Poison series: Cyanide: What those apple seeds have in them.

             

                

            Ah, Cyanide. Part two in our poison series, following Thallium.

Most commonly found in apple seeds, it's another odorless, colorless, tasteless poison. And a speedy one, too. With the proper dosage, Cyanide can kill someone within minutes. 

        The symptoms of Cyanide poisoning are headaches, nausea, vomiting, elevated heart rate, elevated breathing, and restlessness. These are all seen extremely rapidly and often lead to death, depending on the dosage.  

  

        Cyanide poisonings are actually less common than Arsenic, and it was mostly used during WWII. 

       Some famous cases of Cyanide poisoning are actually in the least suspecting places. Our first case is during Halloween time when a father poisoned his son using enough Cyanide to kill three adult men. (Also, the reason I don't trust pixie sticks at Halloween time.)

Another case is the famous 'Tylenol murders' where someone spiked Tylenol with cyanide, which led to several deaths. (Shout out to my dad, who told me about this case!)  

        Forty percent of the human population actually can smell Cyanide, despite it being normally odorless, and they've claimed it has a smell like sour almonds, and after someone died of cyanide poisoning, their breath will either smell like peaches, sour almonds, or garlic.  

    

        Because it's so fast working, it's extremely hard to get to a hospital and get the antidote in time. In a lot of cases, they die. 

        Bottom line: Be careful with Halloween candy, apples, and literally everything else.