Brief overview
- Symptoms: salivation, nausea, vomiting, dark fringe at gum line, difficulty concentrating, sleep disturbances, depressed mood, tremors, visual disturbances, and hearing disturbances
- Causes: Inhalation of toxic mercury vapors, ingestion of mercury through skin and mucous membranes, consumption of mercury-contaminated fish, accidental ingestion of liquid mercury
- Treatment: avoidance of the source of the poison, activated charcoal, elimination therapy, symptomatic therapy
- What is mercury poisoning? Acute or chronic poisoning with the toxic heavy metal mercury (Hg).
- Diagnosis: Typical symptoms, detection of mercury in blood, urine and hair
- Prevention: Adhere to protective measures at the workplace, replace old mercury thermometers with modern devices; do not give amalgam dental fillings to children, pregnant and breastfeeding women, pregnant women: fish only from food-controlled farms
What are the symptoms of mercury poisoning?
Symptoms of acute mercury poisoning:
- Burned mucous membranes
- Salivation
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Abdominal cramps
- Low urine output
Symptoms of chronic mercury poisoning:
- Inflammation and ulceration of the oral mucosa
- Dark fringe at the gum line
- Itching
- Psychological symptoms: irritability, mood swings, lack of concentration, sleep disorders, depression, psychosis
- In case of damage to the central nervous system: tremors, speech disorders, visual disturbances, hearing disorders
- Weight loss
- Kidney damage: small amount of urine to no urine production at all any more
Where does mercury poisoning come from?
Mercury enters the body through several pathways:
Inhalation of mercury vapors (inhalation uptake).
Inhaled mercury is the most dangerous. It enters the bloodstream through the lungs and from there to the brain, where it causes severe secondary damage.
Amalgam fillings do not pose any danger to the wearer himself. Although they are half mercury and this can be detected in the bodies of people with amalgam fillings, the amount released from the fillings is small and is considered harmless.
Some danger also comes from broken fever thermometers, especially for babies and young children. For adults, the amount of mercury in a clinical thermometer is too small to cause health complaints.
The mercury enters the animals via contaminated industrial wastewater. Predatory fish such as sharks, swordfish and tuna as well as old fish are particularly contaminated. Chronic mercury poisoning via fish consumption is also known as Minamata disease, named after a mass mercury poisoning in the Japanese city of Minamata in the mid-1950s.
Uptake via skin and mucous membranes (percutaneous uptake).
Certain ointments (e.g., for bleaching the skin), eye drops, or contact lens fluids contain small amounts of mercury.
Transfer from mother to child (transplacental uptake)
Mercury is placental. This means that it passes from the mother into the bloodstream of the unborn child via the placenta. In affected children, physical and mental development is often impaired.
Treatment of acute mercury poisoning
Acute poisoning, such as after accidental ingestion of large amounts of mercury, requires immediate treatment. The aim here is to remove the poison from the body as quickly as possible to avoid consequential damage.
Excretion therapy: The active substances dimercaptopropane sulfonic acid (DMPS) and D-penicillamine help to eliminate the toxin from the body. Doctors refer to such agents as antidotes. They bind to the mercury and form insoluble compounds (chelates) that the body does not absorb. Instead, they are excreted through the kidneys.
Treatment of chronic mercury poisoning
Excretion Therapy: DMPS is also used in chronic mercury poisoning to facilitate the elimination of toxins through the kidneys.
Vitamins: Vitamin B1 promotes heavy metal excretion.
Symptomatic therapy: If other symptoms occur, these are also treated. In the case of chronic mercury exposure, for example, severe itching often develops on the skin, which can be relieved with appropriate ointments.
- Collect the mercury globules. For example, use a piece of adhesive tape or sweep them up.
- Put the globules in an airtight glass container and take them to the hazardous waste collection point. Please do not dispose of them in household waste!
- Avoid vacuuming up the beads with the vacuum cleaner. If this is unavoidable, take the well-sealed vacuum cleaner bag to the hazardous waste collection point!
- Ventilate the room thoroughly!
The course of mercury poisoning depends on how much and in what form the mercury enters the body. Doctors distinguish between acute and chronic poisoning.
Course of acute mercury poisoning
Course of chronic mercury poisoning
Chronic mercury poisoning usually goes unnoticed for some time. Since only small amounts of the poison ever enter the body, the symptoms develop insidiously within a few days or a few weeks.
Prognosis
The prognosis of mercury poisoning depends on how much mercury has been ingested and whether organ damage (liver, kidneys, central nervous system) has already occurred.
In acute poisoning that is recognized and treated in time, the prognosis is good. After chronic poisoning, the damage is often irreversible.
What is mercury poisoning?
Mercury poisoning (mercurialism, mercury intoxication) is the term doctors use to describe acute or chronic poisoning with the heavy metal mercury (Latin: hydrargyrum, designation in the periodic table: Hg).
What is mercury?
At room temperature, it slowly begins to evaporate, forming toxic vapors that are odorless and therefore imperceptible to humans. The vapors are also heavier than air, so they sink to the ground, which is why babies and small children are particularly at risk.
Mercury occurs in three forms:
Inorganic mercury salt: Occurrence in cosmetics (especially in bleaching ointments such as “freckle ointments”).
Organically bound mercury: Occurrence in mercury-contaminated fish (old fish, predatory fish such as sharks, swordfish, tuna), preservatives in eye drops and contact lens fluids, vaccines, desensitizing solutions
How dangerous is mercury?
Mercury vapors that are inhaled over a long period of time are the most dangerous. The mercury enters the bloodstream through the lungs and accumulates in the internal organs and brain. This leads to permanent organ damage that is sometimes fatal if left untreated.
Liquid mercury, on the other hand, is less dangerous because it is not absorbed by the body but is excreted in the stool.
Examination and diagnosis
To determine how much mercury is in the body, the doctor performs the following tests:
Blood test: mercury is only found in the blood for a short time, as it is quickly deposited in internal organs such as the liver or kidneys. A blood test therefore only provides information about current or recent mercury exposure.
Hair analysis: Organic mercury (consumption of mercury-contaminated fish) is incorporated into the hair root and can therefore be easily detected via hair analysis.
If the measured values exceed the “HBM-II value” defined by the Human Biomonitoring Commission, health impairment is possible and the patient will receive appropriate therapy.
Prevention
Since July 2018, amalgam may no longer be used in dental treatments of deciduous teeth, of children under 15 years of age and of pregnant and breastfeeding women. Pregnant women are additionally advised to consume fish only from sources that are monitored by food regulations.
In case of contact with mercury in the workplace, it is important to follow the protective measures provided by the employer.