'Mr F'' asked, "Will the coloration or something indicate to me which sample of water contains more cyanide? I would like to find out if a sample of peach in water vs apple in water contains more cyanide after 10 minutes."

A couple of things come to mind about your question.

• This test is a presence-absence, pass-fail test which will tell you if free dissolved cyanide is present, but not how much is present
• The majority of cyanide will come from the peach pit and apple seeds, we believe, so any test you perform should involve those items.  Grinding them works best if you want to get higher cyanide concentrations.
• A quantitative cyanide test you can perform does exist, but we do not actively carry it.  If interested, let us know and we will see about carrying a few in one of our stores.

We thank our friend from the Ohio area for their inquiry and would first like to congratulate them on taking the first step towards understanding more about the impact a local factory that works with metals (and possibly some ‘interesting’ chemicals stored in tanks) may or may not have on their water supply — or at least on the surface (puddle) water they encounter.

Given that the inquiry asked specifically about water pooled on the ground, we will assume our reader encountered puddles of water that formed as a result of runoff from the factory’s property and appeared to contain… ‘something unusual’ in terms of their color or other visual nature.

Having said that, we believe the more likely culprit responsible for why a puddle appeared ‘unusual’ probably had more to do with the presence of of oils, greases, and/or organic solvents than it did dissolved metals like mercury and/or cyanide. Oils, greases, and solvents tend to leave a (sometimes) colorful film on water’s surface whereas dissolved metals would typically impart no visually detectable characteristics.

To test for commonly found compounds in the oil, grease, and organic solvent families one must contact a certified water testing laboratory because no at-home water test kits exist that can reliably qualify or quantify compounds of their complexity.

Testing for mercury and cyanide?

Although we did say that we do not believe mercury or cyanide caused any of the discoloration our reader may have seen in a puddle, that does not mean cyanide, a compound used in many metal finishing shops, and mercury may not have washed down from the factory during a heavy rainstorm (or over time with light rains).

Thankfully simple and affordable test kits for cyanide and mercury do exist… and require no special equipment, training, or complex testing procedures.

• Boris’ Mercury detects dissolved mercury (Hg) as low as 2 ppb (parts per billion) and as high as 80 ppb. Each bottle comes with 50 tests and each test requires just 1 1/2 minutes to complete.
   
• Cyanide in Water Emergency Test Kit allows the average person to quickly test for the presence of dissolved cyanide in water. The test provides presence/absence test results for dissolved cyanide concentrations between 0.2 ppm an 1,700 ppm, takes very little time to perform, and costs very little.

Moral of the story?

If you see something unusual in your environment, don’t hesitate to ask questions like, “What is that? Why is that? Is that safe?” and definitely look for the answers to your questions. Often times factories (perhaps like the one mentioned at the start of this article) do not know they have a leak… or, in more extreme cases, they hope no one notices their leak.

Drawing attention to a possible problem begins the process of: 1) Determining if a problem exists; 2) Fixing the problem; 3) Installing proper safeguards to prevent the problem from happening again; and 4) Cleaning up any environmental damage caused by the problem.

Representatives and employees of government and non-profit environmental protection groups cannot be everywhere at all times so the nest time you see something that you think may pose a hazard to the environment, whose cleanliness helps make safe drinking water possible, do not just shrug it off and say, “Someone else will report it.”

One quick call may keep many animals, plants and people from serious illness… or death.

Below you will find a list of the water quality parameters that this meter will test along w/ the meter’s detection levels for each parameter.

Testing Capabilities of the eXact Micro 8 Meter

While this meter seems to offer tremendous promise for water quality professionals, we do not think it will work well for the average homeowner who will more likely have more of a need to test for things like free & total chlorine, (standard) pH and copper than they would ammonia, cyanide and phosphates.

This meter, we feel, will have a lot more popularity with water and waste water professionals who, we hope, will do their due diligence and test for things like ammonia, cyanide and phosphates in drinking and process water.

