Cyanide

The word "Cyanide" is derived from the Greek "kyanos", meaning dark blue. It was first obtained by the heating of the pigment known as Prussian blue (Fe₄[Fe(CN)₆]₃)

Any molecule with the Carbon and Nitrogen atoms bonded together is considered a "cyanide". Cyanide is shown here, with a black Carbon bond to the blue Nitrogen. In this "space-filling" model certain elements are color coded. Nitrogen is often colored blue in molecular models.

Dealing with Cyanide can be a negative experience.

When Carbon makes a triple bond with Nitrogen, they share negatively charged electrons. If the number of negative electrons is not equal to the total number of positive protons in a molecule, the molecule has a net charge and is known as an ion. A negatively charged ion, like cyanide, is known as an anion. The figure below shows some common polyatomic ions.

Cyanide can be deadly.

While not every Cyanide compound is dangerous, Sodium cyanide (NaCN), potassium cyanide (KCN), hydrogen cyanide (HCN), and cyanogen chloride (CNCl) are lethal in small doses.

Cyanide is described as bitter, but not many studies have been performed to test this claim. In a suicide letter left by a man from India after ingesting Cyanide, this morbid property was confirmed: "Doctors, potassium cyanide. I have tasted it. It burns the tongue and tastes acrid."

The NFPA 704 safety diamond shows the hazard of each chemical used in a lab. The 3-0-0-SA rating for Cyanide indicates it is an extreme health hazard.

The National Fire Protection Agency developed the scale to warn of dangers from specific chemicals or areas. Every material used in a chemical lab must have a Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) on file that includes the NFPA ratings.

How deadly can a "3-0-0" be?

It doesn't take much Cyanide to kill a human. The lethality of a substance is often measured in the LD50 scale. This is the amount of substance needed to kill 50% of a population (Lethal Dose 50). This is often used in combination with body mass to determine relative concentrations (a small person will need less poison to die than a large person).

The LD50 of water, as an example, is 90g/kg. This means a 75kg person (~165lbs) would need to consume 6750g of water to hit this concentration. While our kidney can process about 1000g of water an hour, a woman died drinking 6 liters of water and holding her pee for a contest.

The LD50 for Sodium Cyanide in rats is about 4.3mg/kg, while the LDLo (Lowest Lethal Dose) recorded in humans was 1.3 mg/kg. That means a 98mg dose (less than 1/10 of a gram) would be enough to kill.

Even water and caffeine can be deadly in high volumes, but Cyanide packs a more potent punch

The Mechanism of Action of CN-; irreversible binding of the heme ring in Cytochrome C

Mechanism of Action

Doctors need to understand how a chemical interrupts the normal function of our physiology to begin to fix it. In the case of CN-, the ion binds to an important protein found in Cytochrome. The heme ring (seen in the figure) usually binds to O2, which is an important step of ATP transport within the mitochondria of our our cells. Without this normal function, our cells can not produce ATP and will die rapidly.

Cyanide murders are rare because of restrictions, but it has a long and famous history of death

In 1978, the Jim Jones religious cult from San Francisco traveled to South America and were forced to drink cyanide laced Flavor-aid (almost Kool-Aid) at the command of their leader. 912 people died.

8 people died in Chicago in 1983 from random containers of Tylenol spiked with Potassium Cyanide. The murderer was never found, but the event led to tamper-proof packaging.

Hydrogen Cyanide was used in Nazi concentration camps. Vials of KCN were consumed by top Nazi officials, including Hitler's wife, to commit suicide instead of facing justice.

According to FBI documentation on homicide in the US from 1999-2012, while women are far less likely to commit murder at all, they are 7 times more likely to use poison as their method of choice. One of most successful serial killers of all time was an Italian women with a penchant for poisons.

Cyanide has strict access restrictions and is typically only available to those with government authorized research credentials. If you know a smart woman with academic access to Cyanide, don't make her angry!

Cyanide is found naturally in some things that you should refrain from eating.

Apple Seeds

0.6 mg of hydrogen cyanide per gram: 83–500 apple seeds to develop acute cyanide poisoning

Cherry Pits

0.01–1.1 mg of amygdalin (breaks down to HCN in the body): 60 pits of red or black cherries may lead to cyanide toxicity

Peach and Apricot Pits

According to scientific analyses, 4-5 raw apricot seeds contains about 45mg of hydrogen cyanide

Bitter Almonds

Bitter almonds have 40x the cyanide concentration of sweet almonds. 10oz of bitter almonds can provoke cyanide toxicity.

LDLo for Hydrogen Cyanide (Lowest Lethal Dose) recorded in humans was 0.54 mg/kg. It could take as little as 40mg of Cyanide to kill a 150 lb person. While some articles will suggest that amygdalin isn't that dangerous, and advocate for its use in some Chinese medicine, are you willing to take the chance?

Cyanide OC (15 pts)

Cyanide can be deadly. The following activies will help you prevent the death of you and your grade at SCHS.

MSDS for Isopropyl Alcohol (rubbing alcohol)

3-1-0: Flammability risk, mild health risk

(3 points): Identify a chemical at home. Find the MSDS for that chemical, and post the safety diamond for that chemical.

The chemical doesn't have to be dangerous. Look up an ingredient, possibly an ingredient on a product you use. Don't use my example!

