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Inhalation Toxicity of Metal Particles and Vapors
Published in Jacob Loke, Pathophysiology and Treatment of Inhalation Injuries, 2020
The metal (Hg0) vaporizes at room temperature and exposure to mercury vapor results in absorption via the lungs, but some mercury may also be absorbed through the skin. Elemental mercury vapor undergoes almost complete absorption from the inhaled air (Doull et al., 1980). In contrast, absorption of elemental mercury after oral ingestion is minimal. It is possible that inhaling mercury is more harmful than ingesting it. After absorption from the lungs, it exists physically dissolved in blood for a short time, in part as the oxide, and in this form, it easily crosses the blood-brain barrier and placenta (Stahl, 1969). Of the salts, mercurous (Hg1+) salts are poorly soluble, whereas mercuric (Hg2+) salts are absorbed. Organic mercury compounds (i.e., methylmercury salts) can also be readily absorbed through the lung. The amount of alkyl mercury salts absorbed depends upon particle size and their deposition in the respiratory tract.
Diseases of the Nervous System
Published in George Feuer, Felix A. de la Iglesia, Molecular Biochemistry of Human Disease, 2020
George Feuer, Felix A. de la Iglesia
Chronic mercury poisoning is found under some working conditions such as inhalation of mercury vapor in thermometer workers,7,587 or in workers exposed to volatile inorganic mercury compounds in chlor-alkali plants.351 Excessive use of mercurous chloride laxatives resultes in neurological symptoms.160 Occasionally, contamination of food with mercury compounds is responsible for motor-sensory polyneuropathy, such as eating bread made from wheat treated with methylmercury as occurred in an epidemy in Iraq.505 Poisoned Iraqi children showed motor weakness and ataxia, many with visual loss remained permanently blind and only a few recovered partial vision, and some cases improved. Children bom to mothers exposed to methylmercury exhibited marked psychomotor retardation. Accidental ethylmercury poisoning resulted from the consumption of the meat from a pig which had eaten seeds treated with a fungicide containing ethylmercury chloride. Children who died of poisoning showed severe damage to the brain, spinal cord, peripheral nerves, skeletal muscle, and myocardium.124
The Chemical Environment
Published in Vilma R. Hunt, Kathleen Lucas-Wallace, Jeanne M. Manson, Work and the Health of Women, 2020
Vilma R. Hunt, Kathleen Lucas-Wallace, Jeanne M. Manson
One study55 in rats compared inhaled mercury vapor with an equivalent amount of injected mercury. The mercury levels in the maternal blood were 25 times higher in the injected animals than the ones which inhaled the vapor. However, the fetal/placen-tal unit mercury levels were about the same in both. Of those which had inhaled the vapor, one half of the mercury found in the placental/fetal unit was in the fetus whereas only 1% of the injected mercury in the unit was found in the fetus. Another study56 also done in rats showed that the fetal mercury content from inhaled mercury vapor was more than 40 times that found after an equivalent dose of injected mercuric chloride. The result was more than ten times the mercury content from injected ele mental mercury when compared to injected mercuric chloride. The ability of the placenta to discriminate against ionic mercury, but not elemental (injected), is shown by the ratio of placental mercury to fetal mercury content — 80: 1 and 23: 1, respectively. The authors cited the similarity between these results and previous studies which showed that the blood-brain barrier can discriminate against ionic mercury but allows transfer of dissolved mercury vapor.
Keratinous biomarker of mercury exposure associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis risk in a nationwide U.S. study
Published in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Frontotemporal Degeneration, 2020
Angeline S. Andrew, Katie M. O’Brien, Brian P. Jackson, Dale P. Sandler, Wendy E. Kaye, Laurie Wagner, Elijah W. Stommel, D. Kevin Horton, Paul Mehta, Clarice R. Weinberg
Methylmercury exposure via fish consumption has been suggested as an ALS risk factor; however, evidence from questionnaire-based studies is mixed (9–11). The relationship between ALS and fish consumption is complex due to beneficial components, such as omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (12). Methylmercury binds to the thiol group of cysteine, mimicking the neutral amino acid methionine, which allows it to easily cross the blood–brain barrier into neurons (13). Inhalation of mercury vapor is another route of exposure, although rare in the U.S. other than in dental occupations. Elemental mercury and methyl mercury are both lipid soluble and easily diffuse into the central nervous system (14). After entering the brain, mercury is converted to the inorganic form, where it is thought to have a half-life of several years to decades (15).
Could Vitamin C Protect Against Mercuric Chloride Induced Lung Toxicity In The Offspring Rat: A Histological And Immunohistochemical Study
Published in Ultrastructural Pathology, 2021
Omnia I. Ismail, Manal M.S. El-Meligy
The present results are in the same line with the results of previous work that concluded that mercury vapor exposure especially in minors produce harmful effects on the respiratory system and decreased its resistance so make it more susceptible to infectious diseases such as pneumonitis, corrosive bronchitis, and respiratory distress syndrome.6 In addition, high concentration of mercury vapor inhalation can provoke severe lung damage and death as a consequence of hypoxia.30 Furthermore, the previous case report on a man who injected himself with mercury and was found that not only X-rays displayed mercury collections throughout both lung fields but also at autopsy this collections were detected on the cut surfaces of the lungs.31
Is a non-cytotoxic and non-genotoxic novel bioinspired dipeptide structure synthesis possible for theragnostic applications?
Published in Drug and Chemical Toxicology, 2023
Merve Bacanlı, Jülide Secerli, Burcu Karayavuz, Onur Erdem, Hakan Erdoğan
Mercury (Hg) is a naturally occurring metal with bioaccumulative properties. It can be found in three forms: metallic (Hg0), inorganic and organic. These forms have different toxic effects. Hg binds to freely available thiols, damages the tertiary and quaternary protein structure, and alters cellular function (Bacanlı et al.2021a, 2021b). The target organ for inhaled mercury vapor toxicity is primarily the brain, but peripheral nerve function, renal function, immune function, endocrine, and muscle function, and several types of dermatitis have been described in early studies (Sharma et al. 2022).