mercury poisoning
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What is mercury poisoning?
Mercury poisoning refers to the harmful effects on body tissues and functions caused by various mercury compounds. Modern industrial and biological processes can concentrate mercury compounds to dangerous levels.
Depending on the type of mercury compound and mode of contact, symptoms of intoxication vary. Acute mercury poisoning typically results from accidental or suicidal ingestion of soluble mercury salts, leading to severe digestive tract inflammation, abdominal cramps, nausea, vomiting, and bloody diarrhea. Chronic mercury poisoning can result from inhaling mercury vapors or absorption through the skin. Symptoms may include a metallic taste, excessive saliva, mouth inflammation, tremors, and mental changes.
Organic mercurial compounds can cause lesions in the central nervous system, exemplified by Minamata disease, marked by muscle weakness, vision loss, and impaired cerebral functions.
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How can a person be exposed to mercury?
Mercury exposure can occur through various routes. Industrial processes, such as chemical manufacturing and mining, release mercury into the environment, contaminating the air and water. This leads to exposure through inhalation of mercury vapors or ingestion of contaminated water and food. Bacteria can convert mercury into methylmercury, which accumulates in fish, posing a risk when consumed. Direct contact with mercury compounds in consumer products, like household items, pesticides, and fungicides, can also cause exposure. Occupational settings, such as thermometer or electrical product manufacturing, can result in exposure through inhalation or skin absorption.
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What are common symptoms of mercury poisoning?
Symptoms of mercury poisoning vary based on the mercury compound and how a person is exposed. Acute poisoning, often from ingesting mercury salts, leads to severe digestive tract inflammation, causing abdominal cramps, nausea, vomiting, and bloody diarrhea. The kidneys can also be affected, leading to uremia and potentially death.
Chronic poisoning from inhaling mercury vapours or skin absorption can cause a metallic taste, excessive saliva, mouth inflammation, and loosening teeth. Other symptoms include a blue line on the gums, tremors, numbness, weight loss, appetite loss, and mental changes like depression.
Organic mercurial compounds primarily affect the central nervous system, leading to muscle weakness, vision loss, impaired cerebral functions, paralysis, and possibly coma or death.
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Why is mercury dangerous to the brain and nervous system?
Mercury is dangerous because it is a neurotoxin that can harm the brain and nervous system through inhalation, ingestion, skin contact, or injection. Mercury poisoning can occur from exposure in industrial processes or contaminated environments. Once absorbed, mercury disrupts neuron function and communication, leading to both immediate and long-lasting neurological damage. Symptoms of mercury poisoning include tremors, memory loss, and cognitive and personality changes. Exposure to organic mercury compounds can cause permanent neurological damage and can be fatal.
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How do doctors test for and diagnose mercury poisoning?
In diagnosing mercury poisoning, doctors conduct a toxicological examination that involves a medical inspection to determine the degree of exposure. This is especially important because mercury poisoning can mimic symptoms of other acute diseases, making it crucial to rule out poisoning as a cause.
Lab analysis of body fluids and tissues can help evaluate the extent of the injury and diagnose chronic poisoning. This is supplemented by studying the patient's home and work environment.
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What are some ways to treat and prevent mercury poisoning?
Mercury poisoning results from the harmful effects of mercury compounds on body tissues and functions.
Treatment
If soluble mercury salts are ingested, the effect is severe inflammation of the digestive tract. The absorbed mercury concentrates in the kidneys, poisoning blood-filtering structures, decreasing urine output, and causing toxic substances to accumulate in the blood, possibly leading to death. Chelation therapy, which involves using a chelator to bind with metals like mercury, helps the body lose its chemical effects.
Prevention
Preventative measures, such as proper ventilation, plant cleanliness, and personal hygiene, can limit exposure to mercury metal, vapors, and compounds. Regulations reducing plant emissions have improved the environment.
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mercury poisoning, harmful effects of various mercury compounds on body tissues and functions. Certain modern industrial and biological processes concentrate mercury compounds to dangerous levels. Mercury is used on a substantial scale in numerous industries, such as the manufacture of chemicals, paints and various household items, pesticides, and fungicides. In addition to the danger from many consumer goods that contain potentially harmful levels of mercury, the air may be contaminated by mercury vapours, fumes, and dusts and the waters by effluent wastes containing mercury in various forms. The latter may then be converted by bacteria in the muddy sediments into organic mercurials, which may in turn be concentrated by the fishes and other aquatic forms of life that are foods for man.
Depending on the type of mercury compound and the mode of contact, the symptoms of intoxication in man vary. Acute mercury poisoning usually results from the accidental or suicidal ingestion of soluble mercury salts, such as mercuric chloride. The effect is severe inflammation of the digestive tract. Abdominal cramps with nausea and vomiting and bloody diarrhea commonly occur within hours. The absorbed mercury is concentrated in the kidneys, where it poisons the blood-filtering structures; as a result, there is first a decrease and then complete cessation of urine output, causing the accumulation of toxic substances in the blood (uremia) and death.
Chronic mercury poisoning may result from the occupational inhalation of mercury vapours, dusts, or volatile organic mercurials or from the absorption through the skin of various mercury salts (such as mercuric nitrate, used in making felt for hats). Symptoms may include a metallic taste and excessive production of saliva; inflammation of the membranes of the mouth; loosening of the teeth; the formation of a blue line on the gums; pain, numbness, and tremor in the extremities; loss of weight and appetite; and mental and personality changes marked by depression and a tendency to withdraw.
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Certain mercurial compounds are used as diuretics; that is, are used to promote the production of urine. Sensitivity reactions to these diuretics may cause asthma, hives, other skin lesions, and sudden death. The use of ointments containing mercury or the long-term ingestion of calomel (mercurous chloride, a cathartic) may produce fever, rash, and enlargement of the spleen and lymph nodes. In infants and young children, a disorder known as acrodynia, or “pink disease,” is believed to be caused by an organic mercury compound, phenylmercuric propionate, which is incorporated into house paints to prevent the growth of mold. Symptoms of acrodynia include irritability, insomnia, loss of appetite, loosening of teeth, inflammation of the mouth, and redness of the skin.
Poisoning with organic mercurial compounds is characterized by lesions of the central nervous system. This form of mercury poisoning became known as Minamata disease because of a dramatic outbreak that occurred in Minamata, Japan, in the early 1950s. There was progressive weakening of the muscles, loss of vision, impairment of the cerebral functions, eventual paralysis, and, in some cases, coma and death. Minamata seabirds and household cats, which, like the fishermen and their families, subsisted mainly on fish, showed signs of the same disease. This led to the discovery of high concentrations of methyl mercurials in fish and shellfish taken from the bay. The source of mercury was traced to the effluent from a factory. Other outbreaks of this disease involving large numbers of persons have taken place where farmers who received grain seeds treated with an organic mercury compound ate the seeds instead of planting them.