Potassium nitrite (PN) and sodium nitrite (SN) are just two different salts of the same lethal agent, namely, nitrite. Therefore, both can be used interchangeably* as long as the dose of nitrite consumed remains the same.
Nitrite has a molecular weight of 46.01 u; PN's is 85.10 u and SN's is 69.00 u. This means that PN contains 54.1% nitrite while SN comes in slightly higher at 66.7% nitrite, so a correction factor of 1.23 needs to be applied when transposing SN to PN doses.
In other words, the nitrite equivalent of 25g SN is 25 * 1.23 = 31g PN.
* The oral LD50 of potassium chloride is approximately 2.5 g/kg. Given that the molecular weights of potassium and potassium chloride are 39.10 u and 74.55 u respectively, potassium chloride contains 52.4% potassium. Assuming that chloride does not significantly contribute to the toxicity of potassium chloride, extrapolating from the value above gives a LD50 for potassium of 1.3 g/kg. Since a dose of 31g PN contains 14g potassium, potassium does not have a lethal role in PN (except for individuals weighing under 11 kg / 24 lb… i.e. babies).
@Meretlein tagging you since you were wondering about the dosage equivalencies between SN and PN in this post.
Edit: note that PN is a food additive with the same uses as SN. It is labeled as E249 in the European Union and SN as E250.
Nitrite has a molecular weight of 46.01 u; PN's is 85.10 u and SN's is 69.00 u. This means that PN contains 54.1% nitrite while SN comes in slightly higher at 66.7% nitrite, so a correction factor of 1.23 needs to be applied when transposing SN to PN doses.
In other words, the nitrite equivalent of 25g SN is 25 * 1.23 = 31g PN.
* The oral LD50 of potassium chloride is approximately 2.5 g/kg. Given that the molecular weights of potassium and potassium chloride are 39.10 u and 74.55 u respectively, potassium chloride contains 52.4% potassium. Assuming that chloride does not significantly contribute to the toxicity of potassium chloride, extrapolating from the value above gives a LD50 for potassium of 1.3 g/kg. Since a dose of 31g PN contains 14g potassium, potassium does not have a lethal role in PN (except for individuals weighing under 11 kg / 24 lb… i.e. babies).
@Meretlein tagging you since you were wondering about the dosage equivalencies between SN and PN in this post.
Edit: note that PN is a food additive with the same uses as SN. It is labeled as E249 in the European Union and SN as E250.
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