﻿UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OE AGRICULTURE 



DEPARTMENT BULLETIN No. 1149 



Washington, D. C. 



May 9, 1923 



ABSORPTION AND RETENTION OF HYDROCYANIC 

 ACID BY FUMIGATED FOOD PRODUCTS. 



By E. L. Griffin, Assistant Chemist, and I. E. Neifert, Junior Chemist, Insecticide 

 and Fungicide Laboratory, Miscellaneous Division, Bureau of Chemistry; N. Perrine, 

 Assistant in Plant Fumigation, Federal Horticultural Board, and A. B. Duckett, 1 

 Scientific Assistant, Stored-Product Insect Investigations, Bureau of Entomology. 2 



CONTENTS. 



Introduction 1 



Review of literature 2 



Purpose of investigation 4 



Experimental work 4 



Summary 15 



Bibliography 16 



INTRODUCTION. 



Hydrocyanic acid, in the gaseous form, is used extensively in the 

 United States as a fumigant for the destruction of insects and rodents, 

 particularly the brown rat {Mus norvegicus) . Probably the earliest 

 recorded use of this gas for killing insects 3 was that by J. T. Bell 

 (4), 4 who in 1877 employed it to rid an insect cabinet of insect pests. 

 Credit is given to Dr. D. W. Coquillet for being the first to suggest 

 the use of hydrocyanic acid gas for destroying insects on plants. 

 In 1886, while employed as an agent of the United States Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, he began experiments with it which later showed 

 its value for the destruction 01 scale insects infesting citrus trees 



Since 1886 the use of hydrocyanic acid gas as a fumigant has been 

 extended greatly, until it now includes the fumigation of dwellings, 

 barracks, etc. 0.2), for the destruction of certain insects which are 

 ordinarily classed as vermin, such as roaches, water bugs, and bed- 

 bugs, and the fumigation of warehouses and mills (7, 8) against 

 certain insects that destroy food products. More recently this gas 



1 Deceased. 



* H. L. Sanford assisted in the fumigation work and J. J. T. Graham assisted in making the analyses of 

 the stored grains. As the plants and plant products coming in at the various ports of entry from foreign 

 countries frequently are infested with insects new to the United States, E. R. Sasscer, entomologist in charge 

 of the Plant Quarantine Service of the Federal Horticultural Board, outlined the fumigation procedure 

 upon which the investigations herein reported were based, with the idea of determining whether or not 

 various fruits, vegetables, and stored products fumigated with hydrocyanic acid gas in concentrations 

 lethal to insects would be poisonous to consumers. 



* Reference is made to the use of hydrocyanic acid gas generated rapidly by the action of sulphuric acid 

 on potassium cyanide or sodium cyanide, and not to the use of potassium cyanide for killing insects in 

 collectors' bottles, which probably is much the older practice. 



* The numbers (italics) in parentheses throughout this bulletin refer to the bibliography on page 16 . 



29302— 23— Bull. 1149 1 



