At 11:14 AM 5/4/00 -0700, Paul wrote:
>Let's say that a reasonable portion of smoked fish is 4 ounces or 114 grams.
>Let's also say that the salt content of this fish is 3%--probably a bit
>high, but let's use that figure. Therefore, in that portion, there will be
>3.42 grams of salt.
>If 13 ppm of that salt is YPS, then the YPS consumed will be 0.00004446
>grams.
Thanks for an intelligent thumbnail sketch of the hazard level involved!
Some further comments:
3.42g x 0.001 YPS = 0.00342 g YPS (usually YPS added at 0.1%)
>Recently Dr. LaBudde stated that the LD50 for Sodium Cyanide (which has a
>higher level of CN!) was 15 mg. per kg!
For a 50 kg person, 50 x 15 = 0.750 g NaCN vs 0.001g YPS.
Also:
1. Remember the action of cyanide as a toxin is against the heme iron of
the blood stream. In YPS, the cyanide is ALREADY bound to iron, so this
would DRAMATICALLY reduce its toxicity.
2. The dose is effective based on ratio to body weight. As with NaNO2, the
chance for significant toxicity, if any, would be limited to infants.
3. The principal dangers of YPS as a PURE COMPOUND are handling dangers
with respect to acid and heat.
4. You have to also calibrate the intake danger vs other dietary sources of
cyanide. Many fruits and vegetables contain some. Including cassava root,
which is a principal foodstuff of the tropics.
5. The response of the body to very low grade cyanide poisoning would be to
very slightly increase red blood cell count to counteract it.
6. This whole issue is about the word "cyanide" as a bugaboo, rather than
any measurable risk from YPS use in salt.
7. The epidemiological experiment needed would be to compare very large
cohorts of people using and not using YPS-salt, and see if any difference
in red blood cell count could be found. This would indicate a measurable
response to the YPS. It would not, however, indicate the importance.
(Similar effects are obvious in populations living in mountainous areas.)
================================================================
Robert A. LaBudde, PhD, PAS, Dpl. ACAFS e-mail: ral@lcfltd.com
Least Cost Formulations, Ltd. URL: http://lcfltd.com/
824 Timberlake Drive Tel: 757-467-0954
Virginia Beach, VA 23464-3239 Fax: 757-467-2947
"Vere scire est per causas scire"
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