• Question: How do poisons such as cyanide work?

    Asked by jackapowww to Paul, Lily, Mark, Sarah on 24 Jun 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Mark Roberts

      Mark Roberts answered on 24 Jun 2010:

      So poisons can work in a number of ways – but most work by messing up your bodies chemistry – especially your metabolism that produces the energy you need to live

      Cyanide does just that – cyanide interacts with an enzyme in the mitochondria (the part of your cells that helps you burn sugar to get energy) and blocks it. Because that enzyme is no longer working – you can’t make enough energy in your cells and so you die.

      Because you have lots of cells your body can tolerate a little bit of cyanide and in fact you find it in some natural things – eg almonds! In fact cyanide is the thing that gives almonds their characteristic smell – so next time your tea smells of almonds you might not want to drink it 😉

    • Photo: Sarah Bardsley

      Sarah Bardsley answered on 24 Jun 2010:

      Not all cyanide containing compounds are poisonous. Those that are, inhibit the action of enzymes which stops cells from functioning normally, affecting the heart and other tissues. Sadly it was used by the Nazis during World War 2 to murder prisoners.

    • Photo: Paul Roche

      Paul Roche answered on 24 Jun 2010:

      There are lots of different poisons, and there are various ways that they can kill you, but cyanide seems to stop many key cells (muscle and nerve cells) from obtaining energy, and causing them to “die”. Not nice…

      You see cyanide used in films as “suicide pills” etc., and it seems to kill people really quickly – but I’m not sure that is true, from what I’ve read it can be quite a slow process, but it depends on how the cyanide gets into you (injection, swallowing, inhaling smoke etc.).

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