Toxicity of benzyl cyanide in the rat

Lethal doses of benzyl cyanide in the rat were 0.64 mmol/kg (i.p.), 1.8 and 2.6 mmol/kg (p.o.) for female and male rats, respectively. Sublethal oral doses of benzyl cyanide were nephrotoxic causing increased excretion of protein, amino acids and glucose. Cyanide was slowly liberated from the dosed nitrile and excreted as cyanide and thiocyanate, the proportion of the former increasing with increasing i.p. dose and with the highest oral dose. The oral cyanide antidote was ineffective against benzyl cyanide and the intravenous antidote, Kelocyanor (cobalt edetate), had little beneficial effect.