Chronic Mercury Poisoning

Buckell, Monamy; Hunter, Donald; Milton, R. F.; Perry, Kenneth M. A.

doi:10.1136/oem.3.2.55

Cited by 16 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Monier-Williams (1949) has summarized much of the available data. Buckell, Hunter, Milton, and Perry (1946) have reported normal urinary excretion of mercury of 5 to 90 ,g./day whereas the figures reported by Monier-Williams are of the order of 1 ,ug./day. The latter is indeterminable by the usual methods.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 80%

“…(1949) has summarized much of the available data. Buckell, Hunter, Milton, and Perry (1946) (Tompsett, 1956) has indicated that a fair estimate of the alimentary intake of trace heavy metals may be made from an examination of faeces since urinary excretions and retentions are usually minute in comparison. From the results presented in this paper it would appear that the normal intake of mercury in the diet is of the order of 100 /ug./day.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Mercury in Biological Materials

Tompsett¹,

Smith²

1959

J Clin Pathol

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The present communication is concerned with the determination of mercury in biological materials and its normal excretion in humans.As a preliminary step in the determination of mercury in biological materials, destruction of the organic matter is essential. Mercury has a high degree of volatility and hence precautions are necessary to prevent losses during this process. There have been many communications on this subject (cf. Sandell, 1950), but the simpler procedures are mostly applicable to urine only. Abbott and Johnson (1957) have described a relatively simple procedure for the determination of mercury in apples. The material is heated with a mixture of sulphuric and nitric acids in the presence of selenium in a special reflux apparatus. Oxidation is completed by the addition of hydrogen peroxide. This procedure has been found to be applicable not only to urine but to faeces and tissues. The hydrogen peroxide has been replaced by potassium permanganate, since a lower blank value can thus be obtained.The most convenient method for the colorimetric determination of mercury is with dithizone using a reversion technique (cf. Irving, Risdon, and Andrew, 1949). Of the reversion techniques described, that using sodium thiosulphate in an acid medium (Abbott and Johnson, 1957) The method appears to be specific for mercury. The effect of copper and silver, two metals that occur in trace amounts in the human diet and might cause interference, has been examined. It has been found that these metals are not included in the final result. Non-interference from silver depends partly on the presence of excess of chloride ions, viz., hydroxylamine hydrochloride.The following are the details of the method.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 80%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mercury in Biological Materials

Tompsett¹,

Smith²

1959

J Clin Pathol

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“…In 19 of 21 exposed subjects the output of mercury exceeded 150 nmol/l with fairly wide variability. Large day-to-day variability in and between exposed individuals in the output of mercury has been noted before (Buckell et al, 1946;Goldwater, 1964).…”

Section: Urinary Mercury Excretionmentioning

confidence: 87%

Urinary mercury excretion and proteinuria in pathology laboratory staff.

Stewart¹,

Guirgis²,

Sanderson³

et al. 1977

Occupational and Environmental Medicine

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The use of mercuric chloride as an histological fixative was associated with high environmental atmospheric concentrations of mercury vapour (up to 0 5 nmol/l) as well as mercury compounds (total Hg up to 10 nmol/l). Technicians exposed to this environment showed increased urinary mercury (median value 265 nmol/24h) and protein outputs (median value 117 mg protein/24h). Routine control measures, ventilation and careful handling of mercuric chloride solutions, reduced the level of atmospheric mercury vapour levels to within acceptable limits (threshold limit values 0-01 mg/m3 (0 05 nmol/l) alkyl compounds and 0 05 mg/m3 (0.25 nmol/l) for all forms except alkyl). This reduction was associated with the disappearance of trace proteinuria from the technicians' urine. Contamination of histology laboratories by mercuric chloride should be minimised.

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“…The symptoms of mercury poisoning are vague and non-specific, and the clinical signs few (Buckell, Hunter, Milton, and Perry, 1946;Warkany and Hubbard, 1951). Considerable responsibility thus rests upon the laboratory, since the measurement of mercury in the urine offers virtually the only objective method of substantiating the diagnosis.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For the analysis of urine, oxidation of organic matter followed by dithizone extraction has been most popular, and earlier work in this field is described by Maren (1943), Gray (1952), Polley and Miller (1955), Rolfe, Russell, and1Wilkinson (1955), and Nobel and Nobel (1958). The published figures for 24hour urinary excretion of mercury in the normal subject show discrepancies, viz, 5-90 ,tg (Buckell et al, 1946), less than 1 jig (Monier-Williams, Received for publication 1 January 1969. 1949), 0-50 Hug (Warkany and Hubbard, 1951), less than 5 ,ug (Tompsett and Smith, 1959), less than 30 ,tg (Nobel and Leifheit, 1961), and less than 20 ,tg (Berman, 1967).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Measurement of mercury in human urine

Goldberg

Clarke

1970

J Clin Pathol

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SYNOPSIS Four methods of determining the concentration of mercury in human urine have been studied. A simple method suitable for general laboratory use is recommended and the requirements for accurate results are defined. The method employs mild oxidation with permanganate and HS204 followed by dithizone extraction and measurement of absorbance at 485 nm and 620 nm.No mercury was detected in any of 74 urines from unexposed laboratory controls and hospital patients. A random urine sample seems adequate for the investigation of clinical or industrial mercury poisoning. Two individuals, free of symptoms, but subjected to moderate exposure, excretecf 3 0-9*7 ug of mercury per 100 ml of urine.After the administration of an organic mercurial to two volunteers, urinary excretion was rapid and virtually complete within 48 hours.

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Chronic Mercury Poisoning

Cited by 16 publications

References 7 publications

Mercury in Biological Materials

Mercury in Biological Materials

Urinary mercury excretion and proteinuria in pathology laboratory staff.

Measurement of mercury in human urine

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