(6 points): Link to your 6 teachers this semester. Include their emails. -1 pt for each incomplete entry.

Use the Back to School website to find teacher pictures and contact information!

Chemistry
Brian Smith

bsmith57@gmail.com | brian.smith1@lausd.net

English
Ed Victoria

History
Scott Craig

Math
Maria Cruz

PE (Tennis)
Robert Cohen

Culinary Arts Dan Fitzgerald

(4 Points): Teacher Hall of Fame. Post a picture and name of (at least) 2 your favorite teachers, where/what they taught you, and a description for their entry into your hall of fame.

Smith's Teacher Hall of Fame

Primary Teachers: I attended Mitchell Elementary. I had all female instructors from K-6. These wonderful women helped mold my early childhood education and helped me become a lifelong student. While some of these ladies were stern, they were all empathetic and compassionate. I have utmost respect for primary school teachers; they have to demonstrate a strong depth of knowledge across a wide spectrum of subjects and have to manage demanding behavior from both children and parents. Props to these ladies.

K + 1 - Ms. Martin

2 - Ms. Barton

3 - Ms. Backes

4 - Ms. Soskin

5 - Ms. Mitchell + Ms. Webster

6 - Ms. Brown

Sierra Vista Junior High

Science (8)

Mr. Brian Necessary

Mr. Necessary was my first male teacher, and he happened to teach science. He was also a Brian, so I might be biased. While it was over 20 years ago I was in his classroom, I still remember the experience as being fun and engaging. Mr. Necessary now works as an assistant principal for Hart High School.

Antelope Valley College

Biology 110

Dr. Matthew Rainbow

Dr. Rainbow was true to his name; he was all about color and making works of art out of science. His biology class was my first night class, and I always looked forward to those 6-8pm classes after work. Labs, calisthenics, and strong logic were essential for his course. I spent a huge amount of time crafting all of the diagrams and posters he assigned. I value those posters and still have one on display in my class.

Antelope Valley College

Chem 110, 210, 220

Dr. David Newman

Dr. Newman was my first introduction to academic chemistry. He was my professor for Chem 110 (General Chem) and then again for the entire year of Organic Chemistry (210, 220). Newman had a notorious reputation for being a difficult grader, and I appreciated the challenge. While some students dread organic Chem, Newman made it fun and memorable. Our organic class was not just a class, but a community. Held together by the rigid demands of Newman's prelabs, postlabs, and tests, we often went out to lunch or dinner together. I made bonds with some of my peers that still stand today, and it all happened so...organically. Kudos to Newman for that one!

UCLA

Biomath 110, 120

Dr. Carol Newton

I met Dr. Newton in her twilight years, at the spry age of 86. Dr. Newton was a witty lady that often needed help carrying materials from her office to her class, so I often volunteered to help and got to know her a bit better. While I went to UCLA, I worked at and had many classes in the medical school building; Dr. Newton's office was in the basement but she made an impression everywhere she went within those tight halls. Dr. Newton pioneered stochastic computer modeling for cancer treatments, and I learned FORTRAN to implement those same techniques in her course (without the old physical FORTRAN cards she had stacked in her office). I attended her memorial remembrance and was happy to see all of the accolades she received as a woman pioneer in the fields biomathematics and medicine.

CSUN

SED 511, SED 613, SED 614

Dr. Mike Rivas

Dr. Rivas was my first professor at the College of Education at CSUN. Every student teacher must take SED 511 (Fundamentals of Secondary Education in Multiethnic Secondary Schools (3)) as their intro the program, and Rivas was my gatekeeper. Dr. Rivas helped establish the classroom community that I launch with every semester. Names, names, names. He memorized every student's name and he made everyone else do the same. He created a welcome environment for discourse and growth, and I try to emulate that even now. Rivas was a coach that pushed his students to their best. He was known as a hawk for APA, so if we messed up our citations or sources, we knew it! Rivas also gave lots of "behind the scenes" lessons designed to demonstrate how pedagogy is applied in a classroom, of which I hope translates to my own discourse.

CSUN

SED 554, 555, 610, 611, 612, 613

Dr. Brian Foley

Dr. Foley's seminars were relaxed, inspiring, and thought provoking. I got to really delve deep into pedagogy and theories of education in Dr. Foley's classes. Dr. Foley was part of the tech duo that shaped a large part of my own classroom conduct. Foley helps run many of the Science Education programs at Northridge and has contact with a sizable chunk of LAUSD instructors; if you want a gig as an LAUSD science teacher, get on Foley's mailing lists!

PS: I swear I'm not biased about Brian's in Science, but there may be a pattern...

CSUN

SED 554, 555, 610, 611, 612, 613

Dr. Norm Herr

I have been likened to Dr. Herr by multiple peers and colleagues; I take that comparison as a major compliment! Dr. Herr is extremely accomplished and committed to the science education community, so much so that his son is an LAUSD physics teacher too. Dr. Herr has had a substantial role in helping me design my course. The website project would not exist if not for Dr. Herr, so it is only fitting that he is enshrined in my Google Site Hall of Fame. Norm's first science demo was a strong hook which piqued my attention. He kept me engaged throughout all of our semesters covering science and tech ed, and he got me way more interested in astro-science through his field-trips to JPL and the Mt. Wilson observatory. Dr. Herr still helps improve my class by sending me student teachers. Thanks Norm!