# Does a cyanide capsule really kill instantly? How? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 10, 2009, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-cyanide-capsule-really-kill-instantly-how/495925 "2009-05-10T06:00:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Quintas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/48db29/32.png) [@Quintas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quintas)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2009, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-cyanide-capsule-really-kill-instantly-how/495925/1 "2009-05-10T06:00:54Z")
I’ve wondered this a long time. From what I understand, it prevents cells from utilising oxygen. But I just watched a History show about the final days in Hitler’s bunker, and they describe biting down on the capsule and immediately convulsing for a moment, then death. How does a capsule work so quickly? ---
**Author:** ![ajb867](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f14d63/32.png) [@ajb867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ajb867)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2009, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-cyanide-capsule-really-kill-instantly-how/495925/2 "2009-05-10T10:08:13Z")
The only ones who know are dead ☹ ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2009, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-cyanide-capsule-really-kill-instantly-how/495925/3 "2009-05-10T11:12:17Z")
Some of its contents are inhaled, following which cyanide is present near immediately in the blood going to the brain (and every else in the body). The cyanide reaching the brain causes it to cease functioning virtually instantaneously (by shutting down its energy production apparatus). ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2009, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-cyanide-capsule-really-kill-instantly-how/495925/4 "2009-05-10T13:42:47Z")
If **KarlGauss** is right about the mechanism of death being primarily inhaled cyanide fumes, and if [this site](http://www.answerbag.com/articles/Nicotine-Effects-on-the-Brain/c338d081-3fb1-9be9-ae60-a6faf5dd7a92) is correct about how long it takes inhaled nicotine to reach the brain, then I don’t see any reason for it to take longer than 7 seconds for the cyanide to kill someone. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Great\_Philosopher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3ec8ea/32.png) [@The\_Great\_Philosopher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Great_Philosopher)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2009, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-cyanide-capsule-really-kill-instantly-how/495925/5 "2009-05-10T13:55:44Z")
> **[Cyanide | Toxicity](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyanide#Toxicity)** > > Among the most toxic cyanides are hydrogen cyanide (HCN), sodium cyanide (NaCN), potassium cyanide (KCN), and calcium cyanide (Ca(CN)2). The cyanide anion is an inhibitor of the enzyme cytochrome c oxidase (also known as aa3), the fourth complex of the electron transport chain found in the inner membrane of the mitochondria of eukaryotic cells. It attaches to the iron within this protein. The binding of cyanide to this enzyme prevents transport of electrons from cytochrome c to oxygen. As a resul... > [@](#): > > “Cyanide” is a staple of crime fiction, often used synonymously with deadly poison. Many cyanide-containing compounds are indeed highly toxic, but many are not. Prussian blue, nominally Fe7(CN)18, a common pigment, is administered orally to counteract the effects of poisoning by thallium and Caesium-137. > > The most dangerous cyanides are hydrogen cyanide (HCN) and salts derived from it, such as potassium cyanide (KCN) and sodium cyanide (NaCN), among others. Also some compounds readily release HCN or the cyanide ion, such as trimethylsilyl cyanide (CH3)3SiCN upon contact with water and cyanoacrylates upon pyrolysis. > > Many thousands of organic compounds contain the CN group. These compounds are called nitriles. Generally, nitriles do not display the toxicity of HCN, NaCN, and KCN. In fact, the nitrile functional group is an integral component of numerous pharmaceutical drugs including cimetidine (Tagamet), verapamil (Isoptin), and citalopram (celexa). The reason for their diminished toxicity is that nitriles do not release the CN− ion, which permanently binds to and inhibits cytochrome c oxidase, the specific basis of the lethality of cyanide (see below). Nitriles can be released from the burning of some plastics and may be a source of cyanide toxicity. > > **Absorption** > > The most usual route of absorption is by inhalation of hydrogen cyanide gas, which can be formed from alkaline cyanides and certain complex cyanides by the action of acid. Hydrogen cyanide poisoning is also common as a result of smoke inhalation