Talk:Hydrogen cyanide

message: How much hydrogen cyanide is in the pit of cherries and such? Less than 300 parts per million? Like, if you ate like 10 pits of cherries, would you become cyanide poisoned? Or is it a different, non-poisonous, say, ion? ugen64 23:56, Nov 19, 2003 (UTC)
:100g of pits (as I wrote) will yield ~10mg of HCN. 19:42, 22 December 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Fruit pits 

message: Hi.  I added a section about the use of cyanide by the Nazis.  I think it's appropriate, but if anyone doesn't like it, let me know and we can discuss. Perhaps some additional facts about who first isolated the chemical or what-not could tone it down if desired. LMK --DanielCD 20:31, 27 Jul 2004 (UTC)
replies: text: i don't think it is appropriate, especially since you did not provide references or sources for your information.  Keep to the technical facts of science and leave the politics. propaganda, and controversial aspects to another forum.Kenny56 05:24, 7 January 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: The fact that the Nazis used HCN to kill is not politics, propaganda, or controversial. It is factual history. --Squiddy | (squirt ink?) 10:58, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

text: Then it shouldn't be any problem for you to cite the sources of these "facts", right?  Please provide references to back up your claims.  The link that you provided does not seem to exist. Kenny56 16:26, 7 January 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Any history book on the Holocaust provides this info. Use of HCN at Auschwitz is beyond doubt. It is too widely known to need a ref on the page. The link I added was about the Iraq-Iran war. --Squiddy | (squirt ink?) 16:32, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

text: This is true. It was in the form of an insecticide marketed under the trade name Zyklon B. – ClockworkSoul 19:16, 7 January 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: "It is too widely known to need a ref" - what the heck humor me with the ref anyway, seeing as it is so well known.— Preceding unsigned comment added by 159.105.80.92 (talk • contribs) 14:41, 6 November 2006‎ (UTC)
If its you don't believe the Nazi's used HCN, go find your own ref!  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.191.120.105 (talk) 03:20, 9 January 2009 (UTC)

text:  Actually Zyklon B was used in National Socialist concentration camps as a delousing agent to save human life. So calm down. 197.228.44.217 (talk) 15:30, 12 March 2017 (UTC)
thread_title:  History 

message: Reports that lack sources or citations are considered dubious at best, and approach propaganda in their worst form.  Please do not make claims without providing references for verification.Kenny56 05:36, 7 January 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: The three sentences under a section about use as a chemical weapon.  Please provide verifiable citations for statements and claims of facts, otherwise the information is dubious  and has no  place in an encylopedia.Kenny56 16:33, 7 January 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Weapons claims and reports 

message: Can anyone tell me if HCN gas is corrosive to mild steel?  It doesn't appear to be, but I know that CN- behaves much like a halogen ion, and HCl and HF are very corrosive to steel, right?  Thanks  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.53.76.76  (talk • contribs) 
:Both HCN and HF are molecules in the pure form, and then not corrosive (you can pump HF through a steel pipe without reaction).  If there is water available, they become corrosive, and then the corrosivity is depending on a) the pKa of the acid and b) the stability of the salts formed (a.o determined by lattice energy), some combinations of metal-cations and certain anions are particularly stable, thereby driving the reaction; some metals do not dissolve in strong acids like sulfuric acid or nitric acid, or even aqua regia, but do dissolve in dilute HCN)  --Dirk Beetstra T C 18:42, 24 August 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Corrosivity 

message: This afternoon I used this Wikipedia article on hydrogen cyanide in an internet post because HCN's spectral signature was found in observations of the unusual Kuiper Belt object 2003 EL61.  I was annoyed to see unfounded accusations included in this chemistry article.  It has not been proven that "Iraq gassed the Kurds".  Iraq denied this claim.  Plausible evidence has been provided that another party did this, specifically Iran.
This information is in no way appropriate to an article about chemistry.  I consider it politically motivated vandalism.  If one wishes to make such accusations, then that person or group needs to create an article about it.  I believe in this case that such articles must surely already exist on Wikipedia, it might be appropriate to link to such an article, but injecting propaganda into a science article is abhorrent.  It gives the propaganda unwarranted credibility by masquerading as "Science".
What definitely identifies this as propaganda is that only two actors are accused, German Nazis and Iraqi Ba'athists.  Many tonnes of poison gas were used in World War I and I would be surprised if there weren't others involved in the use of hydrogen cyanide as a chemical weapon in history.
Mike Emmert 20:18, 26 August 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I think the text is quite correct, it does say 'may have been employed' for the attack on the Kurds, it does not state 'proof', and there is a reference (in wrong format, but I will help that in a moment).  A counterargument may be added with a ref.  The second part is also a referenced statement, so I see no problem there.  I don't think this is propaganda.  It may indeed be that there are not many examples, but you are free to add more.  --Dirk Beetstra T C 20:53, 26 August 2006 (UTC)

