Hazard Watch: Protecting your workforce from Hydrogen Cyanide exposure

What is hydrogen cyanide?

Hydrogen cyanide also known as hydrocyanic acid, is an industrially used chemical, which is mass produced globally each year, by many industries. It is an extremely flammable substance that is prevalent in a liquid or gas form and has a bitter almond-like odour.

The environment may be exposed to hydrogen cyanide as a result of specific industrial processes, combustion releases, or transportation accidents. Hydrogen cyanide gas can also be produced in the smoke or fumes from building fires, automobile exhaust, and fires involving nitrogen-containing substances like polyurethane foams.

How does hydrogen cyanide affect health?

Exposure to hydrogen cyanide can potentially interfere with or hinder the body's ability to utilise oxygen. This can result in damage to the brain, cardiovascular system, blood vessels, and respiratory organs, which could lead to fatality.

Due to its toxicity levels, hydrogen cyanide prevents the body from utilising oxygen sufficiently. It causes fluid accumulation in the lungs, followed by accelerated breathing. This results in respiratory arrest. Extreme headaches, drowsiness, nausea, and dizziness are the common early signs of exposure to hydrogen cyanide. This can in turn deteriorate towards losing consciousness, slipping into a coma and other severe long-term effects on the brain and nervous system.

It is important to note that the negative health effects that a person might experience after being exposed, depend on a number of variables. These include the level of exposure, the length of exposure (measured in time) and the chemical's form. However long an employee might be exposed to hydrogen cyanide, it can still cause health conditions or symptoms, so its exposure must be carefully monitored.

Our expertise in monitoring hydrogen cyanide exposure

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has currently set workplace exposure limits for hydrogen cyanide at 1mg/m^-3 over an 8-hour period. The short-term exposure limit (STEL) is 5mg/m^-3.

Workplaces with potential of hydrogen cyanide exposure must strive to work below these limits to guarantee that the statutory limit is achieved. Within our state-of-the-art laboratories in the UK, RPS has deep expertise in monitoring hazards in the workplace and we can assist in monitoring exposure limits, to be in line with health and safety regulations.