So… What meter can the average homeowner use to test drinking water?

If the convenience, repeatability and accuracy of a water testing meter appeals to you, then take a look at the predecessor to the eXact Micro 8: The eXact Micro 7+ Water Testing Meter.

We have yet to find a simpler, more versatile water testing meter than the eXact Micro 7+ Water Testing Meter. It can test for Total Alkalinity, Bromine, Calcium Hardness, Free Chlorine, Total Chlorine, Copper, Ozone, Permanganate, and pH directly — providing you use the correct reagentstrip.

With the use of optional reagentstrips and a conversion-lookup table, the eXact Micro 7+ Meter has the ability to test water for these other parameters, too: Ammonia, Bromine, Chloride/Salt, Chlorine Dioxide, Chromium Hexavalent (Chromium VI), Copper, Cyanuric Acid, Fluoride, Iodine, Iron, Low Range Total Hardness, Manganese, Nitrate, Nitrite, Ozone, Acid pH, Alkali pH, Potassium, Sulfate, Sulfide, and Turbidity.

Blue baby syndrome can also be caused by Methemoglobinemia. It is believed to be caused by high nitrate contamination in ground water resulting in decreased oxygen carrying capacity of hemoglobin in babies leading to death. The groundwater is thought to be contaminated by leaching of nitrate generated from fertilizer used in agricultural lands and waste dumps [4]. It may also be related to some pesticides (DDT, PCBs etc), which cause ecotoxicological problems in the food chains of living organisms, increasing BOD, which kills aquatic animals. ( source )

So… elevated nitrate levels in drinking water can lead to ‘methemoglobinemia’, but what does that word MEAN?

The disorder methemoglobinemia typically means the blood contains elevated levels of methemoglobin (metHb), a form of hemoglobin that really and truly likes to attach itself to oxygen molecules — and if present in too great a quantity it will latch onto enough oxygen molecules to cause living tissue to die as a result of oxygen-deprivation.

Where does the ‘blue’ part of blue baby syndrome come from?

Without proper oxygenation of red blood cells a condition known as cyanosis occurs. Note: The term has nothing to do with cyanide, though cyanide poisoning can definitely result in skin turning a shade of blue due to oxygen deprivation.

But, since the topic of cyanide has come up, if you believe you may have someone out to get you, or perhaps you live close to industrial facilities that may make use of cyanide in their processes, maybe you should consider testing your water for cyanide. The Cyanide Emergency Test Kit provides presence/absence test results if it detects cyanide levels between 2.0 ppm and 1,700 ppm.

Getting back to the topic of nitrates, though, health officials and water quality professionals agree that owners of wells should, at the very least, periodically test their well water for the presence of nitrates & nitrites, coliform bacteria, lead, copper, total iron, total hardness, pH, and heavy metals.

Moral of the story?

In the end, if you have a private well, the responsibility for making sure the quality of the water coming out of that well falls squarely on… your shoulders. Therefore, test your well water at least once a year. It’s your well, your water, and ultimately your LIFE.

Just… Wow. What a flippin’ disgusting individual!

SANTA ANA, Calif. (KABC) — A 31-year-old Fullerton man was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly ejaculating twice into a co-worker’s water bottle.

Authorities said Michael Kevin Lallana was linked through DNA to the crimes.

Lallana allegedly entered the victim’s office and deposited his ejaculation into a water bottle that was on her desk in January. Police said the unsuspecting victim later drank the water, which made her feel sick, so she threw it away.

In April, investigators said Lallana did the same thing, but this time, the victim saved the water bottle and sent it to a private lab for testing. She then reported the results to the Orange Police Department.

Lallana is charged with two misdemeanor counts each of releasing an offensive material in a public place and assault, with sentencing allegations for committing a crime for sexual gratification.

If convicted, Lallana faces a maximum of three years in jail with mandatory sex offender registration. He is free on $500 bond and will be arraigned next month. ( source )

If this little bit of news does not make you want to take proper precautions to guard your water, whether in the bottle you leave on your desk at the office or as the drinking water that comes up from the aquifer and into your home, then perhaps nothing will.

