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Author: Subject: Is it possible to get sick from potassium ferrocyanide?
seashell1982
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[*] posted on 22-2-2012 at 10:55
Is it possible to get sick from potassium ferrocyanide?


I just heated some potassium ferrocyanide trihydrate in an attempt to make it anhydrous. I had some skin contact, although I wore a mask. In the past hour, I have experienced dizziness, lightheadedness, rapid heart rate, etc. Are my symptoms from this chemical, or could they be psychological in origin (working with cyanide)?
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bahamuth
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[*] posted on 22-2-2012 at 11:31


Could perhaps be hydrogen cyanide, but don't worry, if you aren't dead yet you most likely won't be from that poisoning.

Had the same effects you describing from hydrogen azide poisoning, went away in about a couple of hours. Might add that the panic effect probaly didn't help on the symptoms.

Read up on the toxicity of potassium ferrocyanide trihydrate and its thermal decomposition products and you'll be much calmer (you need alot to die and you usually die quite fast from cyanide poisoning...).




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Hexavalent
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[*] posted on 22-2-2012 at 12:17


Why was skin contact allowed? You should have been wearing gloves. Did you bother to read the MSDS?



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seashell1982
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[*] posted on 22-2-2012 at 12:30


Quote: Originally posted by Hexavalent  
Why was skin contact allowed? You should have been wearing gloves. Did you bother to read the MSDS?
It sounded to me like skin contact would be a minor issue. Maybe I was wrong.
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[*] posted on 22-2-2012 at 12:54


From a MSDS "Prolonged or repeated skin contact may cause dermatitis", you're not going to die from skin irritation. Just make sure you wear gloves and long sleeve lab coat in the future.

by the way I've freaked myself out before thinking that I would die because I (accidentally) inhaled a little bit of Cl2 and got dizzy.

[Edited on 22-2-2012 by zoombafu]




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Peskatore
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[*] posted on 22-2-2012 at 13:03


It is posible to get HCN then potassium ferrocyanide is heated?
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[*] posted on 22-2-2012 at 13:11


Quote: Originally posted by RisingSun96815  
It sounded to me like skin contact would be a minor issue.


I agree. See MSDS:

http://www.sigmaaldrich.com/catalog/DisplayMSDSContent.do




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zoombafu
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[*] posted on 22-2-2012 at 13:13


Quote: Originally posted by Peskatore  
It is posible to get HCN then potassium ferrocyanide is heated?


Yes. All the information asked for in this thread so far can be found in MSDS reports. Read them before using a chemical you are unfamiliar with.




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Hexavalent
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[*] posted on 22-2-2012 at 13:17


Agreed, although it is good lab practice to wear safety gear when handling any chemical . . .principle more than anything.



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Magpie
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[*] posted on 22-2-2012 at 13:29


I would bet that RisingSun is a careful worker and has read the MSDS. It seems that he is not feeling normal (for what ever reason) and is looking for some help from the forum.



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Hexavalent
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[*] posted on 22-2-2012 at 13:46


Quote: Originally posted by Magpie  
I would bet that RisingSun is a careful worker and has read the MSDS. It seems that he is not feeling normal (for what ever reason) and is looking for some help from the forum.


Fair enough, although as I said if he were a careful worker then he would know to wear gloves and goggles, no matter what materials are actually being handled - be it a 0.1M MgSO4 solution or saturated potassium dichromate solution.




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[*] posted on 22-2-2012 at 15:04


Quote: Originally posted by Hexavalent  
Quote: Originally posted by Magpie  
I would bet that RisingSun is a careful worker and has read the MSDS. It seems that he is not feeling normal (for what ever reason) and is looking for some help from the forum.


Fair enough, although as I said if he were a careful worker then he would know to wear gloves and goggles, no matter what materials are actually being handled - be it a 0.1M MgSO4 solution or saturated potassium dichromate solution.


Bullcrap. Who wears gloves and GOGGLES when handling a 0.1 M MgSO4 solution?
Working in a lab and allowing oneself to fall in the state of becoming a drone without a brain is something a chemist should never allow to happen.




