[MacGyverOnline]

In the episode Fraternity of Thieves, when MacGyver gives Pete the drink of water and photo fixer... we see it work as soon as he drinks it...

but wouldn't it take time for that to be digested and passed into the blood stream?

I know inhaling stuff is instantly transfered to the blood stream via the lungs... but digestion is slower.

[MacGirl]

Hmm... good question, Rocky.

I would think that antidotes to poison would take at least twenty to thirty minutes to have an effect.

I think the same issue comes up in Nightmares.

[MacGyverGrrl]

You are right, Rock. Ingestion (eating or drinking) chemicals is a much slower route of exposure for chemicals. Inhalation (breathing them) is a much faster route of exposure and the chemical would get to work on the body much quicker.

Ingesting the antidote to a poison will require some time for the antidote to work. The exception would be swallowing activated charcoal as an antidote to poison. Activated charcoal works by absorbing the poison in the stomach and rendering it inert.

In both episodes, Fraternity of Thieves and Nightmares, the antidote would need some time to work to reverse the effects of the poison.

[MACGYVERISMYDAD]

Yea but we did see how quickly the bad guy died after ingesting the "antidote" You would figure it would have took longer than that for the pill to dissolve. I mean it was probably not even into his stomach yet and he keels over.

[MacGyverGrrl]

The antidote the bad guy swallowed was a cyanide capsule. Breaking the capsule with teeth would release the poison. Cyanide kills very quickly, its why it was used to execute prisoners in the gas chamber.

[MacGyverOnline]

yeah but is it ingested quickly?

Once it's in your system yeah its fast.. but the question is how fast does it get absorbed through your stomach?

In a gas chamber it's breathed in.. and therefore (like oxygen transfer itself) is instantly transfered into the blood via the lungs)

[MacNymph]

I thought that was an all around lame -ism and scene for that matter.

[MacGyverGrrl]

Cyanide works by interrupting oxygen metabolism and utilization at the cellular level.

Cyanide is rapidly absorbed by the from the stomach, lungs, mucosal membranes and unbroken skin.

The effects of cyanide poisoning occur within seconds of inhalation and up to 30 minutes after ingestion.

A lethal dose of sodium or potassium cyanide is 200-300 mg, a lethal dose of hydrocyanic acid is 50 mg.

One treatment for cyanide poisoning is sodium thiosulfate administered intravenously as a 25% solution at a dose of 50 ml (12.5 g) given over 1-2 minutes. High doses of ocygen is also admionistered.


With this information:

Pete would have died. His exposure was through inhalation, the fastest acting route. The antidote would need to be administered intravenously, not orally.

The bad guy could have survived, since his exposure was absorption. If he broke the capsule in his mouth, he would have absorbed the cyanide through his mouth. This route of exposure would have the poison working somewhere between 5 and 30 minutes. Had he been given the proper antidote, he may have survived.

Conclusion: cyanide is a poison
cyanide has abitter almond odor
sodium thiosulfate is an antidote to cyanide poisoning

These are the facts that were accurate for this episode. The rest is pure storytelling.

[MacGyverOnline]

oh.. you left out sodium thiosulfate is used in photographic processing.

[MacGyverGrrl]

yes I did. Good catch.