Mercury
MERCURY is a heavy liquid metal used mainly in scientific equipment and as a dental amalgam. It is best known as the compound in thermometers. Its salts are still used in antiseptics, diuretics, fungicides, and parasiticides.
Toxicity is a concern because of its effects on body tissues, especially the brain since it seems to have an affinity for the compound. Mercury has long been recognized as a toxic element. Medieval mercury miners suffered from what was called "mad hatter disease" -- named so for obvious reasons.
Mercury is becoming more prevalent. Pesticides and fish are the most potent sources of mercury finding its way into the human body. Mercury enters water sources from industrial discharges and settles into the bacteria in the water which are then eaten by algae. The fish eat the algae and people eat the fish. By this time, contamination concentrations are thousands of times what it was when it entered the water supply. The same thing happens when grains in fields are eaten by wild game and then eaten by people. The game have had access to pesticides used on fields as well as contaminated water supplies.
Mercury is also found in certain dental fillings contaminating the air during high speed drilling and the system later from the fixed fillings. Inhalation produces symptoms such as chest pain, fever, coughing, and chills. Many dentists are now opting for other forms of fillings. Mercurous chloride preparations can be purchased over the counter including some laxatives containing "calomel". Continued use of these products eventually results in accumulation in body tissues including the brain and about 10% of ingested mercury ends up there.
Two forms, methyl and phenyl mercury, deplete the brain tissues of zinc. Methyl mercury (the kind found in fish), produces nerve, birth, and genetic defects. Symptoms of methyl mercury poisoning include a loss of coordination and intellectual ability, as well as diminished vision and hearing.
Mercury compounds are added to some cosmetics to kill bacteria which is then absorbed through the skin. Skin contact produces redness, irritation, and blistering commonly attributed to an "allergy" of the product. Symptoms of subacute mercury poisoning include excessive salivation, loss of teeth, stomatitis (mouth inflammations), and diarrhea. Neurological signs will also accompany physical ones such as tremors, vertigo, irritability, moodiness, depression, psychosis, insomnia, fatigue, headaches, numbness of the lips, hands, and feet, and memory loss.
The average intake of mercury from food is estimated to be about 0.5 mg. per day. Oral ingestion of 100 mg. can produce toxic symptoms while 500 mg. is almost always fatal unless medical attention intervenes with penicillamine, a standard chelating agent. Toxicity results from the mineral's ability to bind tissue proteins interfering with cellular metabolism.
Dangerous forms are the alkyl derivatives (methyl mercury and ethyl mercury). During pregnancy, alkyl mercury can cross the placenta and accumulate in the brain of the fetus causing encephalopathy (brain degeneration). The most common poison outbreaks have been the result of ingesting fish and birds exposed to water and grain contamination. The Inuit (Eskimos), who eat large amounts of mercury laden fish, do not always suffer the effects of poisoning because, it seems, toxicity only occurs when the natural protective system of the body has been overwhelmed by other pollutants at the same time. The Inuit, it seems, have a natural protection that has not been overwhelmed by other pollutants.
Names include: quicksilver, Hg, and element 80.
Toxicity symptoms include: (can be detoxified by selenium); loose teeth, bad breath, metallic taste in mouth, colitis, urinary deterioration, decreased appetite, anemia, increased/decreased blood pressure, fatigue, nervousness, anxiety, depression, emotional agitation, insomnia, trembling, fatigue, apathy, hallucinations, joint pains, changes in walking/vision, mental deterioration, paralysis, numbness, fever, chills, coughing, nausea, stomach pains, sore mouth/gums/throat.
Inhibitors include: Vitamins E, N, and selenium. There are no known helpers.