after house fires. > > Ingestion is equally dangerous, although this route of absorption is usually deliberate (suicidal or criminal). > > Absorption through the skin as an aqueous solution is low. Potassium or sodium cyanide can pass through the skin easily as a DMSO solution, though this is rare. > > **Mechanism of toxicity** > > Cyanide is an irreversible enzyme inhibitor. Cyanide ions bind to the iron atom of the enzyme cytochrome c oxidase (also known as aa3) in the fourth complex in the mitochondrial membrane in the mitochondria of cells. This denatures the enzyme, and the final transport of electrons from cytochrome c oxidase to oxygen cannot be completed. As a result, the electron transport chain is disrupted, meaning that the cell can no longer aerobically produce ATP for energy. > > Tissues that mainly depend on aerobic respiration, such as the central nervous system and the heart, are particularly affected. > > Plants contain an alternative pathway for respiration in their mitochondria. The alternate oxidase is not as efficient as the normal pathway, but immune to cyanide. As a result, plants are insensitive to concentrations of cyanide that are lethal to animals, and a few species (e.g. the Giant Bamboo in its shoots) are known to contain cyanides. Interestingly, the Golden Bamboo Lemur is able to consume Giant Bamboo shoots containing many times the lethal dose of cyanide for humans and most other animals, with no ill effects. The reason for its immunity is not yet understood. > > **Clinical symptoms** > > It is difficult to give dose figures in this section due to the rapid metabolism of cyanide in the human body. Animal studies are of little help, as different species have widely different sensitivities to cyanide: it is quite possible that there is also a considerable range of sensitivity among human individuals. The Regulatory information section below may give some guidance. > > **Acute poisoning** > > Inhalation of high concentrations of cyanide causes a coma with seizures, apnea and cardiac arrest, with death following in a matter of minutes. > > At lower doses, loss of consciousness may be preceded by general weakness, giddiness, headaches, vertigo, confusion, and perceived difficulty in breathing. At the first stages of unconsciousness, breathing is often sufficient or even rapid, although the state of the victim progresses towards a deep coma, sometimes accompanied by pulmonary edema, and finally cardiac arrest. Skin colour goes pink from high blood oxygen saturation. As you said, the way cyanide works is it interferes with the ‘Kreb cycle’ in cells; cells necessarily use oxygen to respire, and cyanide inhibits them from being able to use the oxygen. Because the Kreb cycle happens quickly and continuously, if the oxygen flow is interrupted, the cell can die after only a few cycles. If the cyanide has been inhaled it’ll reach the brain and start to wipe out cells _en masse_ within seconds. Although having said that, it seems like it’s not quite as quick as you’re thinking: by the sounds of things someone who’s inhaled cyanide may lose consciousness within 30 seconds, but it’ll still take them a few minutes at least to die. ---
**Author:** ![Anaglyph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Anaglyph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaglyph)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2009, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-cyanide-capsule-really-kill-instantly-how/495925/6 "2009-05-10T14:21:39Z")
Or to say it with fewer words: Cyanide stops cellular respiration and thereby blocks aerobic energy production in these cells. ---
**Author:** ![Quintas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/48db29/32.png) [@Quintas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quintas)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2009, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-cyanide-capsule-really-kill-instantly-how/495925/7 "2009-05-10T17:00:14Z")
> [@Anaglyph](#): > > Or to say it with fewer words: Cyanide stops cellular respiration and thereby blocks aerobic energy production in these cells. I get that. I _don’t_ understand how biting on the capsule allows it to get to all those cells so quickly. In the show I watched, they tested a capsule on hitlers dog. The eyewitness said they placed the capsule in the dogs mouth, pressed on the dogs jaws to crush the capsule and the dog immediately collapsed. Even if it doesn’t technically cause \*death \* immediately, it appears to at least cause unconsciousness. I would think that something orally ingested would take a few minutes at least to have an effect. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2009, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-cyanide-capsule-really-kill-instantly-how/495925/8 "2009-05-10T17:17:12Z")
