Potassium lid of the container, and can detonate upon opening. Because of the highly reactive nature of potassium metal, it must be handled with great care, with full skin and eye protection and preferably an explosion-resistant barrier between the user and the metal. Ingestion of large amounts of potassium compounds can lead to hyperkalemia, strongly influencing the cardiovascular system. Potassium chloride is used in the United States for lethal injection executions. Potassium Potassium is a chemical element with symbol K (from Neo-Latin "kalium") and atomic number 19. It was first isolated from potash, the ashes of plants, from which its name
Potassium oxide potassium oxide. Thus, if a fertilizer is 30% potassium chloride by weight, its standard potassium rating, based on potassium oxide, would be only 18.8%. Potassium oxide Potassium oxide (KO) is an ionic compound of potassium and oxygen. This pale yellow solid, the simplest oxide of potassium, is a rarely encountered, highly reactive compound. Some materials of commerce, such as fertilizers and cements, are assayed assuming the percent composition that would be equivalent to the chemical compound mixture KO. Potassium oxide is produced from the reaction of oxygen and potassium; this reaction affords potassium oxide, KO. Treatment of the peroxide with