The ventilation of houses after fumigation with hydrogen cyanide

Abstract

In June 1935, certain problems arose concerning the fumigation of houses with hydrogen cyanide for the destruction of bedbugs. Workmen reconditioning houses in Rochester, which had been given the customary 24 hr. aeration after fumigation with hydrogen cyanide “disks”, had complained of sickness during their work. The walls, cavities and floor spaces of some of these houses had been tested by Mr Topping, the Chief Sanitary Inspector of Rochester, who, using benzidine acetate-copper acetate paper, had obtained a strong positive reaction indicative of the presence of hydrogen cyanide after 24 hr. aeration.

Bug disinfestation in a Prison

“…The Benzidine acetate-copper acetate test was used by the operators to detect the presence of any hydrogen cyanide in the air where they worked, and anything over a concentration of 0 003 % by volume was regarded as possibly dangerous. This test gives only a rough estimate of the amount of gas present, but by comparing the colours of the test papers used with the set of standard colours described by Page, Lubatti & Gloyns (1939), it is possible to say when it is safe to take off the special gas-mask. Meteorological conditions had to be taken into account as the desorption and dispersal of hydrogen cyanide is influenced by them.…”

Fumigation as a Method of controlling the Body Louse, Pediculus humanus corporis, De Geer. Parts I and II.

“…Nowadays the use of hydrogen cyanide as a fumigant is covered by safety regulations and chemical tests have, been devised (Page, Lubatti & Gloyns, 1939) to detect the presence of residues of the gas in fumigated premises. Hydrogen cyanide has only a faint smell and lacks other warning properties, but when one is considering the fumigation of bedding and clothing, it has special dangers due to its adsorption by fabrics and later evolution when the materials are warmed either by the body or on being brought into a warm room.…”