Agent Name | Sodium cyanide |
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CAS Number | 143-33-9 |
Formula | C-N-Na |
Major Category | Toxic Gases & Vapors |
Synonyms | Cianuro di sodio [Italian]; Cyanasalt H; Cyanasalt S; Cyanide of sodium; Cyanobrik; Cyanogran; Cyanure de sodium [French]; Cyanure de sodium [ISO-French]; Cymag; Hydrocyanic acid, sodium salt; Kyanid sodny [Czech]; M-44 cyanide capsules; Sodium cyanide; Sodium cyanide [ISO]; [ChemIDplus] UN1689 |
Category | Cyanides |
Description | White, granular or crystalline solid with a faint, almond-like odor; [NIOSH] Deliquescent; [CHEMINFO] |
Sources/Uses | Used to clean metals, chelate compounds, and extract gold and silver; Used to manufacture dyes, agricultural chemicals, and pharmaceuticals; Also used in electroplating, heat treating, and metal stripping; Used as a rodenticide (killing coyote, fox, and wild dogs) and insecticide (fumigating trucks and post-harvest application to fruit trees); [HSDB] |
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] Liquid causes second degree burns after contact for a few minutes; [CHRIS] Corrosive to skin; [Quick CPC] A severe skin, eye, and respiratory tract irritant; [ICSC] |
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Exposure Assessment | |
Skin Designation (ACGIH) | Yes |
TIH | Yes |
Dangerous When Wet | Yes - A material that, by contact with water, is liable to become spontaneously flammable or to give off flammable or toxic gas at a rate greater than 1 L per kilogram of the material, per hour; [ERG 2004] |
Ceiling (ACGIH) | 5 mg/m3, as CN |
PEL (OSHA) | 5 mg/m3, as CN |
MAK | 3.8 mg/m3, as CN, inhalable fraction |
IDLH (NIOSH) | 25 mg/m3, as CN |
Explanatory Notes | Not TIH in land-based spills, but TiH substance released when spilled in water; [ERG 2016] |
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Adverse Effects | |
Other Poison | Chemical Asphyxiant |
Dermatotoxin | Skin Burns |
Links to Other NLM Databases | |
Health Studies | Human Health Effects from Hazardous Substances Data Bank: |
Toxicity Information | |
Chemical Information | |
Biomedical References | |
Related Information in HazMap | |
Diseases | Occupational diseases associated with exposure to this agent: |
Processes | Industrial Processes with risk of exposure: |