The chemical and biological methods employed to date in the removal of free cyanide (CN−) and metal-cyanide complexes from aqueous fluids have proved expensive and problematic. A simpler and more economical approach was attempted in the present study using zeolite and sepiolite. The effectiveness of zeolite from Manisa-Gördes (Turkey) and of sepiolite Eskişehir-Sivrihisar (Turkey) at removing free and Cu-complexed cyanide, [Cu(CN)3]2− was investigated. For removal of CN−, the system performance was examined in terms of concentration, particle size, and retention time. Material with smaller particle sizes (<0.106 mm) performed better, particularly in the case of sepiolite. The maximum CN− removal capacities of zeolite and sepiolite were calculated as 571 and 695 meq/100 g for free CN adsorption, and 455 and 435 meq/100 g for Cu-complexed CN adsorption, respectively. The time to reach equilibrium was calculated as 1050 min. Acid activation, a simple cation adsorption removal method, did not improve the process, instead leading to reduced CN adsorption. Hydroxylated surfaces of metal oxides at the edges of zeolite develop charges and exchange with anions in water. Mg2+ ions located at the edges of the octahedral sheet can create complexes with CN− anions. Moreover, hydrogen bonding with anions (CN− in this case) and H+ of zeolitic water bonded to coordinated water molecules can also create complexes. These two complexes are considered to be effective mechanisms for sepiolite. The effects of both acid activation and CN adsorption were clearly observed in the Fourier-transform infrared spectra. Removal of CN was characterized by the Langmuir isotherm, indicating monolayer coverage with chemical bonding to the surface, which deteriorated during acid activation. The study indicated that zeolite and sepiolite can be used efficiently and easily for removal of free and Cu-complexed CN.

Rat and mouse control methods potentially affect the welfare of many millions of animals every year. Here, the humaneness of the methods used in the UK and the USA is assessed in terms of their speed and mode of action, the appearance and behaviour of affected animals, experiences of human victims, long-term effects on animals that survive exposure, and welfare risks to non-target animals. Several methods emerge as relatively humane: cyanide, alpha-chloralose, electrocution traps and well-designed snap traps all usually kill swiftly and with little distress. Preventative methods such as rodent-proofing are also humane, as well as an essential — and probably under-used — component of effective control. However, anticoagulant poisons, the most common means of controlling rodents, generally take several days to kill, during which time they cause distress, disability and/or pain. Sub-lethally affected animals are also likely to experience haemorrhages and their sequelae, and carnivores feeding on affected rodents may be secondarily poisoned. The acute rodenticides zinc phosphide and calciferol are also generally inhumane, the former typically causing severe pain for several hours, and the latter, pain and illness for several days. Sticky boards, to which rodents become adhered by the feet and fur until they are killed or simply eventually die, also raise very serious welfare concerns. This evidence highlights remarkable paradoxes in the way society treats different classes of animal, and argues for more education, legislation and research targeted at reducing the vast numbers of rodents currently killed inhumanely.

Substituted quinolinecarboxylic acids, including quinclorac (BAS 514H), are a new class of highly selective auxin herbicides, which are chemically similar to naturally occurring compounds isolated from plants and soils. Quinclorac is used in rice to control important dicot and monocot weeds, particularly barnyardgrass. The herbicide has also been developed for application in turfgrass areas, spring wheat, and chemical fallow. Quinclorac is readily absorbed by germinating seeds, roots, and leaves and is translocated in the plant both acropetally and basipetally. By mimicking an auxin overdose, quinclorac affects the phytohormonal system in sensitive plants. The compound stimulates the induction of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) synthase activity and thus promotes ethylene biosynthesis. In susceptible dicots, increased levels of ethylene trigger an accumulation of abscisic acid (ABA), which, as part of the intrinsic auxin activity of quinclorac, plays a major role in growth inhibition and the induction of epinasty and senescence. In sensitive grasses, such as barnyardgrass species, large crabgrass, broadleaf signalgrass, and green foxtail, quinclorac leads particularly to an accumulation of tissue cyanide, formed as a co-product during increased ACC and ethylene synthesis. This causes phytotoxicity characterized by the inhibition of root and particularly shoot growth with tissue chlorosis and subsequent necrosis. These effects were not observed in tolerant rice and a resistant biotype of barnyardgrass. No significant differences in uptake, translocation, or metabolism of quinclorac between resistant and sensitive grasses were found. Hence, a target-site-based mechanism of selectivity is suggested. The induction process of the ACC synthase activity plays the primary role in the selective herbicide action of quinclorac. This is a common effect of auxin herbicides and auxins, which lead to the accumulation of cyanide and/or ABA depending on the plant species and tissues, the compound concentration in the tissue, and their biological activity.

