Being alive after a severe inorganic mercury intoxication

Erkek, Nilgün; Şenel, Saliha; Ertan, Ülker; Karacan, Can Demir

doi:10.1007/s00431-009-1073-2

Cited by 11 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 13 publications

(24 reference statements)

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“…Fifteen studies, of which 14 are case reports 27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34,35,36,37,38,39,40 and one is cross-sectional 41 , comprising 27 cases, reported some severe hematological effects associated to clinical condition, such as: cerebral or gastrointestinal bleeding related to thrombocytopenia (14) or aplastic anemia (2); multiple organ dysfunction syndrome and leukopenia (2) or hemolytic anemia (2) or aplastic anemia (1); renal insufficiency and thrombocytopenia (2) or leukemoid reaction (1); sepsis and aplastic anemia (2) or neutropenia (1). Mercury biomarker was measured 22 times 29,30,31,32,36,37,38,39,40,41 out of 27 and was always high according to values reported by the authors.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human exposure to mercury and its hematological effects: a systematic review

Vianna

Matos²,

Jesus

et al. 2019

Cad. Saúde Pública

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Mercury is a metal found in the environment from natural and anthropogenic sources. It is highly toxic to ecosystems and living beings. Most human exposures come from ingestion of contaminated seafood, outgassing from dental amalgam or occupational exposure (e.g. gold mining), among other cases. Large populations are exposed to mercury, making it a very important issue from the public health perspective. Adverse health effects are commonly seen in the nervous system, but every organ is a potential target, such as the bone marrow. The main goal of this study was to assess the available evidence on human exposure to mercury and its hematological effects. A search strategy was constructed, including key terms (MeSH, text word and equivalents) for querying 2 repositories of master dissertation and PhD thesis (Fiocruz/ARCA and University of São Paulo) and 4 different electronic databases: BVS/ LILACS, MEDLINE/PubMed, Scopus and TOXLINE/NIH, for articles published from 1950 to February 2018. There was no language restriction and a tool (EPHPP) was used to assess the quality of included studies. According to pre-established criteria, 80 studies were retrieved, all of them observational (48 case reports, 24 cross-sectional, 6 case series and 2 cohorts), comprising 9,284 people. Despite the fact that most exposed ones (6,012) had normal blood cell count and mercury hematological effects did not seem very usual (1,914 cases: 14 severe and 29 deaths), three studies reported association (β) for anemia, lymphopenia, neutrophilia and basophilia. We concluded that the gathered information pointed to mercury hematotoxic effects, some of them may be serious and even fatal.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human exposure to mercury and its hematological effects: a systematic review

Vianna

Matos²,

Jesus

et al. 2019

Cad. Saúde Pública

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“…It has been a preferred metal for experimentation in chemistry and other science laboratories in schools. Mercury exposure that occurs at poorly ventilated areas such as school or home can be potentially toxic and can cause serious harm and even death [1,6]. Significant exposure to all forms of mercury can result in a variety of health problems including neurological, renal, respiratory, immune, dermatologic, and developmental sequelae.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Household poisoning cases from mercury brought from school

et al. 2010

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Mercury has a number of unique and fascinating properties. It is present in the environment in several forms, both organic and inorganic. Each of these forms has somewhat unique properties that differentiate them from the other forms, but all are toxic to humans in one way or the others. Mercury has been proven to be a potential source of poisoning in children as a result of the inappropriate handling of a liquid mercury. The cases of metallic mercury vapor intoxication not associated with occupational exposure may occur in school science laboratories, from mercury dust and powders, from latex paint containing a mercury-based fungicide, and from normal wear or installation of dental amalgam fillings. Another source of toxic mercury exposure can be broken thermometers, barometers, or sphygmomanometers that may occur in the home, and children are often victims of environmental exposure. In this paper, we present three members of a family who were exposed to mercury brought home from school by a family member. Since the mercury exposure was not known, the initial presentation and clinical picture suggested a misdiagnosis, a contagious infectious disease, because the onset of symptoms occurred at different times in the same family members. A subsequent change to a diagnosis of mercury intoxication and chelation therapy with meso-2,3-dimercaptosuccinic acid was started.

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“…In the Discussion section, the authors state that "...... findings of hemolysis disappeared rapidly which was consisted with inorganic mercury intoxication" [1]. It has been reported that both inorganic mercury (mercuric mercury, Hg 2+ ) and organic mercury (methyl mercury, CH 3 Hg + ) are able to induce rapid hemolysis in human erythrocyte in vitro [2].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Dear Editor, The interesting short report of Erkek et al [1] describes a 10-year-old girl with inorganic mercury intoxication, possibly because of inorganic mercury overexposure while attempting to swim into a creek of cultivated area. Perhaps the reason for very high levels of mercury in the creek waters was due to improper mercury disposal.…”

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confidence: 99%