The micro determination of cyanide: its application to the analysis of whole blood

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Abstract
An introduction to the existing methods for the analysis of cyanide is given and some of the limitations to the methods are pointed out. A modification of the Epstein method is described, in which Cavett blood-alcohol flasks are used. This method can be applied to small samples of 2 ml volume containing 0·2 µg of cyanide. By strict control of the conditions it is shown that a high degree of accuracy can be achieved. Interference by heavy metal ions is avoided by using 2 mg of the disodium salt of EDTA per ml of blood. It is therefore suggested that this anti-coagulant should be used when the blood is collected. Experiments on the partition of cyanide in whole blood showed that 5 minutes' exposure resulted in more than 70 per cent. of cyanide being bound to haemoglobin. This value remained unchanged in the presence of a transport inhibitor.

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