Super Glue Warning Poison

A general warning, burning super glue CyanoAcrylate, releases
Cyanide poison into the surrounding air, so be carefulll…

Is there any problem with closing wounds with Super Glue? I went to
an after hours ER to have a gash taken care of in my arm and because
I had thin skin the Dr mended it with “Sterile” Super Glue. That is
what I put on the cracks that I continually have on my fingers.
HMMMMM

Rose Marie Christison

Is there any problem with closing wounds with Super Glue? 

No. Medical grade super glue has been used for several decades in
both human and veterinary medicine. Super glue is not contact toxic.
The problem comes when it is heated to very high temperatures.

Cyanoacrylate (Super Glue) is commonly used in a fuming process in
forensic science to reveal latent fingerprints on nonporous surfaces.
Fuming involves heating the Cyanoacrylate so it gives off a vapor
that will adhere to the prints. The temperature used for fuming is
not very great.

The potential problem is when Cyanoacrylate is heated to high
temperatures with a torch. It then gives off cyanide gas. The amount
is usually very small and not enough to cause harm but it does give
it off. There are field forensic fuming kits on the market that
involve using a small butane torch that come with a warning to be
used outside in a ventilated area.

Mark Johnson

Superglue finger crack sealing 101

I have been using super glue to seal cracks in my fingers for over a
decade, and aside from a nervous tic and drooling, there has been no
side affect. If I have a stubborn crack I pull a little bit of cotton
off a swab, dab it is superglue and use it as a fiber to add
strength. I trim my finger nail back and try to keep the glue away
crack and try to get a flat surface so the glue stays out of the
crack and just seals over the top. Just be careful of where it runs
while you are applying if you tilt the bottle a lot can come out
quickly and run somewhere you are not aware of. I have glued fingers
together.

Richard Hart

Hi Mark.

This isn’t a challenge but do you have a link for that info? The
reason I’m asking is because cyanide is an extremely reactive
compound. That’s why it kills so quickly- it chemically reacts with
the oxygen in your body, depriving the body the oxygen it needs to
function. I believe that’s why they call the body turning blue
"cyanosis". Wouldn’t the cyanide gas produced by heating super-glue
with a torch be reacting with the oxygen in the atmosphere first,
before it’s inhaled? Especially since it’s hot, which tends to speed
up chemical reactions.

Just wondering. I will admit it’s better to be safe than sorry
though.

Kenton Stevens

Hi, Rm Christianson!

I’ve used superglue gel to close wounds I receive while working for
years and it hasn’t killed me yet. Bleeding all over somebody else’s
turquoise might get you killed though, lol!

Kenton Stevens

Is there any problem with closing wounds with Super Glue? 

I am not a medical professional and cannot promise anything, but I
use the super glue in my house and studio in preference to bandaids.
As soon as any bleeding stops, I glue cuts shut and forget about
them. No dirt or metal finings getting in, no replacing the bandaid
every time it gets wet. My preferred cyanoacrylic glue for this and
most other purposes is Zapagap ™ which is a little thicker than
regular super glue.I doubt very much that there is any real
difference (except maybe price) between this glue and “medical”. My
husband has often teased me that I can fix anything with silicone or
epoxy. I would add Zapagap to the list.

Noel

Zap-A-Gap is great stuff; I’ve used this as well to close wounds.
I’ve also used 3M’s waterproof bandages which I have found to work
better than any other bandage. I also have a big box of latex finger
cots. They look like mini condoms (no jokes please), and keep the
water away from an individual finger.

Jeff Herman

Is there any problem with closing wounds with Super Glue? 

You can buy an allegedly “medical grade” super glue if it makes you
feel better – it’s called Liquid Band-Aid.

Another tip: when gluing your finger tips, have a piece of plastic
wrap at the ready, held taught, and either your fellow jeweler, or
with your other hand, smooth over the glued finger with the still
wet glue.

Smooths it out so you don’t get those annoying glue- bumpies that
you feel until the glue wears off.

Elaine
http://www.CreativeTextureTools.com

I am not a medical professional and cannot promise anything 

Neither am I - I understand it started in the Vietnam war,
discovered somewhat by accident…

Is there any problem with closing wounds with Super Glue?

There shouldn’t be any issues with using super glue to close small
cracks or cuts. I’ve been using it for years during the winter
months when my fingers develop numerous, painful cracks in the skin.
I always keep a tube handy.

If memory serves me well, the original glue was developed by the
Eastman Kodak Co, the medical division, to close incisions without
stitches and reduce the healing time. Only problem was that it didn’t
work as well as they would have liked but it REALLY bonded other
things together! I don’t know who continued the development but I can
personally attest that the newer medical glues work extremely well!
Just don’t get a sloppy surgeon!

