Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Pharmacology Student Poisons Self

gutter_ca - 11-4-2012 at 07:52

Possibly with lead azide:

http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/local/boston/120071746108...

peach - 11-4-2012 at 09:21

I seem to recall a story in the UK news recently (last few weeks) about a female university student poisoning herself. Hers was a case of suicide. I believe the chemical in question was sodium (or potassium?) cyanide. The article featured a picture of what was clearly a laboratory bottle, although whether or not that was the bottle I don't know. Disappointed I could not remember her name or degree, and searching for the article, I found some more examples:

2003 - Joseph McDonald, 58, research chemist at the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (one of my locals). Cyanide. Killed himself after being ripped off by workmen at his house (I suspect, the last straw rather than the sole reason).

2004 - Marc Heap, 18, Lancs. Cyanide. Going to university the next week. Had suffered from acne problems and was tired of it all.

2010 - Arthur (physicist) and Mary Prior. 90 and 87. Married for 60 years. His wife was taken into care. He took her home and they were found dead, drinking cyanide laced tea at the dining table. :(

As with many suicides, perhaps bar the last, they weren't necessary (Arthur was pro choosing to die). Acne can clear up very quickly all by it's self, and the 58 year old chemist, the small claims court is a fun, fun place! The judge gave me an extra £50 for the defendant wasting my time while I was there. Then asked me if I'd like him to pay the bus fair. :D I'd cycled, so declined.

Cyanide, one of the oldest choices, still seems to be with us. Perhaps not something to sell to newer members in this light. The news coverage only makes it more likely others will opt for and seek it out. As far as I'm aware, there are no public laboratory suppliers who stock cyanides, so they'd likely look for individuals with a bottle or two. Wouldn't be surprised if this is also cyanide.

{edit} Found more: {edit}


2002, Dennis Elwell, 49, Shropshire. Cyanide. Lottery winner. Wife left him.

2006, Dr Francis Manning, 41, lecturer at Liverpool John Moores University, Merseyside / Wirral (that is actually where I live). Biochemistry and toxicology. Relationship problems with his fiancee. Had drunk methanol from work about a decade earlier. Cyanide.

2007, Belfast, Mr Hunter, 28. Cyanide.

2009, two women, 30's and 50's, hotel in London. Potassium cyanide.

[Edited on 11-4-2012 by peach]

Hexavalent - 11-4-2012 at 09:45

Such a shame that this kind of thing can happen to people with so much potential . . .I wonder how much they actually ingested versus the LD50/

DJF90 - 11-4-2012 at 10:03

I recall reading a while ago about people gassing themselves in cars/dormrooms with H2S. I dont remember the details but I'm sure a search will yield fruit.

peach - 11-4-2012 at 10:16

That was (is?) popular in Japan.

Someone discovered that a certain domestic product contained large amounts of something sulphur bearing. So they'd fill a bucket with it and then release the gas. It went as far as sites offering printable instructions and labels to stick on the windows of cars and rooms, warning the authorities that it was in the air.

quicksilver - 13-4-2012 at 07:28

Many years back NaN3 was used to wire out living organisms in Petri dishes. Large firms used it consistently and quite a bit of training was given to new employees. It's LD50 is quite close to potassium cyanide. Simple skin contact in a trapped position (under a glove adjacent to delicate skin) could easily make many people very sick. Tens of milligrams in mucus membranes would be close to fatality depending upon weight of sample and subject. (Merck)

danielleB - 24-4-2012 at 21:56

To sad to hear that. :( I can'y imagine this things could happen.

MagicJigPipe - 4-5-2012 at 22:26

"A sodium azide, which is in air bags, but it can metabolize into some kind of cyanide"

Well, I guess you can't expect firefighters to know everything.

And I wonder if "A" was a typo or if he actually said that. If so, I wonder what he meant by "a sodium azide"?

EDIT

And if I was going to guess as to the cause of her suicide I would say it was the pressure of trying to get her dissertation written on time OR she might have screwed up something in her research OR her research wasn't yielding anything either due to her or her professor's incompetence.

[Edited on 5-5-2012 by MagicJigPipe]