text: Heh heh. "Go to the experts on any Holocaust Denial site". That's a good one. You sly devil. Gzuckier 18:20, 6 November 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Still propaganda in a Wikipedia science article 

message: I added the attempted attack by Aum Shinrikyo in the Tokyo subway with HCN. raptor 14:27, 31 October 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Terrorism 

message: You should add critical points and triple points to every element and compound table every articles. Also adding molar volume, and others to every compound table. Chris Dybala 23:25, 5 January 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: These are values which are rarely used in practical chemistry, which is why they are relegated to the data pages which for compound X, can be found at X (data page). Physchim62 (talk) 15:25, 8 January 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I disagree, critical temperatures, pressures and volumes are used daily in Thermodynamics to determine equations of state.  Acentric factor should also be included, —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 65.209.181.185 (talk) 19:53, 23 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Adding to element and compound tables

message: It seems, that someone have removed data on how to obtain hydrogen cyanide. -Yyy 09:01, 9 June 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: No data on synthesis

message: I heard from my chemistry teacher that hydrocyanic acid can pass through the skin -- he told me about a university lecturer who was lecturing in a practicals lab, and had put his fingers in some nondescript liquid on the desk. After about half an hour he felt ill, and asked the students what they had been doing before he came in. They had been studying the various cyanide complexes - and the liquid was HCN. He went to hospital and survived (luckily).
Should/could the absorption property be mentioned?
129.67.18.164 01:08, 7 November 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: It could be mentioned, but better with a reliable source other than hearsay. --Itub 18:05, 8 November 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Absorption through the skin? 

message: The article claims Hitler committed suicide with HCN; but most writings about this topic state that he used a cyanide capsule, which would be either KCN or NaCN, not HCN. --RisingSunWiki 23:05, 22 May 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: According to U.K. government information, Hitler used cyanide in capsule form, which would have been a cyanide salt (KCN or NaCN). Based on this information, the article should be modified. --RisingSunWiki 17:16, 24 May 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Did Hitler commit suicide with HCN? 

message: Should the amount of cyanide needed to be ingested orally for absolute death necessary for the article? I just figure it could be an interesting fact, seeing as how 100 apple seeds come out to about 10 mg of HCN (I don't want anyone to kill themselves with apple seeds, if you must know).  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.12.206.179 (talk) 03:01, 15 October 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Amount of cyanide to cause death 

message: This links in with the post at the top about HCN and foods.  Specifically, I'd like to see a note about how HCN isn't exactly fatal in small doses.  This site mentions the HCN content of Chokecherry or Prunus virginiana and says that there are claims at health benefits.  It doesn't give a source for this, unfortunately, but I think it would be a great thing to add to the page if any sources can be found.  Khono (talk) 20:05, 14 July 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Edibility of foods with HCN 

message: Why there is no the important LD50 value of HCN which is higly toxic? --89.106.42.17 (talk) 17:46, 13 December 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  LD50 value of HCN? 

message: its interesting that the gas chambers were right next to the ovens. epecially seeing that the gas is highly flammable.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 150.226.95.18 (talk) 14:51, 16 September 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Gas chambers 

message: It is misleading to state (in section 5) that HCN gas in air is explosive "at concentrations over 5.6%.". This implies that HCN gas is explosive in air at all concentrations over 5.6%, which is incorrect. The Upper Explosive Limit of HCN gas in air is 40%.
Is it normal (or a bug) that my link (above) doesn't work when I "Show preview"? Clicking on the link in the preview redirects to this talk page, instead of to the intended external site...
Note that I have just created my wiki account and this is my first post/edit. Sorry if I'm not up with all the rules and etiquette yet. What's the story with using colons? Thanks.
--Carl Barlev (talk) 21:54, 10 February 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Explosivity 

message: as a matter of interest, how is it that no one was apparently killed whilst discovering cyanide? IS there a history of dead scientists / alchemists??— Preceding unsigned comment added by Engineman (talk • contribs) 11:03, 16 June 2012‎ (UTC)
:They apparently didn't write a paper on the subject.JSR (talk) 11:51, 16 June 2012 (UTC)
thread_title: History of discovery

message: I thought you were done with the citation needed in the name business.  These are good names, with the exception of methanenitrile, which is acetonitrile.  Zyklon B was a trade name, but, has significant historic interest, as it was the material that contained HCN which was utilized in concentration camp showers in WWII.JSR (talk) 09:39, 16 July 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Names 

message: The main page lists HCN as miscible in water, yet there's also a wiki answers page (and my chemistry homework) which says that HCN is not soluble in water. Thoughts?  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 50.140.149.70 (talk) 20:40, 6 October 2012 (UTC)
replies: text: Your homework and the wiki answer is wrong. HCN is fully miscible in water (as well as alcohols, ethers, esters, aromatic hydrocarbons, CCl4 and most other organic solvents.). see here. SBHarris 21:08, 6 October 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Solubility in water 

