This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Houeto, P. Articles by Levillain, P. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Houeto, P. Articles by Levillain, P. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Elemental Mercury Vapour Toxicity: Treatment and Levels in Plasma and Urine

Laboratoire de Biochimie-Toxicologie, Hôpital Fernand Widal, 200 rue du Faubourg, Saint-Denis, 75010 Paris, France

P. Sandouk

Laboratoire de Biochimie-Toxicologie, Hôpital Fernand Widal, 200 rue du Faubourg, Saint-Denis, 75010 Paris, France

F.J. Baud

Reanimation Toxicologique, Hôpital Fernand Widal, 200 rue du Faubourg, Saint-Denis, 75010 Paris, France

P. Levillain

Laboratoire de Biochimie-Toxicologie, Hôpital Fernand Widal, 200 rue du Faubourg, Saint-Denis, 75010 Paris, France

1 We report two cases of acute mercury vapour intoxication in humans. The mercury vapour was released from smelting alloys (gold-mercury amalgam). The alloy was apparently contaminated with an unknown amount of mercury.

2 Within half an hour of the incident, the victims began having moderate headache, nausea, lumbar pain and shortness of breath at rest. The patients were treated with BAL (2,3 dimercaptopropanol), followed by DMSA (2,3 dimercaptosuccinic acid).

3 Serial measurements of mercury metal in plasma and in urine were made for ten days.

4 The results suggest that in spite of the treatment, relatively high concentrations of mercury remain in the plasma for a very long time, and this could be explained by the progressive release of mercury from red blood cells and tissues after oxidation. However, BAL and DMSA did not seem to be the most efficient antidotes. They reduce the piasma inorganic mercury uptake at concentrations of <50 µg l^-1.

Human & Experimental Toxicology, Vol. 13, No. 12, 848-852 (1994)
DOI: 10.1177/096032719401301205


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?