dependently in isoproterenol-overdosed rats only by atenolol (0.44), practolol (0.51) and metoprolol (1.06). The cardioselectivity ratio (ie, salbutamol antagonism/isoproterenol antagonism) for these 3 compounds was as follows: practolol (>19.6), atenolol (12.9), and metoprolol (3.82).

For more Interactions (Complete) data for POTASSIUM CYANIDE (13 total), please visit the HSDB record page.

Reproductive

Eyes, skin, respiratory system, cardiovascular system, central nervous system, thyroid, blood

Exposure to high levels of cyanide for a short time harms the brain and heart and can even cause coma, seizures, apnea, cardiac arrest and death. Chronic inhalation of cyanide causes breathing difficulties, chest pain, vomiting, blood changes, headaches, and enlargement of the thyroid gland. Skin contact with cyanide salts can irritate and produce sores. (L96, L97)

Aquatic Fate: The alkali metal salts are very soluble in water, and as a result, they readily dissociate into their respective anions and cations upon release to water. The resulting cyanide ion may then form hydrogen cyanide or react with various metals present in natural water. If the cyanide ion is present in excess, complex metallocyanides may form; however, if metals are prevalent, simple metal cyanides may form. /Alkali metal cyanides/

The substance can be absorbed into the body by inhalation, through the skin and by ingestion.

inhalation, skin absorption, ingestion, skin and/or eye contact

Potassium cyanide can affect the body by ingestion, inhalation, skin contact, or eye contact.

Inhalation (L96) ; oral (L96) ; dermal (L96)

IDENTIFICATION: Other cyanides, such as sodium and potassium cyanide, are solid or crystalline hygroscopic salts widely used in ore extracting processes for the recovery of gold and silver, electroplating, case-hardening of steel, base metal flotation, metal degreasing, dyeing, printing, and photography. They are also widely used in the synthesis of organic and inorganic chemicals (e.g., nitriles, carboxylic acids, amides, esters, and amines; heavy metal cyanides) and in the production of chelating agents. HUMAN EXPOSURE: Cyanides are well absorbed via the gastrointestinal tract or skin and rapidly absorbed via the respiratory tract. Once absorbed, cyanide is rapidly and ubiquitously distributed throughout the body, although the highest levels are typically found in the liver, lungs, blood, and brain. There is no accumulation of cyanide in the blood or tissues following chronic or repeated exposure. Approximately 80% of absorbed cyanide is metabolized to thiocyanate in the liver by the mitochondrial sulfur transferase enzyme rhodanese and other sulfur transferases. Thiocyanate is excreted in the urine. Minor pathways for cyanide detoxification involve reaction with cystine to produce aminothiazoline- and iminothiazolidinecarboxylic acids and combination with hydroxycobalamin (vitamin B12a) to form cyanocobalamin (vitamin B12); these end-products are also excreted in the urine. The principal features of the toxicity profile for cyanide are its high acute toxicity by all routes of administration, with a very steep and rate-dependent dose-effect curve, and chronic toxicity, probably mediated through the main metabolite and detoxification product, thiocyanate. The toxic effects of cyanide ion in humans and animals are generally similar and are believed to result from inactivation of cytochrome oxidase and inhibition of cellular respiration and consequent histotoxic anoxia. The primary targets of cyanide toxicity in humans are the cardiovascular, respiratory, and central nervous systems. The endocrine system is also a potential target for long-term toxicity, as a function of continued exposure to thiocyanate, which prevents the uptake of iodine in the thyroid and acts as a goitrogenic agent. Sequele after severe acute intoxications may include neuropsychiatric manifestations and Parkinson-type disease. Cyanide from tobacco smoke has been implicated as a contributing factor in tobacco-alcohol amblyopia. Long-term exposure to lower concentrations of cyanide in occupational settings can result in a variety of symptoms related to central nervous system effects. Cyanides are weakly irritating to the skin and eye; alkali salts have not been identified. ANIMAL/PLANT STUDIES: The principal features of the toxicity profile for cyanide are its high acute toxicity by all routes of administration, with a very steep and rate-dependent dose-effect curve, and chronic toxicity, probably mediated through the main metabolite and detoxification product, thiocyanate. The toxic effects of cyanide ion in humans and animals are generally similar and are believed to result from inactivation of cytochrome oxidase and inhibition of cellular respiration and consequent histotoxic anoxia. The primary targets of cyanide toxicity in animals are the cardiovascular, respiratory, and central nervous systems. The endocrine system is also a potential target for long-term toxicity, as a function of continued exposure to thiocyanate, which prevents the uptake of iodine in the thyroid and acts as a goitrogenic agent. In a 13-week repeated-dose toxicity study in which cyanide was administered in drinking-water, there were no clinical signs associated with central nervous system effects or histopathological effects in the brain or thyroid of rats or mice. There were slight changes in the reproductive tract in male rats, which, although they apparently would not affect fertility in rats. The examination of neurotoxicity in this study was limited to clinical observation and optical microscopy in autopsy. The few available studies specifically intended to investigate neurotoxicity, while reporting adverse effects at exposure levels of 1.2 mg cyanide/kg body weight per day in rats and 0.48 mg cyanide/kg body weight per day in goats, suffer from weaknesses that preclude their quantitative assessment. In relation to characterization of concentration-response for repeated-dose toxicity for inhalation (relevant principally to the occupational environment), in three separate studies in rats, there were no adverse systemic effects in rats exposed to acetone cyanohydrin, which is rapidly hydrolysed to hydrogen cyanide at physiological pH, at concentrations up to 211 mg/m3 (corresponding to a concentration of 67 mg hydrogen cyanide/m3). The steepness of the dose-effect curve is illustrated by the observation of 30% mortality among rats exposed part of the day to 225 mg acetone cyanohydrin/m3 (71 mg hydrogen cyanide/m3). Adverse effects of exposure to the low concentrations of cyanide that are generally present in the general environment (<1 ug/m3 in ambient air; <10 ug/litre in water) are unlikely. /Cyanide/

Nausea. Dizziness. Drowsiness. Sore throat. Headache. Confusion. Weakness. Shortness of breath. Convulsions. Unconsciousness.