> [@Quintas](#): > > I would think that something orally ingested would take a few minutes at least to have an effect. Things in your mouth can get absorbed into the bloodstream surprisingly quickly, even without being digested. Cyanide salts are pretty small molecules and may be absorbed directly in some configurations. As for why it works so quickly, remember that it doesn’t have to go around to all your cells and screw them up. Once it gets into your brain and blocks its ATP production, your whole body is immediately kaput. In any case, it’s never _instant_, it takes ten seconds or so for inhaled hydrogen cyanide gas to be absorbed and bork your brain. Dunno about ingested varieties. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2009, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-cyanide-capsule-really-kill-instantly-how/495925/9 "2009-05-10T19:11:44Z")
“Ingested orally” in the case of HCN doesn’t mean “absorbed through your intestines;” HCN is a gas (its salts like KCN and NaCN form some HCN in contact with water or saliva; Prussian blue isn’t exactly a salt, in it the CN is forming a complex with stronger bonds than in the KCN and NaCN) and it can be absorbed through the lungs, as **KarlGauss** mentioned. And it’s Krebs’ cycle, please 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2009, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-cyanide-capsule-really-kill-instantly-how/495925/10 "2009-05-10T19:59:42Z")
Might there be a big difference between gas and oral delivery of HCN? It takes several minutes for a condemned person to die in a gas chamber with some [particularly drawn out cases](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_chamber#United_States). ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2009, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-cyanide-capsule-really-kill-instantly-how/495925/11 "2009-05-10T20:02:51Z")
Concentration is the big difference. In the case of the oral delivery, you’re taking a more concentrated amount than what’s in the chamber at first, it takes a while for the cyanide concentration to build up in the chamber. ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2009, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-cyanide-capsule-really-kill-instantly-how/495925/12 "2009-05-10T21:06:26Z")
> [@Quintas](#): > > I get that. > > I _don’t_ understand how biting on the capsule allows it to get to all those cells so quickly. In the show I watched, they tested a capsule on hitlers dog. The eyewitness said they placed the capsule in the dogs mouth, pressed on the dogs jaws to crush the capsule and the dog immediately collapsed. > > Even if it doesn’t technically cause \*death \* immediately, it appears to at least cause unconsciousness. I would think that something orally ingested would take a few minutes at least to have an effect. You can absorb somethings straight through your gums/mouth. That’s why people chew tobacco. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Great\_Philosopher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3ec8ea/32.png) [@The\_Great\_Philosopher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Great_Philosopher)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2009, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-cyanide-capsule-really-kill-instantly-how/495925/13 "2009-05-10T21:58:50Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Concentration is the big difference. > > In the case of the oral delivery, you’re taking a more concentrated amount than what’s in the chamber at first, it takes a while for the cyanide concentration to build up in the chamber. Also in the gas chamber when they refer to people ‘taking a few minutes (or more) to die’, I suspect in most of those cases the prisoner’s probably not conscious - but if they’re spasming and seizing, foaming at the mouth and making involuntary noises for a couple minutes it would look pretty horrible. ---
**Author:** ![Interconnected\_Series\_of\_Tubes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/13edae/32.png) [@Interconnected\_Series\_of\_Tubes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Interconnected_Series_of_Tubes)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2009, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-cyanide-capsule-really-kill-instantly-how/495925/14 "2009-05-11T01:40:57Z")
> [@treis](#): > > You can absorb somethings straight through your gums/mouth. That’s why people chew tobacco. Might the classical “instant” cyanide death capsules instead be glass ampules containing the more water-reactive compounds? Lacerating the mouth should (might?) provide the soluble cyanide gas ready access to the bloodstream and brain. Inhalation would provide another means of contamination. Maybe a tiny vial of acid embedded to speed to process along. Just wagging. I should add the obvious note that when talking about stuff like this, time to unconsciousness is all that really matters. ---
