Resumen de Visualizing Smoking Hazard: A Simple Spectrophotometric Determination of Hydrogen Cyanide in Cigarette Smoke and Filters

Andriana R. Surleva, Gabi Drochioiu

• An activity for hydrogen cyanide determination in cigarette smoke is described. The procedure is based on the absorption of hydrogen cyanide (HCN) from cigarette smoke in a 2% sodium carbonate solution followed by its reaction with ninhydrin and a color intensity measurement at 485 nm. To quantify HCN in cigarette smoke, the previously determined molar absorptivity is used. A naked-eye experiment is proposed to demonstrate the presence of HCN in cigarette smoke and to visualize smoking hazard.