How toxic is Potassium permanganate?

The reported LD50 of Potassium permanganate is 750 mg/kg (rat, oral). An LD50 is an animal study measurement, not a dose for a person. Its GHS hazard label carries the signal word Danger and the hazard pictograms Oxidizer, Corrosive, Irritant, Health hazard and Environmental.

What kind of molecule is Potassium permanganate?

Potassium permanganate has the formula KMnO4 and a molecular weight of 158.034 g/mol. MoleculeFinder files it under inorganic compounds, in the everyday chemistry group.

Potassium permanganate

KMnO4158.034 g/mol Calculated

Also called Algae-K, Argucide, Cairox and Chameleon mineral.

The intense purple crystals that turn water pink, used to disinfect wounds and treat drinking water. It stains everything brown it touches.

Sources and notes

The introductionfrom sourceMoleculeFinder curated
Other namesfrom sourcePubChem / Wikidata
Formula and weightcomputedPubChem
2D drawingcomputedPubChem structure, drawn by RDKit

Properties and sources

Calculated by PubChem

Molecular formula: KMnO4
Molecular weight: 158.034 g/mol
Polar surface areatopological: 74.3 Å²
H-bond donors: 0
H-bond acceptors: 4
Rotatable bonds: 0
Complexity: 118

Measured LD50, HSDB via PubChem

750 mg/kg pure potassium permanganate, rat, oral

An LD50 is an animal study measurement, not a dose for a person.

Reported Hazard label (GHS), ECHA, EU CLP Regulation, Safe Work Australia via PubChem

Danger Oxidizer pictogram (GHS03), Corrosive pictogram (GHS05), Irritant pictogram (GHS07), Health hazard pictogram (GHS08) and Environmental pictogram (GHS09); hazard statements H272, H302, H314, H318, H373, H400, H410

Groups it belongs to

Category: Everyday chemistry
Family: Inorganic compounds
Elements: Potassium
Hazard classes: Oxidizing, Corrosive, Irritant, Health hazard, Environmental hazard, GHS Danger

SMILES[O-][Mn](=O)(=O)=O.[K+]

PubChem CID 516875 · Wikidata Q190865 · InChIKey VZJVWSHVAAUDKD-UHFFFAOYSA-N · Data refreshed 2026-11-09

How MoleculeFinder sources and labels its data

Questions

What is Potassium permanganate?: The intense purple crystals that turn water pink, used to disinfect wounds and treat drinking water. It stains everything brown it touches.
How toxic is Potassium permanganate?: The reported LD50 of Potassium permanganate is 750 mg/kg (rat, oral). An LD50 is an animal study measurement, not a dose for a person. Its GHS hazard label carries the signal word Danger and the hazard pictograms Oxidizer, Corrosive, Irritant, Health hazard and Environmental. from sourcefrom source
What kind of molecule is Potassium permanganate?: Potassium permanganate has the formula KMnO4 and a molecular weight of 158.034 g/mol. MoleculeFinder files it under inorganic compounds, in the everyday chemistry group. from sourcefrom sourcefrom sourcefrom source

Sources and notes

Calculated valuescomputedPubChemComputed from the structure, so no laboratory conditions apply; complexity is PubChem's own structural score.
LD50from sourceHSDB via PubChemOther values the sources report: mouse, oral, 750 mg/kg; guinea pig, oral, 810 mg/kg. The page shows the one LD50 the site uses everywhere.
Hazard labelfrom sourceECHA, EU CLP Regulation, Safe Work Australia via PubChemThe label combines these classifications.
ECHAfrom sourceAttributionSource: European Chemicals Agency, echa.europa.eu.
Safe Work Australiafrom sourceAttributionSource: Safe Work Australia, Hazardous Chemical Information System, © Commonwealth of Australia, CC BY 4.0.
Data refreshedfrom sourceMoleculeFinder2026-11-09