Evaluation of Commercially Available Cyanide Test Kits against Various Matrices
Abstract
Five commercially available cyanide-detection test kits or strips were selected for evaluation based upon a premarket survey: Quantofix test strips, Cyantesmo test paper, and Visocolor ECO test kits (Macherey-Nagel; Dren, Germany); eXact test strips (Industrial Test Systems; Rock Hill, SC); and MQuant test strips (EMD Millipore; Billerica, MA). Kits were tested against spiked matrices of flour, powdered sugar, and talcum powder with potassium cyanide at concentrations of 0 to 1 weight-to-weight ratio. Cyantesmo paper and Visocolor ECO test kits yielded the most consistent results across all concentration ranges, even for sample sizes as low as 5 mg. Based upon these results and the mechanics of performing the analyses, Cyantesmo paper was selected for further evaluation in a second phase of testing. Cyantesmo paper was tested against 15 matrices, including baking soda, boric acid, brewers yeast, chalk dust, chitin, coffee powder (instant coffee), cornstarch, drywall dust, flour, kaolin, gamma-aminobutyric acid, L-glutamic acid, powdered coffee creamer, powdered milk, and talcum powder spiked with potassium cyanide at concentrations of 0 to 1 weight-to-weight ratio. In the final results, Cyantesmo paper successfully detected the presence of 0.1 % cyanide in 50 mg sample sizes; however, at the 5 mg sample size, the test was unreliable.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 2016
- Accession Number
- AD1014443
Entities
People
- Darren W. Hicklin
- Wilfred A. Willingham
Organizations
- Edgewood Chemical Biological Center