Do you have control over the quality of the water in the aquifer supplying your well? Most likely not, but you always have the chance and opportunity to test the quality of water for unwanted contaminants. Periodic use of a well water test kit helps to ensure that no changes in the quality of your well water have taken place.

What sort of well water testing should well owners consider? At the very least we suggest they test for naturally occurring contaminants such as bacteria, nitrates/nitrates, heavy metals like mercury and lead, arsenic, etc.

Huh? Test for arsenic? Why? Is someone trying to poison us? Most likely not, but we have good reasons to suggest well owners test their water for arsenic. If you want to know why arsenic testing for well owners makes sense, take a look at the Arsenic section of this blog.

Getting back to the topic of well water testing, the United States Environmental Protection Agency as well as public health officials on State and Local levels urge private well owners to have their well water tested by a certified water testing laboratory annually. Qualified water testing labs like National Testing Laboratories typically provide reliable test results in under two weeks.

Oh, and before we forget, you paranoid folks out there may want to invest in a Cyanide in Water Test Kit… ‘cuz you never know. Maybe your neighbors really ARE out to get you!

Symptom	Contaminant	Water Test
Skin Damage, Circulatory System Problems, Increased Risk of Cancer	Arsenic	Arsenic Test Kit
Cardiovascular Problems, Reproductive Difficulties, Mammory Gland Tumors	Atrazine	WaterSafe Pesticides in Water Test Kit
Dry Skin, Increased Risk of Cancer if Ingested	Chlorine	SenSafe Free Chlorine Check , SenSafe Total Chlorine Check , WaterWorks 2 Free & Total Chlorine
Gastrointestinal Irritation	Copper	SenSafe Copper Check , SenSafe Heavy Metals Check
Thyroid Damage, Nervous System Damage	Cyanide	Cyanide Emergency Test Kit
Increased Risk of Cancer in Humans	MTBE (Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether)	Lab Testing Only
Methemo-globulinemia	Nitrate/ Nitrite	WaterWorks Nitrate/Nitrite Test , WaterWorks Well Water Check , Complete Home Water Quality Test Kit , SenSafe Water Quality Test Kit
Increased Risk of Cancer in Humans	Tetrachloroethylene	Lab Testing Only
Gastrointestinal Disease	Cryptosporidium	Lab Testing Only
Brain, Kidney, and Nervous System Damage, Lead Poisoning	Lead	WaterSafe Well Water Test Kit , WaterSafe Lead in Water , WaterSafe City Water Test Kit
Kidney Damage	Mercury	Boris Mercury Check , SenSafe Heavy Metals Check
Severe Diarrhea, Cramps, Convulsions / Long Term Kidney, Liver, Bone and Blood Damage	Cadmium	SenSafe Heavy Metals Check
Metallic Taste	Iron	Total Iron Visual Test Kit , SenSafe Heavy Metals Check

In most cases they carry packets of sanitizing/disinfecting tablets which they can use to put into their canteens to kill off bacteria, but what about lead, arsenic, cyanide and other items which can EASILY render an entire unit inoperable and take them away from their assigned duties?

Thankfully US Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps medical units deployed around the globe now have the ability to make use of simple water quality test kits which give them the ability to read basic water quality parameters quickly and easily.

Arsenic in Water and Soil: Arsenic Quick^TM

Bacteria in Water: Bacteria Check

Chlorine Residual (Free): SenSafe^TM Free Chlorine Water Check

Chlorine Residual (Total): SenSafe^TM Total Chlorine Water Check

Cyanide in Water: Cyanide Emergency Test Kit

DPD-1 and DPD-4 (Chlorine Testing): DPD ReagentStrips^TM

Lead in Water: Lead in Water Test Kit

Multi Parameter (6 Parameters): Well Water Check

Multi Parameter (11 Parameters): Well Driller Standard Water Test Kit

Multi Parameter (13 Parameters): COMPLETE Water Test Kit

Multi Parameter (15 Parameters): Water Quality Test Kit

Most of us know how badly we feel after ‘a night on the town’ filled with margaritas, martinis, cocktails and body shots because of dehydration. Now try to imagine how our soldiers must feel after a few MONTHS in the desert wearing full combat gear.

