The latest developments in quantifying cyanide and hydrogen cyanide

Cyanides are highly poisonous in small quantities, yet are used in a variety of applications on a daily basis amounting to a global annual usage of around 1.1 million tonnes. With the usage of cyanides not decelerating, it is imperative for analytical chemists to devise methods of detection to ensure safe usage and working conditions, and to determine concentrations in the blood of patients who may have been overexposed to cyanides or in the breath of sufferers from cystic fibrosis who contract HCN-producing bacterial infections. This review introduces the synthesis and the occurrence of cyanides before disseminating several examples of recent analytical protocols tailored towards the detection of cyanides within a range of media. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.