By: Ben Thompson and Kevin Easterbrook
Potassium Bromide has a wide variety of applications in our world but it is most commonly used in the medical field. Potassium bromide has been most commonly used in the past society as an anti-convulsant (medicine which controls/regulates seizures). As stated previously, Potassium Bromide is comprised of a cation and an anion which allows it to dissolve in only polar solvents such as, water. When it is dissolved in water or consumed with water, potassium bromide dissolves into its base elements- Potassium and Bromine. However, the potassium is now positively charged while the Bromine is negatively charged. The negatively charged Bromine travels to our brain when absorbed into our bodies (specifically our blood). As a result of being an anion, it causes the brain to become negatively charged; while the brain is negatively charged, this inhibits the rapid succession of neurons firing sporadically thus, reducing the frequency of convulsions. This reduces the frequency of convulsions because the brain is in a calmer state. Seizures are characterized by random electrical signals being pulsed throughout the brain which in turn, cause seizures. Potassium Bromide used to be a dominant medicine as a treatment for epilepsy. Epilepsy is a illness which affects the brain and causes the random firing of these electrical signals within the brain. Potassium Bromide was used because, as stated previously, it reduces the sporadic firing of these neurons. However, Potassium Bromide to this day is not FDA approved and therefore, is not commonly used on humans. The reason it is not FDA approved is because over repetitive use, it can cause chronic toxicity. In addition, today there are better drugs used for their anticonvulsant properties such as phenobarbital. Contrary to this, Potassium Bromide is used in treating epilepsy within various pets and, most prominently dogs. Potassium Bromide is allowed for medical uses on dogs because it does not have the same affect on animals as humans.
Although Potassium Bromide is most commonly known for its medicinal properties, it also has its applications in other occupations; potassium Bromide is used in the film/photography industry during the developmental stages of photos. Photos can often times turn out “foggy” or “grainy” when being developed as a result of a high amount of unexposed silver crystals. This unexposed silver crystals or, silver halide emulsions cause darkened, invisible images to become visible during the developmental stages of photography (latent image); essentially, the more unexposed silver halide emulsions, the less clear and more “foggy” the picture turns out. Potassium Bromide reduces the amount of unexposed silver crystals within a picture causing it to be clearer. The picture turns out clearer because the potassium bromide slows the rate of development. However, only a certain amount of potassium bromide is allowed on the film because if too much is applied, it will affect the rate of development indefinitely.