MAY BE ABSORBED! Redness. Pain. Further see Inhalation.

Redness. Pain. Further see Inhalation.

Burning sensation. Nausea. Vomiting. Diarrhoea. See Inhalation.

irritation eyes, skin, upper respiratory system; asphyxia; lassitude (weakness, exhaustion), headache, confusion; nausea, vomiting; increased resp rate, slow gasping respiration; thyroid, blood changes

- Redness, pain, severe burns, and tissue damage (ulceration).

Potassium cyanide

Reproductive

2 x 10 ^-3 mg/kg-day

P098; As stipulated in 40 CFR 261.33, when potassium cyanide, as a commercial chemical product or manufacturing chemical intermediate or an off-specification commercial chemical product or a manufacturing chemical intermediate, becomes a waste, it must be managed according to federal and/or state hazardous waste regulations. Also defined as a hazardous waste is any container or inner liner used to hold this waste or any residue, contaminated soil, water, or other debris resulting from the cleanup of a spill, into water or on dry land, of this waste. Generators of small quantities of this waste may qualify for partial exclusion from hazardous waste regulations (40 CFR 261.5(e)).

/SRP:/ D003; A solid waste containing potassium cyanide may become characterized as a hazardous waste when subjected to testing for reactivity as stipulated in 40 CFR 261.23, and if so characterized, must be managed as a hazardous waste.

As the federal pesticide law FIFRA directs, EPA is conducting a comprehensive review of older pesticides to consider their health and environmental effects and make decisions about their future use. Under this pesticide reregistration program, EPA examines health and safety data for pesticide active ingredients initially registered before November 1, 1984, and determines whether they are eligible for reregistration. In addition, all pesticides must meet the new safety standard of the Food Quality Protection Act of 1996. Pesticides for which EPA had not issued Registration Standards prior to the effective date of FIFRA 1988 were divided into three lists based upon their potential for human exposure and other factors, with List B containing pesticides of greater concern and List D pesticides of less concern. Potassium cyanide is found on List C. Case No: 3086; Pesticide type: rodenticide; Case Status: Reregistration Eligibility Decision Approved 9/94, PB95-173514 - OPP has made a decision that some/all uses of the pesticide are eligible for reregistration, as reflected in a Reregistration Eligibility Decision (RED) document.; Active ingredient (AI): potassium cyanide; AI Status: Cancelled - The AI is no longer contained in any registered pesticide product.

Persons in charge of vessels or facilities are required to notify the National Response Center (NRC) immediately, when there is a release of this designated hazardous substance, in an amount equal to or greater than its reportable quantity of 10 lb or 4.54 kg. The toll free number of the NRC is (800) 424-8802; In the Washington D.C. metropolitan area (202) 426-2675. The rule for determining when notification is required is stated in 40 CFR 302.4 (section IV. D.3.b).

Releases of CERCLA hazardous substances are subject to the release reporting requirement of CERCLA section 103, codified at 40 CFR part 302, in addition to the requirements of 40 CFR part 355. Potassium cyanide is an extremely hazardous substance (EHS) subject to reporting requirements when stored in amounts in excess of its threshold planning quantity (TPQ) of 100 lbs.

Potassium cyanide is designated as a hazardous substance under section 311(b)(2)(A) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act and further regulated by the Clean Water Act Amendments of 1977 and 1978. These regulations apply to discharges of this substance. This designation includes any isomers and hydrates, as well as any solutions and mixtures containing this substance.

Toxic pollutant designated pursuant to section 307(a)(1) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act and is subject to effluent limitations. /Cyanides/

Potassium cyanide

A Commercial Grade

A Placarded Amount

Chemical or material that can be mixed with readily available materials.

(AZ) ARIZONA 220 ug/l /Cyanide ion/

(ME) MAINE 140 ug/l /Cyanide ion/

(MN) MINNESOTA 100 ug/l /Cyanide ion/

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]

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

Steel Producing [Category: Industry]

PC Code(s): 599600, 0 labels match

ELECTROPLATING, STEEL HARDENING, EXTRACTION OF GOLD & SILVER FROM ORES; FUMIGATION OF FRUIT TREES, SHIPS, RAILWAY CARS, WAREHOUSES

Reagent in analytical chemistry, in insecticide, extraction of gold and silver from ores.

(1984) 1.25X10+8 g

(1987) 32,145 lb

(1984) 1.87X10+8 g

(1986) 1.47X10+6 lb

(1987) 1,468,423 lb

Grades: Commercial; Pure; Solution; Reagent

The article of commerce contains about 95% KCN.

M-44 capsules (Potassium cyanide); Pelleted/tabletted; 89.0% potassium cyanide (599600)

To prepare 99.5% /use/ high quality potassium cyanide and potassium hydroxide.

Commercial potassium cyanide made by neutralization or wet process ... contains 99% potassium cyanide.

Primary Metal Manufacturing

Potassium cyanide (K(CN)): ACTIVE