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Journal of Environmental and Public... 2012Mercury is a toxic heavy metal which is widely dispersed in nature. Most human exposure results from fish consumption or dental amalgam. Mercury occurs in several... (Review)
Review
Mercury is a toxic heavy metal which is widely dispersed in nature. Most human exposure results from fish consumption or dental amalgam. Mercury occurs in several chemical forms, with complex pharmacokinetics. Mercury is capable of inducing a wide range of clinical presentations. Diagnosis of mercury toxicity can be challenging but can be obtained with reasonable reliability. Effective therapies for clinical toxicity have been described.
Topics: Chelating Agents; Chelation Therapy; Environmental Exposure; Humans; Mercury; Mercury Poisoning; Treatment Outcome; Unithiol
PubMed: 22235210
DOI: 10.1155/2012/460508 -
Critical Reviews in Toxicology Sep 2006This review covers the toxicology of mercury and its compounds. Special attention is paid to those forms of mercury of current public health concern. Human exposure to... (Review)
Review
This review covers the toxicology of mercury and its compounds. Special attention is paid to those forms of mercury of current public health concern. Human exposure to the vapor of metallic mercury dates back to antiquity but continues today in occupational settings and from dental amalgam. Health risks from methylmercury in edible tissues of fish have been the subject of several large epidemiological investigations and continue to be the subject of intense debate. Ethylmercury in the form of a preservative, thimerosal, added to certain vaccines, is the most recent form of mercury that has become a public health concern. The review leads to general discussion of evolutionary aspects of mercury, protective and toxic mechanisms, and ends on a note that mercury is still an "element of mystery."
Topics: Animals; Humans; Mercury; Mercury Compounds; Mercury Poisoning; Models, Biological; No-Observed-Adverse-Effect Level; Preservatives, Pharmaceutical; Thimerosal
PubMed: 16973445
DOI: 10.1080/10408440600845619 -
La Revue de Medecine Interne Jul 2011Mercury is a widespread heavy metal with potential severe impacts on human health. Exposure conditions to mercury and profile of toxicity among humans depend on the... (Review)
Review
Mercury is a widespread heavy metal with potential severe impacts on human health. Exposure conditions to mercury and profile of toxicity among humans depend on the chemical forms of the mercury: elemental or metallic mercury, inorganic or organic mercury compounds. This article aims to reviewing and synthesizing the main knowledge of the mercury toxicity and its organic compounds that clinicians should know. Acute inhalation of metallic or inorganic mercury vapours mainly induces pulmonary diseases, whereas chronic inhalation rather induces neurological or renal disorders (encephalopathy and interstitial or glomerular nephritis). Methylmercury poisonings from intoxicated food occurred among some populations resulting in neurological disorders and developmental troubles for children exposed in utero. Treatment using chelating agents is recommended in case of symptomatic acute mercury intoxication; sometimes it improves the clinical effects of chronic mercury poisoning. Although it is currently rare to encounter situations of severe intoxication, efforts remain necessary to decrease the mercury concentration in the environment and to reduce risk on human health due to low level exposure (dental amalgam, fish contamination by organic mercury compounds…). In case of occupational exposure to mercury and its compounds, some disorders could be compensated in France. Clinicians should work with toxicologists for the diagnosis and treatment of mercury intoxication.
Topics: Chelation Therapy; Environmental Exposure; Gastric Lavage; Humans; Mercury; Mercury Poisoning
PubMed: 20579784
DOI: 10.1016/j.revmed.2009.08.024 -
The Journal of the Association of... Jul 2022
Topics: Embolism; Humans; Mercury; Mercury Poisoning; Pulmonary Embolism
PubMed: 35833404
DOI: No ID Found -
Journal of Biomedicine & Biotechnology 2012
Topics: Animals; Environmental Exposure; Humans; Mercury; Mercury Poisoning
PubMed: 22988426
DOI: 10.1155/2012/831890 -
Current Problems in Pediatrics Mar 2000
Review
Topics: Acute Disease; Chelating Agents; Chelation Therapy; Child; Diagnosis, Differential; Dimercaprol; Environmental Exposure; Humans; Mercury; Mercury Poisoning; Penicillamine; Succimer; United States
PubMed: 10742922
DOI: 10.1067/mps.2000.104054 -
Journal of Human Hypertension Oct 1999A ruling by the European Union heralds the demise of those useful clinical instruments, the mercury thermometer and the mercury sphygmomanometer. The new laws have been... (Review)
Review
A ruling by the European Union heralds the demise of those useful clinical instruments, the mercury thermometer and the mercury sphygmomanometer. The new laws have been passed because of worries about mercury poisoning. Yet you can drink metallic mercury and come to no harm. What does it all mean? There are three forms of mercury from a toxicological point of view: inorganic mercury salts; organic mercury compounds; and metallic mercury. Inorganic mercury salts are water soluble, irritate the gut, and cause severe kidney damage. Organic mercury compounds, which are fat soluble, can cross the blood brain barrier and cause neurological damage. Mercury metal poses two dangers. It can be vaporised: the vapour pressure at room temperature is about 100 times the safe amount, so poisoning can occur if mercury metal is spilled into crevices or cracks in the floorboards. Dentists are occasionally poisoned this way. Mercury easily crosses into the brain, and causes tremor, depression, and behavioural disturbances. A second danger from metallic mercury is that it is biotransformed into organic mercury, by bacteria at the bottom of lakes. This can be passed along the food chain and eventually to man. It was this process that led to the Japanese tragedy at Minimata Bay in the late 1950s when over 800 people were poisoned. It is the need to reduce mercury contamination of the environment which should encourage us to cut the usage of metallic mercury. However, much more metallic mercury is spilled as waste by the chemical industry than is dropped on the floor in the clinic.
