Mercury poisoning

Mercury poisoning is illness caused by exposure to elemental, inorganic, or organic mercury. Its effects vary with the mercury form, dose, route, and duration of exposure.

Methylmercury: An organic mercury compound formed mainly by aquatic microbes and accumulated in food webs. It crosses the blood–brain barrier and reaches fetuses, making contaminated seafood a major exposure route.
Fish consumption advisories: Public health notices recommending limits on eating fish contaminated with pollutants. They reduce methylmercury exposure while accounting for fish’s nutritional benefits.
Inorganic mercury: Mercury compounds in which mercury is not bonded to carbon as an organic mercury compound. These compounds often affect the kidneys and gastrointestinal tract differently from methylmercury.
Neurotoxicity: Harmful effects of a chemical or physical agent on the structure or function of the nervous system. Neurological injury is a defining consequence of several forms of mercury exposure.
Minamata disaster: A mass methylmercury poisoning event caused by industrial wastewater contamination in Japan’s Minamata Bay. The outbreak established the human cost of releasing mercury into aquatic food webs.
Elemental mercury: Pure mercury in its metallic form, which is liquid at room temperature and readily produces vapor. Inhaled vapor is absorbed by the lungs and can injure the brain and kidneys.
Mercury exposure assessment: The evaluation of mercury exposure using history, examination, and biological or environmental measurements. The likely mercury form and timing determine which tests can clarify exposure.
Ethylmercury: An organic mercury compound produced as thimerosal breaks down in the body. Its kinetics differ from methylmercury, despite both containing organic mercury.
Nephrotoxicity: Kidney injury caused by a toxic substance or other damaging exposure. Inorganic mercury can accumulate in and damage kidney tissue.
Iraq methylmercury poisoning: A series of mass poisonings in Iraq after people ate grain treated with methylmercury fungicide. It showed that mercury-contaminated grain can cause widespread poisoning beyond seafood exposure.

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