Re: Handling cyanide

Sil Horwitz (silh@iag.net)
Sat, 17 Aug 1996 00:59:52 -0400

At 02:08 PM 960817 +1000, you wrote:
>Well, folks, many years ago, I was using Kodak's sepia toner
>kit, which includes a ferricyanide bleach. There were about
>6 trays in the sink, the normal B&W print processing trays
>and the toning trays. Was using just ONE hypo tray, though,
>and taking the print from the bleach and *intending* to place
>it another try, I accidently chose the short stop instead.
>There was a fairly immediate foul pungent odor and it immediately
>dawned on me what had happened.

Cyanide gas (hydrogen cyanide) has a sweet odor, like almond or crushed
peach pits. The pungent odor was probably some sulfur compound - most of
them are foul (like hydrogen sulfide and the compounds they put in gas lines
so you can tell if there is a gas leak).

Still, not knowing what you were doing, you were quite smart to get out of
the area. The sulfur compounds can be very toxic in enclosed places.

Sil Horwitz, FPSA
Technical Editor, PSA Journal
silh@iag.net