Prussian Blue

["Bjorn Cedervall" <bcradsafers@HOTMAIL.COM>]

>who may become inadvertently internally contaminated, were KI (which we can 

>buy), Prussian Blue (an oral drug that binds Cs-137 and promotes fecal 

>excretion), <snip>

---

A question for reason of clarification:



I understand that Prussian Blue, KFe(III)[Fe(II)(CN)6], is very stable and 

guess that the mechanism is replacing the K with Cs.



The hexacyanide complex is, however, possible to break up with strong warm 

acid - potentially releasing HCN. As decontamination experiments have been 

made with mammalians Prussian Blue obviously passes through the stomach 

without any problems. In order to understand this from a chemistry point - 

can anyone shed light on the stability as a function of pH and temperature? 

(37 C, 1 M HCl does not seem to be enough)



I guess that some HCN is released - depending on the quantity taken in - so 

for a low level of say a Cs-137 contamination I might prefer to keep the 

Cs-137 and just try to wash it out faster with a combination of heavy 

drinking (not exactly whiskey) and increased intake of potassium/sodium 

chloride. An alternative to Prussian Blue is bentonite which I think 

(=probably something my professor in nuclear chemistry told me 20 years ago) 

has been tried on sheep or some other larger mammal (?).



Please comment, add or correct whatever is necessary.





My personal reflections only,



Bjorn Cedervall    bcradsafers@hotmail.com

http://www.geocities.com/bjorn_cedervall/





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