the heart and central nervous system, unprotected. rhodanese is also found in red blood cells, but its relative importance has not been clarified.) a different cyanide-metabolizing pathway, 3-mercaptopyruvate sulfurtransferase (3-mpst, ec 2.8.1.2), which is more widely distributed in mammalian tissues than rhodanese, is being explored. 3-mpst converts cyanide to thiocyanate, using the cysteine catabolite, 3-mercaptopyruvate (3-mp). however, 3-mp is extremely unstable chemically. therefore, a prodrug, sulfanegen sodium (2, 5-dihydroxy-1,4-dithiane-2,5-dicarboxylic acid disodium salt), which hydrolyzes into 2 molecules of 3-mp after being administered orally or parenterally, is being evaluated in animal models. oxygen therapy oxygen therapy is not a cure in its own right. however, the human liver is capable of metabolizing cyanide quickly in low doses (smokers breathe in hydrogen cyanide, but it is such a small amount and metabolized so fast that it does not accumulate). methylene blue has historically been used as an antidote to cyanide poisoning, but is not a preferred therapy due to its theoretical risk of worsening of cyanide symptoms by displacement of cyanide from methemoglobin, allowing the toxin to bind to tissue electron transport chains. history fires the república cromañón nightclub fire broke out in buenos aires, argentina on 30 december 2004, killing 194 people and leaving at least 1,492 injured. most of the victims died from inhaling poisonous gases, and carbon monoxide. after the fire, the technical institution inti found that the level of toxicity due to the materials and volume of the building was 225 ppm of cyanide in the air. a lethal dose for rats is between 150 ppm and 220 ppm, meaning the air in the building was highly toxic. on 5 december 2009, a fire in the night club lame horse (khromaya loshad) in the russian city of perm took the lives of 156 people. fatalities consisted of 111 people at the site and 45 later in hospitals. one of the main causes of death was poisoning from cyanide and other toxic gases released by the burning of plastic and polyurethane foam used in the construction of club interiors. taking into account the number of deaths, this was the largest fire in post-soviet russia. on 27 january 2013, a fire at the kiss nightclub in the city of santa maria, in the south of brazil, caused the poisoning of hundreds of young people by cyanide released by the combustion of soundproofing foam made with polyurethane. by march 2013, 245 fatalities were confirmed. gas chambers empty zyklon b canisters, found by the soviets in january 1945 at auschwitz in early 1942, zyklon b, which contains hydrogen cyanide, emerged as the preferred killing tool of nazi germany for use in extermination camps during the holocaust. the chemical was used to murder roughly one million people in gas chambers installed in extermination camps at auschwitz-birkenau, majdanek, and elsewhere. most of the people who were murdered were jews, and by far the majority of these murders took place at auschwitz. zyklon b was supplied to concentration camps at mauthausen, dachau, and buchenwald by the distributor heli, and to auschwitz and majdanek by testa. camps also occasionally bought zyklon b directly from the manufacturers. of the 729 tonnes of zyklon b sold in germany in 1942–44, 56 tonnes (about eight percent of domestic sales) were sold to concentration camps. auschwitz received 23.8 tonnes, of which six tonnes were used for fumigation. the remainder was used in the gas chambers or lost to spoilage (the product had a stated shelf life of only three months). testa conducted fumigations for the wehrmacht and supplied them with zyklon b. they also offered courses to the ss in the safe handling and use of the material for fumigation purposes. in april 1941, the german agriculture and interior ministries designated the ss as an authorized applier of the chemical, and thus they were able to use it without any further training or governmental oversight. hydrogen cyanide gas has been used for judicial execution in some states of the united states, where cyanide was generated by reaction between potassium cyanide (or sodium cyanide) dropped into a compartment containing sulfuric acid, directly below the chair in the gas chamber. suicide for information on methods of suicide intervention, see suicide prevention. cyanide salts are sometimes used as fast-acting suicide devices. cyanide reacts at a higher level with high stomach acidity. on 26 january 1904, company promoter and swindler whitaker wright died by suicide by ingesting cyanide in a court anteroom immediately after being convicted of fraud. in february 1937, the uruguayan short story writer horacio quiroga died by suicide by drinking cyanide in a hospital at buenos aires. in 1937, polymer chemist wallace carothers died by suicide by cyanide. in the 1943 operation gunnerside to destroy the vemork heavy water plant in world war ii (an attempt to stop or slow german atomic bomb progress), the commandos were given cyanide tablets (cyanide enclosed in rubber) kept in the mouth and were instructed to bite into them in case of german capture. the tablets ensured death within three minutes. cyanide, in the form of pure liquid prussic acid (a historical name for hydrogen cyanide), was the favored suicide agent of nazi germany. erwin rommel (1944), adolf hitler's wife, eva braun (1945), and nazi leaders heinrich himmler (1945), possibly martin bormann (1945), and hermann göring (1946) all died by suicide by ingesting it. it is speculated that, in 1954, alan turing used an apple that had been injected with a solution of cyanide to die by suicide after being convicted of having a homosexual relationship, which was illegal at the time in the united kingdom, and forced to undergo hormonal castration to avoid prison. an inquest determined that turing's death from cyanide poisoning was a suicide, although this has been disputed. members of the sri lankan tamil (or eelam tamil) ltte (liberation tigers of tamil eelam, whose insurgency lasted from 1983 to 2009), used to wear cyanide vials around their necks with the intention of dying by suicide if