B.11A Cyanide Why it Kills Approaching – 02
Have you ever heard of a chemical called cyanide? Plants like almonds and lima beans contain this deadly poison. Apple seeds and peach pits also have cyanide. The amount of cyanide in these plants is very small and cannot cause harm unless eaten in large amounts. You are exposed to much more cyanide in cigarette smoke or to chemicals released from burning plastic. Cyanide is mainly used in making paper, plastics, and pesticides. Workers in industries that use cyanide must take safety measures so that they do not breathe in cyanide.
Once inside living things, cyanide stops cells from using oxygen. In humans, cyanide affects the heart and the brain most because these two organs use more oxygen compared to other body organs. During World War II, the Nazis used cyanide gas to murder people.
Animals like millipedes produce cyanide to defend themselves. They can spray a liquid containing cyanide from glands on predators. It is a form of chemical warfare that causes irritation to anything that wants to eat a millipede. To understand how cyanide stops cells from using oxygen, you need to know what cells actually do with oxygen. You probably know that people breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide, but what happens in between?
