Document Type
Article
Publication Date
9-2010
Abstract
Exposure to cyanide can occur in a variety of ways, including exposure to smoke from cigarettes or fires, accidental exposure during industrial processes, and exposure from the use of cyanide as a poison or chemical warfare agent. Confirmation of cyanide exposure is difficult because, in vivo, cyanide quickly breaks down by a number of pathways, including the formation of both free and protein-bound thiocyanate. A simple method was developed to confirm cyanide exposure by extraction of protein-bound thiocyanate moieties from cyanide-exposed plasma proteins. Thiocyanate was successfully extracted and subsequently derivatized with pentafluorobenzyl bromide for GC–MS analysis. Thiocyanate levels as low as 2.5 ng mL−1 and cyanide exposure levels as low as 175 g kg−1 were detected. Samples analyzed from smokers and non-smokers using this method showed significantly different levels of protein-bound thiocyanate (p < 0.01). These results demonstrate the potential of this method to positively confirm chronic cyanide exposure through the analysis of protein-bound cyanide in human plasma.
Publication Title
Analytica Chimica Acta
Volume
677
First Page
24
Last Page
28
Format
application/pdf
Language
en
DOI of Published Version
10.1016/j.aca.2010.01.028
Publisher
Elsevier
Recommended Citation
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