In 2010, an Australian government chemical assessment said sodium cyanide was also used in metal cleaning, research, and pest control. However, animal extermination use has since been widely outlawed and sodium cyanide is not registered by the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) for any agricultural or veterinary purpose.
On Thursday morning, The Age asked Victoria Police what the Kyneton man was being arrested for and how homicide squad detectives suspected he consumed and obtained the cyanide.
A police spokeswoman declined to comment, pointing to ongoing forensic analysis to confirm the substance consumed.
Victoria Police’s professional standards command, the internal unit responsible for investigating police conduct, is investigating the man’s death alongside the homicide squad, per standard practice when a person dies in police custody.