The field performance of amitrole (3-amino-s-triazole) formulations containing a number of additives was tested on bracken [Pteridium aquilinum (L.) Kuhn var. aquilinum]. All formulations that did not contain thiocyanate produced severe foliar scorching within 72 h of spraying. The following season, control was relatively poor (63 to 77% reductions in frond density). The formulation of amitrole with sodium iodide produced particularly severe scorching followed by a nonsignificant reduction in frond density (2%) the following season. Formulations containing ammonium thiocyanate (molar ratios of 1:0.5, 1:0.75, 1:1, and 1:1.25 amitrole:ammonium thiocyanate) greatly reduced this foliar scorching, and control the following season was of the order of 94 to 97% in all cases. Translocation was proposed as being the limiting factor in control, ammonium thiocyanate increasing translocation by preventing scorching and hence decreasing decomposition in the foliage. To investigate scorching further, a bioassay, which consisted of floating bracken leaflets on amitrole solutions, was developed. The commercial 1:1 molar ratio of amitrole:ammonium thiocyanate may not be optimum for all conditions. Other additives were tested and cyanide and hexacyanoferrate (II) were found to be very active scorch inhibitors.

The purification and characterization of rhodanese, an enzyme that catalyses the detoxification of cyanide, from the gut of the variegated grasshopper (Zonocerus variegatus L.) were carried out to understand the biochemical basis of the survival of this grasshopper living on cyanogenic plants such as cassava. All experiments, including enzyme assay, were carried out at room temperature and all buffers contained 10 mm sodium thiosulphate to stabilize the enzyme. Grasshoppers were caught alive from a cassava farm within the locality and kept frozen until analysis. Each grasshopper was dissected and the gut was removed quickly. Approximately 102 g of the gut were homogenized in three volumes of 0.1 m acetate glycine buffer (pH 7.8) containing ɛ-amino-n-caproic acid. The supernatant was collected by centrifugation at 12,000 rpm, for 30 min at 40 °C. The enzyme was purified to homogeneity by a combination of procedures such as ammonium sulphate precipitation, ion-exchange chromatography (CM-Sephadex and DEAE-Sephadex), gel filtration (Sephadex G-75) and Agarose-Blue affinity chromatography. Sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS–PAGE) and non-SDS–PAGE were used to ascertain the purity of the enzyme. The native and subunit molecular weights of the enzyme were determined by gel filtration on a Bio-Gel P-200 column and SDS–PAGE, respectively. Kinetic parameters were determined by using varying concentrations of one of the substrates at a fixed concentration of the other, and vice versa. Furthermore, the effects of temperature, pH and cations on the activity of the enzyme were investigated. The purified enzyme had a specific activity of 51.7 μmol thiocyanate formed/ml/min/mg protein (U/mg protein) with a yield of about 29%. The apparent molecular weight of the enzyme estimated by Sephadex G-75 gel filtration was 35,400 ± 482 Da and its subunit molecular weight determined by SDS–PAGE was 33,000 ± 212 Da. The Km values of KCN and Na2S2O3 were found to be 29.63 ± 02.87 and 26 ± 03.04 mm, respectively. An optimum pH and temperature of 7.0 and 35 °C, respectively, were obtained for the enzyme. The results of enzyme inhibition showed that the activity of the enzyme was not affected by NH4Cl, MgCl2, CoCl2, CaCl2, MnCl2, NiCl2 and SnCl2, but inhibited by ZnCl2 and BaCl2. In conclusion, these results suggest that the survival of Z. variegatus depends on the presence of the enzyme rhodanese, which shows high activity and has suitable kinetic properties in the gut of the grasshopper that feeds mainly on cassava leaves which are cyanogenic.

