In nature, cyanide is most commonly found in the seeds of plants. Some of the more common foods with cyanide are cassava, lime beans, and almonds. You have probably eaten at least one of these foods, if not all of them, so why aren’t you dead? The answer has to do with the amount of cyanide in each of the plants. However, even relatively small doses can be harmful in some cases.
Cyanide can be found as a colorless gas such as hydrogen cyanide or crystalline forms like sodium cyanide or potassium cyanide. However, when cyanide is in its gaseous state, it is faster acting due to its direct access to the circulating system. People have died from breathing in cyanide, consuming the poison, and even leaching through their skin and bloodstream. People who work in industrial factories or jobs that require them to be close to the toxin are more susceptible to dying from cyanide.
The most common source of cyanide poisoning for people outside the industrial factories that use chemicals is smoking cigarettes. Cigarettes contain a trace amount of cyanide. However, when someone lights up a cigarette, they are releasing the poison into the air.
It is important to note again that cyanide in its gaseous state is more deadly than solid form. However, since the gas is relatively light, it tends to rise and disperse quickly. So how does cyanide kill you?
We all know that mitochondria are the powerhouse of the cell. Cyanide disrupts your mitochondrial powerhouses and causes you to die from lack of energy. And a basic level, your mitochondria take the sugar from the food you eat and oxygen from the air you breathe and reassemble them into energy, carbon dioxide, and water. This is called cellular respiration. The most important part of this process is the production of power. When cyanide enters the body, it diffuses into the cells and starts connecting itself to the protein in the mitochondria that strip the electrons from oxygen molecules to make energy.
Once the cyanide is bound to the protein, your mitochondria can no longer function as they should. The cyanide keeps the mitochondria from taking the electron off the oxygen molecules and using them to produce the energy your cells and body need to function. It should come as no surprise that organs that use a lot of energy, such as the heart and brain, are affected first by cyanide. Your heart requires a lot of energy to pump the blood around your body continuously. Your brain and nerve cells require massive amounts of energy for all life functions happening within you. Regardless of which cell the cyanide gets into, the result is the same. The poison will shut down the energy-making process of the mitochondria and causes the cell to die due to lack of energy.
Once enough critical cells in the body die this way, the result is always the same. The person dies. If a lethal dose is inhaled or ingested, the poison immediately starts shutting down the energy generators of the body, and death occurs within minutes or even seconds. As would be expected when energy production in the body stops, the symptoms of cyanide poisoning include dizziness, headaches, nausea, and weakness. Eventually, these symptoms develop into a loss of consciousness, low blood pressure, slow heart rate, and respiratory failure. At this point, the next step is death. However, if caught early enough, some people do survive cyanide poisoning. Unfortunately, the lasting side effects of the poison can be the development of Parkinson’s disease, loss of muscle control, blindness, and other neurological disorders. If poisoned by cyanide, the result is never pleasant.
You must be logged in to post a comment.