how can one simple chemical, like cyanide, be so detrimental to the human body, compared to just carbon and just nitrogen?

Question

I just found it so wild that our bodies are full of carbon and nitrogen (even if as part of other chemicals. We breath, what I assume, to be molecular nitrogen. But then slap a carbon atom to a nitrogen atom and you’re screwed. Why?

In: 27

Answer 1

[DNA](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA) also has carbon and nitrogen.

Cyanide is poisonous because it [blocks](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cytochrome_c_oxidase#Inhibition) your body’s ability to use oxygen to produce energy.

Sodium cyanide is very toxic, LD50 = ~8mg/kg

Methyl cyanide is about as toxic as table salt, LD50 = ~2000mg/kg

The lower toxicity is because methyl cyanide is metabolized slow enough that your kidneys can often remove most of it before it causes problems.