What’s Your Poison? Cyanide!

Did you know:

It also occurs in almonds, apricot kernels, lima beans, orange pips, cassava roots (tapioca), and bamboo shoots.
These seeds contain a toxic compound called amygdalin that degrades into hydrogen cyanide (HCN).
The form of cyanide found in cassava becomes harmless if the root is dried, smoked, or baked.
Cyanide is also found in cigarette smoke. It can be chemically released from burning man-made products and plastics in industrial fires.
It smells of bitter almonds, though not everyone can detect an odor. Some people get bright-red faces.
Other signs of poisoning include dizziness, headaches, sickness, rapid body functioning, weakness, convulsions, unconsciousness, and lung failure. Cyanide stops the body from absorbing oxygen. Death comes from asphyxiation.
Long-tern exposure to small amounts leads to weakness, paralysis, miscarriages, liver, and kidney damage.
There is no natural antidote, but immediate hospitalization and medical intervention can prevent death in some cases.
Cyanide (Zyklon B) was used in the German gas chambers at Auschwitz, and for many judicial executions in USA gas chambers.
It is available in a quick-acting pill form for instant suicide. Soldiers in high-risk-of-capture situations were sometimes issued with cyanide pills.
But don’t worry if you accidentally swallow some apple or orange pips. They have a hard protective coat that passes through the human body intact so that any harmful chemicals are not absorbed!