**Author:** ![vikinghorn6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ea5d25/32.png) [@vikinghorn6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vikinghorn6)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2013, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-cyanide-capsule-really-kill-instantly-how/495925/15 "2013-02-16T21:39:25Z")
I’m not a doctor. At least not a medical doctor. But I can tell you all one thing. In the end, everyone dies of the exact same thing. Lack of blood flow to the brain. Regardless of the mechanism precipitating death, the process is still the same. If a man is shot through the brain stem, it shuts off all communication between the body and the brain. It appears as if the man dies immediately. He does not. Again, regardless of the mechanism death, it takes between 3-4 min. For the human brain to die due to lack of blood flow to the brain. In short, the answer to your question, with very few obvious exceptions, like being vaporized by a nuclear explosion, is no. You will not die immediately. Even if the blood flow to your brain is stopped immediately, it takes between 3-4 min. For all brain activity to cease. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2013, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-cyanide-capsule-really-kill-instantly-how/495925/16 "2013-02-16T21:45:46Z")
> [@vikinghorn6](#): > > In the end, everyone dies of the exact same thing. Lack of blood flow to the brain. I had the original Trivial Pursuit, too! ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2013, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-cyanide-capsule-really-kill-instantly-how/495925/17 "2013-02-16T23:56:28Z")
> [@Interconnected\_Series\_of\_Tubes](#): > > Might the classical “instant” cyanide death capsules instead be glass ampules containing the more water-reactive compounds? Lacerating the mouth should (might?) provide the soluble cyanide gas ready access to the bloodstream and brain. Inhalation would provide another means of contamination. > > Maybe a tiny vial of acid embedded to speed to process along. > > Just wagging. > > I should add the obvious note that when talking about stuff like this, time to unconsciousness is all that really matters. In the particular case of Nazis committing suicide that the OP’s in reference to, I’ve always read that glass ampoules of prussic acid (hydrogen cyanide) were exactly what they used. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2013, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-cyanide-capsule-really-kill-instantly-how/495925/18 "2013-02-17T00:43:28Z")
> [@vikinghorn6](#): > > Even if the blood flow to your brain is stopped immediately, it takes between 3-4 min. For all brain activity to cease. Which is much faster than from 2009 to 2013, but maybe it takes longer with zombies. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2013, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-cyanide-capsule-really-kill-instantly-how/495925/19 "2013-02-17T01:01:57Z")
My grandmother had one and gave one, I think, to my Mom when they were fleeing the Nazis, in case they were arrested. I’ll ask my Mom. (She has Alzheimer’s so I might come up empty). My grandmother’s war-time diary is in Yad Vashem in Israel, so that’s out for now. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2013, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-cyanide-capsule-really-kill-instantly-how/495925/20 "2013-02-17T01:50:07Z")
On its use in the last days of the Third Reich, according to Speer one of the points of conversation in the Fuhrerbunker was which was quicker - shooting yourself in the head or the cyanide capsule. Hitler himself was extremely suspicious of the capsules, an SS favourite, after Himmler’s betrayal with his attempted negotiation with the western allies through the Swiss. Hitler was paranoid about someone in the bunker rendering him unconscious and delivering him to the Soviets in exchange for clemency. Incidentally Himmler also dodged the gallows with cyanide (as did Goering - with potassium cyanide, as opposed to hydrogen cyanide used by the Hitlers), the wiki on him states; _“The doctor attempted to examine the inside of Himmler’s mouth, but the prisoner was reluctant to open it and jerked his head away. Himmler then bit into a hidden cyanide pill and collapsed onto the floor. He was dead within fifteen minutes.[176]”_ As a result, he gave one to his dog, Blondi, who died instantly. After that he was satisfied, evidence suggests he bit down on a capsule and simultaneously shot himself in the temple, while Eva just took the cyanide. Not long before the Goebels had [forced their children](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goebbels_children#Death) to take cyanide - evidence suggest that the eldest struggled against her fate. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-cyanide-capsule-really-kill-instantly-how/495925.md?page=2)