Contact with three forms of mercury---elemental or liquid mercury, organic mercury and inorganic mercury salts---can result in poisoning, according to Medline Plus. Elemental mercury is used in thermometers, mechanical switches, fluorescent lights, outdated dental fillings and medical equipment. Organic mercury is present in outdated germ killers, thimerosal, fumes from burning coal, fish that ingest methylmercury, animals that eat mercury-containing fish and livestock that consume mercury-tainted food or grain. Inorganic mercury is found in batteries, laboratories, disinfectants and red cinnabar.
Elemental Mercury
Medline Plus states that elemental mercury, such as that found in thermometers, is generally harmless when touched, or even when ingested, because it is too heavy, thick and lubricious to adhere to any bodily tissue long enough to inflict damage. Alternately, droplets of mercury are ingestible through breathing, whereby symptoms appear immediately. The authors of "Environmental Engineering," state that elemental mercury is volatile when exposed to air and even more so when heated. Medline Plus indicates that attempting to vacuum spilled mercury can also release a large quantity of breathable mercury droplets into the air. Symptoms of mercury poisoning through breathing include vomiting, swollen and bleeding gums, a persistent metallic taste, difficulty breathing and coughing. Inhaling a particularly large amount of mercury can result in permanent lung damage, brain damage and death.
Organic Mercury
Organic mercury poisoning results in neurological problems such as tremors or seizures, localized numbness or pain, incoordination, vision difficulties or blindness, memory problems and death. Medline Plus states that contact with organic mercury can cause poisoning when it is eaten or left on the skin for long periods of time. Organic mercury can cause brain damage in a fetus whose mother ingests organic mercury. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment lists other symptoms of organic mercury poisoning as abdominal pain, soreness, swelling, bleeding and ulcerated gums or tongue, anemia, edema, vomiting and diarrhea. These symptoms result from bodily harm caused by the mercury, such as the destruction of intestinal mucosa, hemorrhagic gastroenteritis, ulcerative colitis and the destruction of kidney tubules. Chronic or heavy exposure can result in coma or death.
Inorganic Mercury
Inorganic mercury is most dangerous when it is swallowed, according to Medline Plus. Once inorganic mercury enters the bloodstream, it causes burning in the throat and stomach, bloody diarrhea, bloody vomiting, kidney damage or failure, brain damage and blood loss as well as dehydration and death.
References
- Medline Plus: Mercury
- Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment: Mercury Poisoning
- "Environmental Engineering"; Joseph A. Salvato, Nelson Leonard Nemerow and Franklin J. Agardy; 2003
