Hydrogen Cyanide As A Poison and Chemical Weapon
A hydrogen cyanide concentration of 300 mg/m3 in air will kill a human within about 10 minutes. A hydrogen cyanide concentration of 3500 ppm (about 3200 mg/m3) will kill a human in about 1 minute. The toxicity is caused by the cyanide ion, which halts cellular respiration by inhibiting an enzyme in mitochondria called cytochrome c oxidase.
Hydrogen cyanide absorbed into a carrier for use as a pesticide (under IG Farben's brand name Cyclone B, or in German Zyklon B, with the B standing for Blausäure) was employed by Nazi Germany in the mid-20th century in extermination camps. The same product is currently made in the Czech Republic under the trademark "Uragan D2." Hydrogen cyanide is also the agent used in gas chambers employed in judicial execution in some U.S. states, where it is produced during the execution by the action of sulfuric acid on an egg-sized mass of potassium cyanide.
Hydrogen cyanide is commonly listed amongst chemical warfare agents known as blood agents. As a substance listed under Schedule 3 of the Chemical Weapons Convention as a potential weapon which has large-scale industrial uses, manufacturing plants in signatory countries which produce more than 30 tonnes per year must be declared to, and can be inspected by, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
Under the name prussic acid, HCN has been used as a killing agent in whaling harpoons.
Hydrogen cyanide gas in air is explosive at concentrations over 5.6%. This is far above its toxicity level.
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—Edward D. Wood, Jr. (1922–1978)
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