Re: Ferricyanide... delicious but deadly.

["Jesse Andrewartha" <jessea@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Dear Ken,

As the cyanide 'molecule' is bonded to iron, it is not free to act as a 
poison, and providing common sense prevails as has been already mentioned, 
handling the compound presents few safety concerns. 

The potassium/ sodium cyanide on the other hand is quite dangerous and with 
little provocation the cyanide molecule will freely seperate to produce 
hydrogen cyanide gas. Pure cyanide will actually spontanously decompose in 
the presence of air to produce hydrogen cyanide... lovely! 

As a note, however, I was involved in an incident where an individual had 
poured typical strength stop bath down the sink without washing down the 
sink afterward and left without telling anyone. I entered the darkroom soon 
after and poured excess farmer's reducer down the sink... let's just say 
that when Levi Hill described cyanide poisoning as being similar to being 
hit on the back of the head with a sledghammer, he was not far from the 
truth! I became cyanotic and nearly lost conciousness and had a killer of a 
headache for hours afterward. It was certainly a close call. So, as with 
any chemical used in the darkroom, treat it with respect and remember 
"...thou art mortal."

Have fun

Jesse


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