125,000 lethal doses of cyanide leak from factory in Iwate

“The leak has not reached a nearby river and we have not received any reports of impact on people.”

We'll know soon enough if he's telling the trugh, won't we?

Sorry, that should be "truth." Browser's acting weird today...

we have not received any reports of impact on people.

That would be because anyone who comes into contact with it is dead.

just dont eat the yellow , white or any type of snow!

That is some scary s....!!! I hope the workers were properly warned and had the full safety gear on.

“The leak has not reached a nearby river and we have not received any reports of impact on people."

Roughly translated; " It has and we're going to cover our arses now and keep our fingers crossed that nobody puts 2 and 2 together."

I did warn people about the dangers of industrial plants INSIDE CITIES, but nobody cared. This factory is upstream of a hundred thousand people, all of whom could have been killed if the chemicals had leaked directly into the river. Luckily it's only low concentration solutions that were dumped, but imagine what could happen if a chlorine tank (like those used in steel mills and water treatment facilities) ruptured in a larger city like tokyo

Now all we need to do is hope that they were honest when they said that none of it reached the river. I hope it didn't go into any storm drains either... Poor Iwate...

Horrible. . . . . Just Horrible.

It is a terrible thing but have you ever eaten an almond? Almonds have cyanide but in small quantities so they do not effect you. Cyanide is in the air you breathe but in small quantities. In effect if it binds with the snow it evaporates slowly into the air and is not noticeable and has no effect becoming just a part of the airborne cyanide that we breathe everyday. The cyanide that that kills is a concentrated cyanide. Many foods we eat contain small amounts of cyanide. This is a minor disaster but could have been a major one if the snow did not absorb it. Many people become afraid because of the word cyanide while it does kill by binding to hemoglobin and disrupting the production of ATP in cells which is what our bodies get energy from, this is a minor disaster and they tried to make it into sensationalism.

"I did warn people about the dangers of industrial plants INSIDE CITIES, but nobody cared"

Basroil ...That means you must not have the political pull you think you have from this forum. Fear mongering ...Tokyo is not in a bubble with the Majority of major plants being located at the ports where there is more open airspace/land space to dilute and lower the risk to people. NOTE I said majority as I'm sure you'll come back with a few examples after wasting your time on the internet to prove a point using some populated areas. It's called Zoning there are only so many places to pop up plants

With any industry there are inherent dangers no one is exempt from accidents or the possibility of having them. This is good that it happened with snow and not in the rainy season where there would be less of a chance to contain the spill. Reports of sick people will probably come up when the thaw comes.

@basroil: LOL. Owned.

Meh. If it's like most places that have to store hazardous chemicals, the ground underneath the container is sealed (usually with clay and/or cement) to prevent the hazardous chemical from entering the water table in the case of a container rupture.

If the cyanide was going to kill people it would have killed them by the time this was written. When it evaporates slowly it will not harm people but will dissipate. If it had been dumped without the snow cover it would have harmed. It is contained in the snow and can be removed.

Scary snow !!!

Vitamin B 12 lozenges witch contains mannitol sweetner is a sure antidote for cyanide poisoning and is it's inexpensive way to stay safe.

Im sure glad that the people surrounding that area are safe from harm, I'll keep everyone involved in my prayers.

Vitamin B 12 lozenges witch contains mannitol sweetner is a sure antidote for cyanide poisoning and is it's inexpensive way to stay safe.

It's an antidote for a non-fatal exposure because it takes hours to scrub the body clean of the cyanide using B12 or any of the other treatments. A fatal dose will kill within minutes of exposure - long before any antidotes have a chance to be effective.

If cyanide is inhaled it causes a coma with seizures, apnea, and cardiac arrest, with death following in a matter of minutes. ...A fatal dose for humans can be as low as 1.5 mg/kg body weight.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyanide_poisoning

What cyanide does is prevent your cells from conducting respiration - the same thing you do when you breathe, but at a cellular level. The cells go into anaerobic metabolism. (Think: the lactic acid "burn" after a heavy workout, but occurring in EVERY cell, not just the muscles)

No fishing today!

Good thing they made a prompt announcement, only A DAY LATER, when it would have been too late, according to the several cyanide experts posted above. They've obviously learnt a lesson from the chaps at TEPCO.

@Basroil

You might consider getting a megaphone to get your warnings out to all and sundry....