message: How, if at all, can a victim of cyanide poisoning be helped? I feel this question deserves to be discussed in the article, even if the answer is "They can't be".
24.255.155.226 (talk) 01:54, 11 December 2012 (UTC)
replies: text: Details about treatment are given at cyanide poisoning.  Maybe some of that info can be summarized and added here.  -- Ed (Edgar181) 12:56, 11 December 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Antidote / Treatment for cyanide poisoning 

message: were the Jews the only ones killed in the gas chambers? Or is this just more anti-German propaganda?  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 150.226.95.18 (talk) 12:54, 23 April 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: I removed the comment that implied that Jews were the only victims of hydrogen cyanide. --Smokefoot (talk) 17:05, 23 April 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  used to kill Jews? 

message: Please note that Zyklon B is the name of a pesticide, namely a substrate with HCN as the active species, not just HCN. So, Zyklon B should be removed from the box as "other name". --!nnovativ (talk) 08:35, 12 September 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Zyklon B 

message: The statement that HCN is an inorganic compound seems to contradict wikipedia's own definition (and indeed the common definition) of organic molecules, which is that any compound containing carbon and hydrogen are considered organic. I think it would be good to correct this to avoid confusion.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by MatthewL16 (talk • contribs) 18:15, 1 November 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Inorganic vs. Organic 

message: Cyanide poisoning may be deadly in minutes. Many people die on fires when they breath cyanide from smoke, especially from plastic materials. Cyanide poisoning may also occur from consumption of bitter almonds and from overdose of the drug nitroprussade! Antidotes for cyanide poisoning do exist and include hydroxocobalamin (a form of vitamin B12!) and also amyl nitrite(administered by inhalation), sodium nitrite, and sodium thiosulfate. 688dim (talk) 23:26, 29 January 2014 (UTC)
thread_title: Cyanide poisoning also from plastics on fire, bitter almonds & the antihypertensive medicine nitroprusside! '''Antidotes do exist!'''

message: I have added a brief note about the nazi mass murders using the gas, which somehow seem more important than the use of the gas for judicial killing in the USA. Over a million victims I think speaks for itself. I have also added a picture of the Zyklon B canisters from Auschwitz. 217.43.231.132 (talk) 08:46, 28 January 2015 (UTC)
replies: text: Please stop spamming that image into articles and deleting other images. ChrisGualtieri (talk) 14:30, 28 January 2015 (UTC)
thread_title: Holocaust reminder

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thread_title:  External links modified 

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thread_title:  External links modified 

message: It seems that at one point 'prussic acid' was used as a treatment for seasickness. Is this worth mentioning somewhere?
See:
https://web.archive.org/web/20071227134724/http://www.history.rochester.edu/ehp-book/shb/hb20.htm
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140673602948518
:Well if nothing else, you have registered these curious reports for posterity.  HCN is used on such a massive amounts that the centuries-old anecdotes might not be considered notable in the article on hydrogen cyanide.  On the other hand Motion sickness#Treatments seems like a good place to mention that "even hydrogen cyanide was once considered as a paliative for seasickness...".  Just an idea.  --Smokefoot (talk) 13:27, 6 May 2020 (UTC)
thread_title:  Seasickness 

message: Some unregistered user just edited the page some 4 times claiming removal of vandalism. It absolutely messed up the page and I dont know how to turn it back to how it was and if possible punish the ip. Dilbas (talk) 15:59, 19 May 2020 (UTC)
replies: text: Thank you for undoing the damage! Next time, you can safe yourself some work by reverting the edit: go to View history of the article (top right), then next to their edit, there is a "undo" option. Cheers!--!nnovativ (talk) 06:42, 20 May 2020 (UTC)

text: I think we shouldn't punish the IP user. It will only provoke them to do more vandalism. Exe csrss (talk) 04:42, 21 May 2020 (UTC)

text: Sorry I mistakenly reverted one of my edits to the vandalised article. It has now been fixed. Exe csrss (talk) 06:18, 6 June 2020 (UTC)
thread_title:  Vandalism 

message: Hydrogen Cyanide are actually organic in nature. It belongs to Nitriles group of Organic Compounds. 37.111.128.131 (talk) 13:07, 15 November 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  Organic or Inorganic 

message: Seems like an extremely unsafe way to handle the substance, should the image be replaced? 2A02:A46D:6A58:1:44A3:75BF:B6E5:8900 (talk) 09:57, 13 April 2024 (UTC)
replies: text: Do you have an alternative image? To my knowledge, glass ampoules are safe as long they are not broken and don't contain substances that are corrosive to glass. Necatorina (talk) 07:16, 1 June 2024 (UTC)
thread_title:  Image handling glass ampule of HCN