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Mercury poisoning is a type of metal poisoning due to exposure to mercury. [3] Symptoms depend upon the type, dose, method, and duration of exposure. [3] [4] They may include muscle weakness, poor coordination, numbness in the hands and feet, skin rashes, anxiety, memory problems, trouble speaking, trouble hearing, or trouble seeing. [1]
The toxicity of methylmercury in humans is due to methyl mercury crossing the blood-brain barrier and causing cell lysis in the central nervous system. The cell damage is irreversible. The half-life of methylmercury in human tissue is 70 days, which allows it ample time to accumulate to toxic levels.
Structures of two main types of complexes formed by methylmercury. X − = anion, L = neutral Lewis base. Methylmercury (sometimes methyl mercury) is an organometallic cation with the formula [CH 3 Hg] +. It is the simplest organomercury compound. Methylmercury is extremely toxic, and its derivatives are the major source of organic mercury for ...
Lithium toxicity arises from overdose of lithium-containing drugs. [26] Mercury poisoning came into sharp focus with the discovery of Minamata disease, named for the Japanese city of Minamata. In 1956, a factory in that city released of methylmercury in the industrial wastewater resulting in thousands of deaths and many other health problems. [27]
A sack of "pink grain". Note the labelling in Spanish, and the grain's distinctive orange-pink colour. The 1971 Iraq poison grain disaster was a mass methylmercury poisoning incident that took place in late 1971 where seed grain treated with a methylmercury fungicide, which was never intended for human consumption, was imported into Iraq from Mexico and the United States.
The toxicity of organomercury compounds [2] [3] presents both dangers and benefits. Dimethylmercury in particular is notoriously toxic, but found use as an antifungal agent and insecticide . Merbromin and phenylmercuric borate are used as topical antiseptics, while thimerosal is safely used as a preservative for vaccines and antitoxins.
Minamata disease is a disease of the central nervous system, a poisoning caused by long-term consumption, in large amounts, of fish and shellfish from Minamata Bay. The causative agent is methylmercury. Methylmercury produced in the acetaldehyde acetic acid facility of Shin Nihon Chisso's Minamata factory was discharged in factory wastewater...
Prior to the 1950s, the "scientific community was unaware of the effects of methylmercury on humans". [9] In a 1958 article in The Lancet, two medical doctors reported their findings which confirmed a "link between methylmercury contaminated fish and human neurologic symptoms."