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[*] posted on 22-2-2012 at 17:02


While I agree that there is no need to become mindless in the lab, donning goggles and nitrile gloves is as much of a habit for me when entering the lab as putting on my seat belt when entering a car. I do it without thinking about it, and I see nothing wrong with always keeping safety in mind when in the lab, even if the days work is rather innocuous. For me the habit was pounded into my head by OSHA compliance at work, and the habit carries over to my home lab. I see no harm at all in wearing gloves, goggles, and a lab apron when entering my lab. I would say it is a habit that has probably saved me from injury during some of the unforeseen goof ups that happen from time to time.

[Edited on 23-2-2012 by Bot0nist]




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[*] posted on 23-2-2012 at 09:27


i agree , its not so much the chemicals involved in a reaction but the simple fact that i am in a lab and even if i am disolving NaCl in water i am still surrounded by other much nastier things and since i am rather clumsy i dont take any chances...

[Edited on 23-2-2012 by neptunium]




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[*] posted on 23-2-2012 at 09:46


everytime I make certain "teas" i get light headed and dizzy from the fumes (water vapor). It is very easy for the mind to create a problem.
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neptunium
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[*] posted on 23-2-2012 at 09:54


some people are more sensitve than other and the psychology of it when it comes to chemicals is way out of my confort zone ...all i know is if i ever try to make mercury dimethyl (unlikely!!) i would be very nervous and pay close attention to my health, and even the most insignificant change would really freak me out!




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Hexavalent
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[*] posted on 23-2-2012 at 10:13


Thankyou Bot0nist. As neptunium says, the other day I personally was dissolving some NaCl into water at varying molal concentrations to determine the Mr via BP elevation. I had a beaker full of saturated CuCl2 solution at the back of the bench. Hotplate hit it, it fell over and spread a corrosive liquid all around the metal frames that surround the bench. Shit.

That is why you should always wear gloves and goggles in the lab, it is preparing in case the worst does happen.

Endimion17 - what if I was heating my MgSO4 solution and some splashed out due to superheating? Hot water in my eye, vs hot water hitting some goggles. Hmm, tough choice.




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[*] posted on 23-2-2012 at 11:31


Hexavalent quote:
what if I was heating my MgSO4 solution and some splashed out due to superheating? Hot water in my eye, vs hot water hitting some goggles. Hmm, tough choice.

So you also wear goggle when cooking in the kitchen?
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[*] posted on 23-2-2012 at 11:32


its getting hard to find spare parts for eyes and skin...i am an older model they dont make mine anymore



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[*] posted on 23-2-2012 at 11:49


Quote: Originally posted by Jor  

So you also wear goggle when cooking in the kitchen?

Always

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[*] posted on 23-2-2012 at 11:54


In practice, I just say don't work with anything which can explode, bump, splatter, poison (short term, sub mL amounts) until you have it in your mind to ALWAYS wear goggles/gloves. If you're only going to wear it SOMETIMES, you're going to forget or skimp and put yourself in harms way.
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[*] posted on 23-2-2012 at 11:58


Quote: Originally posted by Jor  

So you also wear goggle when cooking in the kitchen?


As I said, it is a habit that was pounded into me by years of OSHA compliance classes. I don't wear PPE while cooking, but I never even enter my lab without a lab coat, gloves, and goggles. It is not that I'm scared. It is a habit of mine before entering the lab. I do it almost without thought. IMO it is a good habit to get into. Better than habitually forgetting to wear eye protection when you need it.

"I'd rather have 'em and not need 'em, then need 'em and not have 'em"

[Edited on 23-2-2012 by Bot0nist]




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[*] posted on 23-2-2012 at 11:58


in the kitchen ? come on man, really? are we going there ? just use common sense you'll be fine



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[*] posted on 23-2-2012 at 12:26


I usually don't wear goggles, because the sash is always between what I'm working with and my face. And goggles tend to fog up or impair my vision in other ways, causing accidents. But I always wear a lab coat and heavy gloves (usually rubber, they're more comfortable). I consider my laboratory and everything in it fatally toxic, whether it is or not--and that does me no harm. Better safe than sorry.



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Hexavalent
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[*] posted on 23-2-2012 at 12:30


You probably should still wear goggles. I thought of using some of that stuff they spray into your helmet when you go paintballing to avoid steaming up for the same purpose but in the lab.



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