![]() Swallowing inorganic mercury can cause stomach irritation, leading to nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea. Inorganic mercury compounds do not vaporise, hence are not generally breathed in and only small amounts may pass through the skin. Skin itching and redness can occur following skin contact with elemental mercury. Breathing in larger amounts of mercury fumes may cause lung damage and can affect the kidneys, liver and muscles.Įlemental mercury can also affect the central nervous system causing tiredness, nervousness, tremor, headaches, personality changes, memory loss and hallucinations.Įye exposure to elemental mercury fumes may cause eye irritation, conjunctivitis, blurred vision and sensitivity to light. Cough, breathlessness and chest pain can also occur a few hours after exposure. If large amounts are swallowed, nausea, vomiting and stomach pain can occur.īreathing elemental mercury fumes can cause nausea, vomiting and flu-like symptoms such as fever and muscle aches and pains. Swallowing small amounts of elemental mercury is unlikely to cause adverse health effects. You may be exposed to mercury by breathing or ingesting it, or by skin contact with it.įollowing exposure to any chemical, the adverse health impacts you may encounter depend on several factors, including the amount to which you are exposed (dose), the way you are exposed, the duration of exposure, the form of the chemical and if you were exposed to any other chemicals. In order for it to cause any adverse health effects, you must come into contact with it. The presence of mercury in the environment does not always lead to exposure. How exposure to mercury can affect your health Such levels are below those that are thought to cause harmful effects. Safe levels are enforced to protect employees who may be exposed to mercury at work. Occupational exposure to mercury can occur in a number of workplaces that use mercury, such as in factories making electrical equipment or thermometers, chemical processing plants and dental practices. Some traditional medicinal products and illegal skin lightening creams may contain mercury and their use can lead to exposure. Spillages of elemental mercury from broken thermometers, barometers or compact fluorescent light bulbs may result in exposure to mercury vapour. The EU Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks ( SCENIHR) considered the safety of dental amalgam and concluded that dental amalgam already in place is not considered a health risk for the general population. People may be exposed to mercury from dental amalgam used in dental fillings. Everyone is exposed to mercury to a small extent from air, water and food. Exposure to mercuryĮxposure to mercury may occur from breathing contaminated air, eating contaminated food or water, or by skin contact. Mercury also enters the soil from fertilizers, fungicides and from solid waste such as thermometers, light bulbs or electrical switches. Most of the mercury released from man-made activities is elemental mercury released into the air due to mining, burning fossil fuels and incinerating waste. The major natural sources of mercury in the environment are degassing from the earth’s crust, emissions from volcanoes and evaporation from water bodies. Small amounts of mercury exist in the environment in soil, water and air owing to natural and human (anthropogenic) processes. Inorganic mercury may also be found in illegal skin-lighteners and traditional medicines. Inorganic mercury compounds have been used in pharmaceuticals, preservatives, fungicides and antiseptics although their use in these areas has been largely discontinued over the last few decades. ![]() Some types of dental amalgam (used in dental fillings) also contain elemental mercury. It is used to make lamps, electrical switches, thermometers and barometers. Uses of mercuryĮlemental mercury is used in the electrolysis of sodium chloride, to make caustic soda and chlorine and in extracting gold from ores. These compounds are mostly white powders or crystals. Inorganic mercury compounds contain mercury combined with other elements: mercuric sulphide contains sulphur mercuric oxide contains oxygen and mercuric chloride contains chlorine. It evaporates to form mercury vapour, which is the predominant form of mercury in the atmosphere. This general information section will focus on elemental and inorganic mercury only.Įlemental mercury is a shiny, silver-white liquid metal at room temperature and may also be referred to as quick silver. It is present in 3 forms, namely elemental (metallic) mercury, inorganic and organic mercury. Mercury occurs widely in the environment, owing to natural and human processes.
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