captured by the government forces. on 22 june 1977, moscow, aleksandr dmitrievich ogorodnik, a soviet diplomat accused of spying on behalf of the colombian intelligence agency and the us central intelligence agency, was arrested. during the interrogations, ogorodnik offered to write a full confession and asked for his pen. inside the pen cap was a cleverly hidden cyanide pill, which when bitten on, caused ogorodnik to die before he hit the floor, according to the soviets. on 18 november 1978, jonestown. a total of 909 individuals died in jonestown, many from apparent cyanide poisoning, in an event termed "revolutionary suicide" by jones and some members on an audio tape of the event and in prior discussions. the poisonings in jonestown followed the murder of five others by temple members at port kaituma, including united states congressman leo ryan, an act that jones ordered. four other temple members died by murder-suicide in georgetown at jones' command. on 6 june 1985, serial killer leonard lake died in custody after having ingested cyanide pills he had sewn into his clothes. on 28 june 2012, wall street trader michael marin ingested a cyanide pill seconds after a guilty verdict was read in his arson trial in phoenix, az; he died minutes after. on 22 june 2015, john b. mclemore, a horologist and the central figure of the podcast s-town, died after ingesting cyanide. on 29 november 2017, slobodan praljak died from drinking potassium cyanide, after being convicted of war crimes by the international criminal tribunal for the former yugoslavia. mining and industrial in 1993, an illegal spill resulted in the death of seven people in avellaneda, argentina. in their memory, the national environmental conscious day (día nacional de la conciencia ambiental) was established. in 2000, a spill at baia mare, romania, resulted in the worst environmental disaster in europe since chernobyl. in 2000, allen elias, ceo of evergreen resources was convicted of knowing endangerment for his role in the cyanide poisoning of employee scott dominguez. this was one of the first successful criminal prosecutions of a corporate executive by the environmental protection agency. murder john tawell, a murderer who in 1845 became the first person to be arrested as the result of telecommunications technology. grigori rasputin (1916; attempted, later killed by gunshot) the goebbels children (1945) stepan bandera (1959) jonestown, guyana, was the site of a large mass murder–suicide, in which over 900 members of the peoples temple drank potassium cyanide–laced flavor aid in 1978. chicago tylenol murders (1982) timothy marc o'bryan (1966–1974) died on october 31, 1974 by ingesting potassium cyanide placed into a giant pixy stix. his father, ronald clark o'bryan, was convicted of tim's murder plus four counts of attempted murder. o'bryan put potassium cyanide into five giant pixy stix that he gave to his son and daughter along with three other children. only timothy ate the poisoned candy and died. bruce nickell (5 june 1986) murdered by his wife who poisoned a bottle of excedrin. richard kuklinski (1935–2006) janet overton (1942–1988) her husband, richard overton was convicted of poisoning her, but janet's symptoms did not match those of classic cyanide poisoning, the timeline was inconsistent with cyanide poisoning, and the amount found was just a trace. the diagnostic method used was prone to false positives. richard overton died in prison in 2009. urooj khan (1966–2012), won the lottery and was found dead a few days later. a blood diagnostic reported a lethal level of cyanide in his blood, but the body did not display any classic symptoms of cyanide poisoning, and no link to cyanide could be found in urooj's social circle. the diagnostic method used was the conway diffusion method, prone to false positives with artifacts of heart attack and kidney failure. autumn marie klein (20 april 2013), a prominent 41-year-old neuroscientist and physician, died from cyanide poisoning. klein's husband, robert j. ferrante, also a prominent neuroscientist who used cyanide in his research, was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison for her death. robert ferrante is appealing his conviction. mirna salihin died in hospital on 6 january 2016, after drinking a vietnamese iced coffee at a cafe in a shopping mall in jakarta. police reports claim that cyanide poisoning was the most likely cause of her death. jolly thomas of kozhikode, kerala, india, was arrested in 2019 for the murder of 6 family members. murders took place over 14-year period and each victim ate a meal prepared by the killer. the murders were allegedly motivated by wanting control of the family finances and property. mei xiang li of brooklyn, ny, collapsed and died in april 2017, with cyanide later reported to be in her blood. however, mei never exhibited symptoms of cyanide poisoning and no link to cyanide could be found in her life. sararath "am" rangsiwutthiporn, who became quickly known as "am cyanide" in thai media, was arrested by the thai police for allegedly poisoning 11 of her friends and acquaintances, spanning 2020 to 2023, with 10 deaths and 1 surviving supposed victim. according to an ongoing investigation, the number of victims is currently at 20-30 persons, mostly dead with several survived. warfare or terrorism in 1988, between 3,200 and 5,000 people died in the halabja massacre owing to unknown chemical nerve agents. hydrogen cyanide gas was strongly suspected. in 1995, a device was discovered in a restroom in the kayabacho tokyo subway station, consisting of bags of sodium cyanide and sulfuric acid with a remote controlled motor to rupture them in what was believed to be an attempt by the aum shinrikyo cult to produce toxic amounts of hydrogen cyanide gas. in 2003, al qaeda reportedly planned to release cyanide gas into the new york city subway system. the attack was supposedly aborted because there would not be enough casualties. research cobinamide is the final compound in the biosynthesis of cobalamin. it has greater affinity for the cyanide than cobalamin itself, which suggests that it could be a better option for emergency treatment.