Vitamin A (VA) deficiency causes disability and mortality. Cassava can be crossbred to improve its β-carotene (BC) content; typical white cassava contains negligible amounts of BC. However, cassava contains cyanide and its continued consumption may lead to chronic disability. Our objective was to estimate the risk–benefit of consuming BC-enhanced cassava to increase VA intake. A total of ten American women were fed white and BC-enhanced cassava. BC and cyanide data from the feeding study were combined with African cassava consumption data to model the potential daily BC, VA and cyanide intakes of African women. If BC-enhanced cassava replaced white cassava in the diets, it could theoretically meet recommended VA intakes for the following percentages of individuals from six African countries that consume cassava as a staple crop: Angola (95 %), Central African Republic (95 %), Congo (about 100 %), Ghana (99 %), Mozambique (99 %) and Nigeria (92 %). Cyanide intake after minimal preparation of cassava could be thirteen to thirty-two times the reference dose (RfD), a toxicological exposure reference, but could be completely removed by extensive soaking. This study demonstrates that consumption of BC-enhanced cassava, processed to maintain BC and remove cyanide, theoretically increases VA intakes for African populations and other areas of the world where cassava is a staple crop.

During the last decade, Japan has experienced the largest burden of chemical terrorism-related events in the world, including the: (1) 1994 Matsumoto sarin attack; (2) 1995 Tokyo subway sarin attack; (3) 1998 Wakayama arsenic incident; (4) 1998 Niigata sodium-azide incident; and (5) 1998 Nagano cyanide incident. Two other intentional cyanide releases in To kyo subway and railway station restrooms were thwarted in 1995. These events spurred Japan to improve the following components of its chemical disaster-response system: (1) scene demarcation; (2) emergency medical care; (3) mass decontamination; (4) personal protective equipment; (5) chemical detection; (6) information-sharing and coordination; and (7) education and training. Further advances occurred as result of potential chemical terrorist threats to the 2000 Kyushu-Okinawa G8 Summit, which Japan hosted. Today, Japan has an integrated system of chemical disaster response that involves local fire and police services, local emergency medical services (EMS), local hospitals, Japanese Self-Defense Forces, and the Japanese Poison Information Center.

Before the sarin incidents in Tokyo and Matsumoto, the Aum Shinrikyo (now Aleph) had tried to conduct bioterrorism with botulinum toxin and Bacillus anthracis. Followers of the Aum could not overcome technical difficulties inherent in developing biological weapons, and the perpetrators had not been prosecuted for their failed attempts of bioterrorism. But the Aum's biological attack revealed several shortcomings in the Japanese law that regulated biological weapons. Since the missile experiment of North Korea conducted in 1998, the Japanese government has come to consider the threat posed by biological weapons more seriously. In 2001, after the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks and the series of anthrax letter scares in the United States of America, the Japanese government established its Five Basic Principles for Chemical and Biological Weapons Terrorism and several measures were taken at the central and local levels. Activities of the Aum have been monitored by the Public Security Investigation Agency and the National Police Agency under the Anti-Aum Law since 2000.

Kamedo is a Swedish Disaster Medicine study organization that sends observers to disaster areas anywhere in the world to study recent events, collect useful information, and identify problems relative to the practice of Disaster Medicine. The results of these investigations are published in the KAMEDO Reports, and the English versions will be published in Prehospital and Disaster Medicine.

Three of the recent reports follow: 1) KAMEDO Report 69: Ebolus Virus Epidemic in Zaire, 1995; 2) KAMEDO Report 70: The German Rescue and Emergency Organizations: a) Industrial Chemical Fire, Memmingen, Germany 23 January 1997; b) Fire at the Düsseldorf Airport, 01 April 1996; and c) Bus Accident on the Autobahn in Rosenheim, Germany; and 3) Terrorist Attack with Sarin, 20 March 1995. In addition, a catalog listing all of the KAMEDO Reports available in English is provided.