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UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
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DEPARTMENT BULLETIN No. 1307 
Washington, D. C. T November 12, 1924 
ABSORPTION AND RETENTION OF HYDROCYANIC ACID BY 
FUMIGATED FOOD PRODUCTS. PART H 1 
By E. L. Griffin, Associate Chemist, Insecticide and Fungicide Laboratory, 
Miscellaneous Division, Bureau of Chemistry; and E. A. Back, Entomologist 
in Charge of Stored-Product Insect Investigations, Bureau of Entomology 
Introduction 1 
Review of literature 1 
Experimental work: 
Dried fruits 3 
Candy and candy making materials 6 
Cereals, meat, cheese, and dried milk 7 
CONTENTS 
Page 
Experimental work — Continued. 
Effect of boiling on hydrocyanic acid in 
fumigated food products _. 7 
Summary 8 
Literature cited _. 8 
INTRODUCTION 
The work reported in 1923 in Department Bulletin No. 1149 of the 
United States Department of Agriculture showed that different 
foodstuffs absorb and retain varying quantities of hydrocyanic acid. 
The cases of agreement among closely related products are not so 
marked that the absorption by one foodstuff may be confidently 
predicted from that of another. This investigation was therefore 
extended to other fumigated foodstuffs, and the removal of hydro- 
cyanic acid from foodstuffs by boiling, as in cooking, was studied. 
The results thus obtained, together with references to the work and 
opinions of other investigators, are given in the following pages. 
REVIEW OF LITERATURE 
Lutrario (6) 2 exposed foodstuffs for 80 minutes in an experimental 
chamber, to a gas obtained from 5 grams of 88 per cent commercial 
sodium cyanide for each cubic meter of space (at the rate of about 
half an ounce for each 100 cubic feet). Table 1 is compiled from 
his results. 
In these experiments the dosage of hydrocyanic acid gas was smaller 
and the time of exposure was shorter than is usual in fumigating 
warehouses or factories. 
Heerdt (4) stated that foods with a high moisture content take up 
notable quantities of hydrocyanic acid on fumigation. If the fumigant 
1 Part I was published as Department Bulletin 1149, May 9, 1923. 
2 Italic numbers in parenthesis refer to Literature Cited, p. 8. 
6529°— 24f 1 