Gene Rozewski
Sales & Marketing Manager
R-Findings

perhaps you should check out the archives there was a fairly recent
thread on cyanide bombing and the thread went on and on however you
can glean some factual info in it. . heating a small bit of the stuff
with a torch isn’t going to kill you - everyone should be wearing
respirators anyway, but probably 90% of experienced goldsmiths don’t.
(take a blind poll!). anyway cyannoacrylate is not cyanide. two
different things same root element. . just like a root word in a
lexeme. . it sounds the same but the context s the point of
demarcation! rer

Cyanide does not react with oxygen rather the cyanide reacts with
the iron in heme and suffocates you that way. Usually one would die
of anaphylaxis first. The smell of the adhesive is that of hydrogen
cyanide which is toxic but harmless in small quantities. Recall
Laetrile which is made from apricot pits I believe was touted as a
cancer cure. It is a cyanide derivative.

Jim

I understand it started in the Vietnam war, discovered somewhat by
accident.. I'm *sure* it started by accident 

I always assumed it was because as soon as super glues came on the
market, people started accidentally gluing their body parts together
(picture rubbing your eye…) sosomebody said,"Hey, this stuff glues
skin together! Hmmmmm, what if…"And, Elaine, if I smooth it out
with plastc wrap and have no “glue bumpies”, what will I have to chew
on when I need to think?

Noel

I haven’t had a chance to check yet, but I believe that I just had a
surgeon install a mediport under my skin with super glue. Maybe with
a fancy name like “Surgiglue” or something. Certainly included no
stitches, staples or clamps.

Bruce D. Holmgrain
JA Certified Master Benchjeweler
goldwerx.us

Speaking of gluing ones fingers together- Years ago in the first
trade shop I worked in, we had a gal who was just starting out in
the business. Somehow she managed to glue her fingers together, and
was so panicked that she literally got hysterical. She couldn’t wait
for the acetone to melt the glue, I had to saw her finger apart with
my jewelers saw! She didn’t last long. Stef

A number of years ago I had to have my gall bladder removed. This
required an incision about 6 inches long across my stomach. When
they put me back together they used medical grade Krazy glue to glue
the top layer/s together. When all the dressings were removed a few
weeks later there were hardly any signs of where the incision was
made. It upset my wife who has a scar from a couple of C sections.

As the years went on the location of the incision grew less
observable until it disappeared completely.

Dave

Hi Bruce.

I haven't had a chance to check yet, but I believe that I just had
a surgeon install a mediport under my skin with super glue. Maybe
with a fancy name like "Surgiglue" or something. Certainly included
no stitches, staples or clamps. 

More than likely the “Surgiglue” was used to seal the skin surface
but the edges of the incision right below the skin line were secured
with a “blind” absorbable suture.

Just as we have to prepare a well-mated surface for a good solder
joint, the surgeon provides good tissue approximation at all exposed
layers to make a healed seam with integrity. Deeper incisions would
have multiple layers of sutures.

My best,
Pam

An old OR nurse who has witnessed much change in the field as new
technologies have come along.

Pam Chott
www.songofthephoenix.com

anyway cyannoacrylate is not cyanide. two different things same
root element.. 

I haven’t wanted to comment on this, because I don’t know,
definitively, but I went looking for facts when this first was
posted. Fact one is that cyanoacrylate is NOT made from cyanide -
that was stated outright on a manufacturer’s website. Fact two I
couldn’t get pinned down enough to be certain, which is why I didn’t
post it. That is that super glue can generate cyanide if heated - in
the absence of oxygen only. These were only clues, which should be
taken as such and why I didn’t post them till now. A thorough search
came up with no real evidence of cyanide of any kind coming from
superglue, though. There was a small bit about the RUMOR of it, but
that was all - a bit of risk from overheating while doing
fingerprints and stuff. Why anybody would do that in jewelry, I
don’t know - maybe somebody does, for some reason…It’s medical
use on wounds is approved by the FDA (for what that’s worth,
recently), BTW.

The potential problem is when Cyanoacrylate is heated to high
temperatures with a torch. It then gives off cyanide gas. The
amount is usually very small and not enough to cause harm but it
does give it off. 

I’ve done this before. It gave off a little puff of smoke. Very
unpleasant, but not much more in such a small quantity. BTW, cyanide
gas is what caused the suffering in Bhupal, India. Methylisocyanate
reacted with water to release it.

Paul Anderson