Ion Chromatography with Pulsed Amperometric Detection for Determining Cyanide in Urine and Meconium Samples

The parents’ addictions and eating habits have a significant influence on the child’s growth. The first stool of a newborn baby provides a large amount of information about xenobiotics transmitted by the mother’s body. The analytical technique used in the study is ion chromatography with pulsed amperometric detection (IC-PAD). The biological samples, which were obtained from women staying in a maternity ward and their partners, revealed cyanide concentrations in urine samples spanning 1.30–25.3 μg L−1. Meanwhile, the results of the meconium samples were in the range of 1.54 μg L−1 to 24.9 μg L−1. Under the optimized chromatographic conditions, the IC-PAD system exhibited satisfactory repeatability (R < 3%, n = 3) and good linearity in the range of 1–100 μg L−1. Thus, it proved to be an effective tool for monitoring trace cyanide concentration in a series of human body fluid matrices, including meconium. Based on the literature review, this is the first application of the IC-PAD analytical technique for the determination of cyanide ions in meconium samples.

Origami paper analytical assay based on metal complex sensor for rapid determination of blood cyanide concentration in fire survivors

Cyanide-based blood poisoning can seriously damage fire victims and cause death if not detected quickly. Previous conventional methods require laboratory equipment, which are expensive and increase the duration of the analysis. Here, a simple origami based microfluidic device was introduced for point of need detection of blood cyanide concentration in people involved in fire. The device is made of four layers of paper. Each layer was in the size of 1 × 1 cm folded on each other. In this work, the blood sample was acidified by trichloroacetic acid to separate cyanide from methaemoglobin in the form of HCN gas. The produced gas released into borate buffer to recover free cyanide ions which interacted with the Pt complex ([Pt(p-MeC6H4)2(phen)]) used as a receptor in this study. Optimized conditions were applied to have a suitable interaction causing the color of the receptor to change from yellow to colorless. The color changes were recorded by a smartphone, and the sensor response was calculated by the routine image analysis software. The assay was capable of determining cyanide ions at different concentrations in the range of 1.0 to 100.0 µmol L−1. The detection limit of these determination was equal to 0.4 µmol L−1. The assay responses were not affected by the interfering species. As a practical analysis, the proposed sensor was applied to determine cyanide ions in the blood sample of 20 studied fire survivors and 10 controls with high accuracy.

Recovery of Copper and Cyanide from Copper-cyanide Solution by Direct Electrolysis

Using direct electrolysis method, the recovery of copper and cyanide from high concentration copper cyanide solution was researched. The distribution of copper cyanide species was calculated by stability constants and balance equation. The results showed that the cupric ion was confirmed to generate at low potential (<0.4V) on the titanium electrode coated with iridium and tantalum oxides during the electrolysis process, which led to the oxidation of cyanide and the precipitate obtained on the anode was proved to be cupric hydroxide by XRD at high potential. The copper was recovered by direct electrowinning, the recovery of copper increased with increasing temperature, which reached 80% at 70°C; but the loss of cyanide was serious, the free cyanide concentration was significantly lower than original value.

Detoxification of Cyanide Wastewater by Cyanotrophic Organisms: the case of Phanerochaete chrysosporium

