Field Trial Of A New Test Kit For Monitoring Urinary Cyanide Load And Diagnosis Of Cyanide Poisoning

Abstract

A newly developed simple test kit for the assessment of urinary thiocyanate using a visual colour chart was compared with a standard spectrophotometric method. Results obtained from the determinations of the urinary thiocyanate levels of 104 adults using both methods did not differ significantly (p > 0.05). The results from both methods were also significantly positively correlated (r = 0.90; p < 0.01). These findings of significant agreement between the two methods further validate the field accuracy and reliability of the new simple visual colour chart method. The significance of the above results are discussed in relation to the relevance of such a simple test kit which can be used for the assessment of body cyanide load and confirmatory diagnosis of cyanide poisoning even in rural population settings where electric power supply and a laboratory equipped with a spectrophotometer may not be available. Keywords: Cassava, Cyanide poisoning, Diagnostic kit, Thiocyanate, Urine Bio-Research Vol.2(1) 2004: 91-96