This week marks the 20th anniversary of the Baia Mare disaster, when toxic sodium cyanide spilled from a gold processing plant led to ecological damage on a huge scale. Mike Freemantle tells the tragic tale and explores the poison's place in precious metal processing.

Sodium cyanide: Chemistry in its element

A weekly tour of the periodic table, from Chemistry World, the magazine of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Natural Sciences

Science & Medicine

Science

Chemistry

In this special podcast produced in partnership with Waters Corporation, find out how understanding the chemistry and materials that go into batteries marks the first step towards making them safer and increasing energy density, and unlocks new opportunities for reuse and recycling

Batteries: The bedrock of the sustainable future

How did a tree bark from Sri Lanka become one of the essential flavours of the festive season? We explore the history of cinnamon and the compound that gives it its distinctive taste and aroma  

Cinnamaldehyde: Chemistry in its element

A compound so explosively unstable that nobody has been able to measure how sensitive it is without it, well, exploding.

Azidoazide azide: Chemistry in its element

How one of mankind's oldest pigments helped shepherds secure their sheep and inspired one of the most popular songs of the twentieth century

Ochre: Chemistry in its element

A sweet compound that provides ample energy for extreme endurance events – find out how maltodextrin helped Anna Ploszajski swim the English channel

Sodium cyanide: Chemistry in its element

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