(no subject)

[esmenet]

Dear writer of a fic I read ages ago:

Yes, cyanide is commonly said to smell like bitter almonds. However, if you taste bitter almonds, I doubt the medics will get there in time to save you.

Comments

[szaleniec1000]

If you can smell cyanide, there's HCN gas present. Solid cyanide salts (potassium and sodium are the most common) are odourless under normal conditions, which is just as well because the gas is very nasty. Standard operating procedure is to administer the precautionary antidote if you can smell it at all.

Of course, a lot of people actually can't detect the smell.