Topics: Animals; Humans; Mercury; Mercury Compounds; Mercury Poisoning; Organomercury Compounds
PubMed: 10516733
DOI: 10.1038/sj.jhh.1000896 -
British Medical Bulletin Sep 1975
Review
Topics: Animals; Biotransformation; Dimercaprol; Environmental Exposure; Ethylmercury Compounds; Fishes; Food Analysis; Food Contamination; Humans; Lethal Dose 50; Mercury; Mercury Poisoning; Methylmercury Compounds; Organometallic Compounds; Penicillamine
PubMed: 764909
DOI: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.bmb.a071293 -
Neuro Endocrinology Letters Oct 2005The causes of autism and neurodevelopmental disorders are unknown. Genetic and environmental risk factors seem to be involved. Because of an observed increase in autism... (Review)
Review
The causes of autism and neurodevelopmental disorders are unknown. Genetic and environmental risk factors seem to be involved. Because of an observed increase in autism in the last decades, which parallels cumulative mercury exposure, it was proposed that autism may be in part caused by mercury. We review the evidence for this proposal. Several epidemiological studies failed to find a correlation between mercury exposure through thimerosal, a preservative used in vaccines, and the risk of autism. Recently, it was found that autistic children had a higher mercury exposure during pregnancy due to maternal dental amalgam and thimerosal-containing immunoglobulin shots. It was hypothesized that children with autism have a decreased detoxification capacity due to genetic polymorphism. In vitro, mercury and thimerosal in levels found several days after vaccination inhibit methionine synthetase (MS) by 50%. Normal function of MS is crucial in biochemical steps necessary for brain development, attention and production of glutathione, an important antioxidative and detoxifying agent. Repetitive doses of thimerosal leads to neurobehavioral deteriorations in autoimmune susceptible mice, increased oxidative stress and decreased intracellular levels of glutathione in vitro. Subsequently, autistic children have significantly decreased level of reduced glutathione. Promising treatments of autism involve detoxification of mercury, and supplementation of deficient metabolites.
Topics: Autistic Disorder; Autoimmune Diseases; Chelating Agents; Child; Humans; Inflammation; Mercury; Mercury Poisoning
PubMed: 16264412
DOI: No ID Found -
International Journal of Environmental... Jan 2017Human exposure to mercury is still a major public health concern. In this context, children have a higher susceptibility to adverse neurological mercury effects,... (Comparative Study)
Comparative Study Review
Human exposure to mercury is still a major public health concern. In this context, children have a higher susceptibility to adverse neurological mercury effects, compared to adults with similar exposures. Moreover, there exists a marked variability of personal response to detrimental mercury action, in particular among population groups with significant mercury exposure. New scientific evidence on genetic backgrounds has raised the issue of whether candidate susceptibility genes can make certain individuals more or less vulnerable to mercury toxicity. In this review, the aim is to evaluate a new genetic dimension and its involvement in mercury risk assessment, focusing on the important role played by relevant polymorphisms, located in attractive gene targets for mercury toxicity. Existing original articles on epidemiologic research which report a direct link between the genetic basis of personal vulnerability and different mercury repercussions on human health will be reviewed. Based on this evidence, a careful evaluation of the significant markers of susceptibility will be suggested, in order to obtain a powerful positive "feedback" to improve the quality of life. Large consortia of studies with clear phenotypic assessments will help clarify the "window of susceptibility" in the human health risks due to mercury exposure.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Biomarkers; Child; Child, Preschool; Female; Genetic Predisposition to Disease; Humans; Infant; Male; Mercury; Mercury Poisoning; Middle Aged; Polymorphism, Genetic; Risk Assessment; Toxicokinetics; Young Adult
PubMed: 28106810
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph14010093