Potassium chloride is a safe supplement for most people to take. However, it can be fatal if used improperly or taken by the wrong people. These dangerous properties are why executioners use potassium chloride in the lethal injections given to condemned criminals. Talk to your doctor before taking potassium chloride, particularly if you have kidney problems.
Chemistry and Uses
Like sodium chloride, potassium chloride is a halide salt made from the metal potassium and the halide chlorine. Like sodium chloride, it tastes salty and is white with a cubic structure. In addition to its many industrial uses, potassium chloride is used as a dietary supplement for people whose potassium levels are low or as a salt substitute for people on low-sodium diets.
Healthy Kidney Function
Potassium chloride dissociates into potassium and chlorine ions when you ingest it. Normal serum potassium levels are between 3.5 and 5.0 mEq/l. If you have normal kidney function, a complex set of enzymatic and endocrine pathways called the renin angiotensin aldosterone system, or RAAS, keeps potassium levels within a healthy range by causing the kidneys to excrete excess potassium. In healthy people, renal excretion of potassium balances the dietary intake of this mineral.
Advanced Kidney Disease
Taking potassium chloride is be dangerous if you have advanced kidney disease because your kidneys are less able to remove excess potassium from circulation. Such people often have advanced elevated potassium levels. Such elevated levels interfere with normal functioning of the nerves. Potentially fatal heart arrythmias and tachycardia can result. Taking potassium chloride as a supplement or salt substitute can have fatal results if you have high serum potassium.
Suggestions
Since most kidney patients are also on low-sodium diets because they have high blood pressure. Using salt substitutes that include potassium chloride might seem like a way to avoid sodium, but this merely aggravates problems with potassium. Double check the potassium content in all foods that you eat, especially if they are advertised as being "low sodium" because these might contain potassium chloride.
References
- Drugs.com; Potassium Chloride; April, 2009
- Linus Pauling Institute; Potassium; Jane Higdon, Ph.D.; February 2004
- Kuwait University; Regulation of Potassium; Mario Barac-Nieto; January 2004
- "Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology"; Potassium Homeostasis and Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone System Inhibitors; Matthew R. Weir, et al.; February 2010.
- National Kidney Foundation: Potassium and your CKD Diet;