Safe drinking water means safer soldiers.

You should also trust us, though, when we say you don’t need complicated chemistry sets or highly specialized training to find out if your tap water contains dangerous levels of things like:

Now, of course, should the results of your home water testing for key water parameters yield results above expected and/or acceptable limits, you will most certainly want to have a certified water professional perform more advanced tests on your drinking water and at no time should you rely on home water quality test kits if you have serious reason to suspect that your water contains know carcinogens or other life threatening contaminants. Leave that sort of testing up to the Water Testing Professionals in your area.

Cyanide may also show up in the runoff or discharge of a metal plating facility because. . .

“Cyanide compounds are used in plating baths because they accomodate a wide range of electrical current, remove tarnish or other undesirable films from surfaces to be plated, and cause an even metal deposit to form that has lower sensitivity to impurities present in the the bath. Metals coatings of cadmium, iron, gold, and zinc often use cyanide compounds. Cyanide is typically found complexed with plating metals, or as sodium cyanide or potassium cyanide, which is added to the bath.” (source)

How can the average consumer make sure the water in their well has not fallen victim to an (un)announced industrial accident or poor enforcement of cyanide discharge laws from local industry? 

Recently a company came out with a presence/absence test for cyanide that has a sensitivity as low as 0.2ppm and as high as 1,700ppm for free dissolved cyanide:

* Cyanide Emergency Test Kit — This kit utilizes EPA/ETV Test Verified chemistry and makes testing for the presence of cyanide in drinking water as simple as dipping two strips in a vial and seeing if the second strip turns colors.  A change in color on the test area of the second strip indicates the presence of cyanide in the sample.

* eXact^® Strip Cyanide — For those who need more precise numbers when testing for the presence of cyanide in water, the makers of the above kit also offer a cyanide detection kit designed to accurately determine cyanide concentrations in effluents and surface waters.  The eXact^® Strip Cyanide Kit requires as little as two minutes for cyanide colorimetric analysis and has a detection range of 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 5, >10, >20, <200 ppm (mg/L).

Both kits use the same laboratory tested chemistry and yield reliable, repeatable results.  If you worry about, or suspect, the possible introduction of cyanide into your drinking or well water by local industry, then these kits will help you to quickly and easily put those fears to bed or determine that you might want to investigate further using a certified laboratory’s more advanced testing methods.

Need to test for other metals?

The following metals in water test kits currently available in our Water Test Kit Store ought to help!

Most people hear and about cyanide and think of the toxic gas used in gas chambers, but few know just how easily they could locate cyanide in their everyday life if they looked a bit closer.

Cigarette smoke acts as a common source of cyanide that most of us encounter on a daily basis. The cores of peach pits also contain a measurable quantity of cyanide. Want proof? Pick up a Cyanide Water Test Strips Kit and see for yourself.

For those of you with more lofty and/or scientific cyanide testing objectives, this same kit, also called Cyanide ReagentStrip^TM test kit, also gets used quite often for testing runoff water leaving metal plating companies and testing the output water from wastewater treatment plants.

Does quick and dirty cyanide testing exist?

Terrorist actions worldwide have spawned fears of chemical attacks and the spiking of public water supplies with cyanide. As a result of these fears, the demand for a fast, reliable presence/absence cyanide test arose.

Soldiers, environmental protection groups, water system operators, emergency responders, healthcare professionals, and others now rely upon fast, accurate presence-absence water testing kits such as the Cyanide Emergency Test Kit to warn them instantly if water in their presence contains between 0.2 ppm to 1700 ppm free cyanide.

Presence/Absence Test for Cyanide in Water