Cyanide, a carbon-nitrogen radical, is a major building block in many industries including pharmaceuticals, petrochemical and gold processing. In the gold extraction industry, cyanide has been the universal lixiviant for over a century due to better understood process chemistry, among others. Industries that discharge cyanide-laden effluents are mandated to keep concentrations below 0.2 mg/L to prevent death by cyanide-intoxification, which occurs when cyanide binds to key iron-containing enzymes and prevent them from supplying oxygen-containing blood to the tissues. Techniques used to attenuate cyanide in wastewater can broadly be grouped into chemical, physical and biological methods. In recent times, attention has been placed on biotechnological methods, which make use of cyanotrophic microorganisms to clean up cyanide-contaminated environments. This paper reports on studies set out to assess the ability of Phanerochaete chrysosporium to degrade cyanide under different conditions including changes in cyanide concentration, culture mass, time, closed system and open system. At the end of 24-hour contact in an open agitated system with initial pH of 11.5, a control experiment using 100 mg/L cyanide revealed a natural attenuation of 15% with pH decreasing to 9.88, while the best myco-detoxification of 85% was achieved by contacting 100 mg/L cyanide with 0.5 g culture mass, translating into degradation capacity of 17.2 mg/g (milligram of cyanide per gram of culture) with pH reducing to 8.4 in 24 hours. The degradation could be based on a number of mechanisms including hydrolysis to HCN, oxidation to cyanyl radical and cyanate due to natural attenuation through atmospheric contact, and secretion of organic acid, oxidative enzymes, and hydrogen peroxide by the fungus. Keywords: Cyanotrophic Organism, Myco-Detoxification, Cyanide-Laden Effluents, pH

Adsorption of Cyanide from Cassava Wastewater Using Calcined and Activated Oyster Shell Ash

Calcined ash and activated ash adsorbents were prepared from oyster shell. The physico-chemical properties of the prepared calcined oyster shell ash (COSA) and activated oyster shell ash (AOSA) were obtained using ASTM standards and Sears method. The results show that AOSA is a better adsorbent for removal of cyanide from cassava wastewater than COSA. The adsorption of cyanide from cassava wastewater onto adsorbents (COSA and AOSA) was investigated as a function of pH, adsorbent dosage, contact time, temperature and initial cyanide concentration. The batch study reveals that the adsorption process is strongly pH dependent and maximum cyanide removal is found to occur at pH of 10. The highest percent removal of cyanide from cassava wastewater was found at contact time of 80 minutes and 30oC. The effect of temperature on the adsorption process shows a small increase in the percent cyanide removal followed by a large decrease which suggests physical adsorption as the adsorption mechanism. The percent cyanide removal efficiency decreases with increase in initial cyanide concentration and increases with increase in adsorbent dosage.

Review: Hidrogen Sianida dan Implikasinya pada Ternak

ABSTRAK Sejumlah besar tanaman hijauan banyak mengandung glikosida sianogenik dandapat dirombak menjadi hidrogen sianida (HCN) yang bersifat toksik. Hidrogen sianida dapat menyebabkan keracunan pada manusia dan hewan.Konsentrasi HCN dalam hijauan dapat diturunkan melalui beberapa metode pengolahan seperti pengupasan, pengeringan, fermentasi, pemotongan dan penyimpanan.Gejala klinis keracunan HCN pada ruminansia dapat berupa peningkatan pulsus, sesak nafas, lemas, tremor, dilatasi pupil, kembung dan dapat menyebabkan kematian. Pengobatan dapat dilakukan dengan pemberian sodium nitrit dan sodium tiosulfat melalui injeksi intravena.Kata Kunci : glikosida sianogenik, keracunan klinis, intravenaABSTRACTA large number of forage contains cyanogenic glycosides which will be degraded into hydrogen cyanide (HCN) which are toxic. Hydrogen cyanide can cause poisoning in both animals and humans. Hydrogen cyanide concentration in the forage can be reduced through several methods of feed processing. The processing includes stripping, drying, fermentation, soaking, chopping, and storing. Clinical symptoms of HCN poisoning in ruminants are increased pulse, difficulty of breathing, weakness, tremors, pupil dilatation, bloating, and can lead to death. Treatments can be performed by administering sodium nitrite and sodium thiosulfate by intravenous injection.Keywords: cyanogenic glycosides, clinical poisoning, intravenous

Laboratory EXAFS determined structure of the stable complexes in the ternary Ni(ii)–EDTA–CN− system

Aqueous solutions of the ternary system Ni(ii)–EDTA–CN− are investigated with X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy (XAS) as a function of cyanide concentration with an enhanced laboratory von Hámos X-ray spectrometer.