Accumulation of mercury

Omata S, Kasama H, Hasegawa H, Hasegawa K, Ozaki K, Sugano H. 1986. Species difference between rat and hamster in tissue accumulation of mercury after administration of methyhnercury. Arch Toxicol 59 249-254. 

Abreu SN, Pereira E, Vale C, Duarte AC (2000) Accumulation of mercury in sea bass from a contaminated lagoon (Ria de Aveiro, Portugal). Mar Pollut Bull 40 293-297... 

Hirota, R., J. Asada, S. Tajima, and M. Fujiki. 1983. Accumulation of mercury by the marine copepod Acartia clausi. Bull. Japan. Soc. Sci. Fish. 49 1249-1251. 

Huckabee, J.W., J.W. Elwood, and S.G. Hildebrand. 1979. Accumulation of mercury in freshwater biota. Pages 277-302 in J.O. Nriagu (ed.). The Bio geochemistry of Mercury in the Environment. Elsevier/North-Holland Biomedical Press, NY. 

Kim, E.Y., K. Saeki, S. Tanabe, H. Tanaka, and R. Tatsukawa. 1996. Specific accumulation of mercury and selenium in seabirds. Environ. Pollut. 94 261-265. 

Lodenius, M., A. Seppanen, and M. Herrnanen. 1983. Accumulation of mercury in fish and man from reservoirs in northern Finland. Water Air Soil Pollut. 19 237-246. 

Nicoletto, P.F. and A.C. Hendricks. 1988. Sexual differences in accumulation of mercury in four species of centrarchid fishes. Canad. Jour. Zool. 66 944-949. 

Mercury-zinc mixtures were more-than-additive in toxicity to oyster larvae (Sprague 1986). Preexposure of mussels (Mytilus edulis) to 50 pg Zn/L for 28 days conferred increased tolerance to 75 pg inorganic mercury/L (Roesijadi and Fellingham 1987). Zinc inhibited the accumulation of mercury in marine snails and crustaceans (Andersen et al. 1989). 

With an increase in pH, there is an increased absorption of mercuric chloride [6, 7], whereas accumulation of mercury in the intestinal tissue decreases. Mercury absorption is inversely proportional to its accumulation in the tissue. An increase in water absorption due to hypotonicity or an increase in concentration of sodium ions or urea increases the mercury absorption and accumulation in the epithelial cell, without change in the intracellular distribution pattern [8], Thus, the absorption of mercury is thought to accompany the solvent drag and to be influenced by pH change in the intestinal lumen. 

After administration of mercuric chloride to mice, cell necrosis was found to be severest in the S2 and proximal S3 [228] segments of the proximal tubules corresponding to the preferential accumulation of mercury, engaging the convoluted part of the proximal tubular segment [229]. Very large mercury-containing lysosomes developed in the distal S3 segment. 

Yamada, M., Tohno, S., Tohno, Y., et al. (1995). Accumulation of mercury in excavated bones of two natives in Japan. Science of the Total Environment 162 253-256. 

The biological half-life in humans for methyl mercury is about 70 days because elimination is slow, irregular, and individualized, there is a considerable risk of an accumulation of mercury to toxic levels. A precise relationship between atmospheric levels of alkyl mercury and concentrations of mercury in blood or urine has not been shown. Clinical observations indicate that concentrations of 50-100pg mercury/lOOml of whole blood may be associated with symptoms of intoxication concentrations around 10-20pg mercury/ 100 ml are not associated with symptoms. In a study of 20 workers engaged in the manufacture of organic mercurials and exposed for 6 years to mercury concentrations in air between 0.01 and O.lmg/m, there was no evidence of physical impairment or clinical laboratory abnormalities. Low levels of methyl mercury in the blood do not seem to affect the results of behavioral performance tests. ... 

Chronic toxicity studies provide information on the long-term health effects of chemical substances. Adverse health effects in exposed animals and subsequent severe damage are known to occur after repeated exposure to low doses over a period of time. The slow accumulation of mercury or lead in the body or after a long latency period from exposure to chemical carcinogens is an example. Chronic or prolonged periods of exposure to chemical substances may also cause adverse effects on the reproduction and behavior of animals and humans. The symptoms caused after chronic exposure usually differ from those observed in acute poisoning from the same chemical. In fact, when exposed to low concentrations of chemical substances, as is the case with chronic toxicity studies, the industrial worker and common public are unaware of the exposure. 

Pentreath, R. J. The accumulation of mercury from food by the plaice Pleuronectes platessa I., J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 25,... 

Wetherill G. W. (1988) Accumulation of Mercury from planetesimals. The cratering record on Mercury and the origin of impacting objects. In Mercury (eds. F. Vilas, C. R. Chapman, and M. S. Matthews). University of Arizona Press, Tucson, pp. 670-691. 

Gastrointestinal absorption of mercuric chloride from food is less than 15% in mice and 7% in a study of human volunteers. In humans and other mammals, the kidneys are the primary targets where mercuric ions accumulate. Renal uptake and accumulation of mercury in vivo are rapid. As much as 50% of low dose of mercuric chloride (0.5pmolkg ) has been shown to be present in the kidney of rats within a few hours after exposure. Within the kidney it accumulates primarily in the cortex and outer stripe of outer medulla. Mercuric chloride does not readily cross the blood-brain barrier but will accumulate in the placenta. Urinary and fecal excretion of mercury is the principal means by which humans and other mammals eliminate the different forms of mercury from the body. Under most circumstances, a greater fraction of a dose of mercury is excreted in the feces than in the urine early after exposure to a nonne-phrotoxic dose of mercuric chloride. 

After 12-14 hours of exposure of rats to a relatively small amount of metallic mercury vapor (0.55 mg/m3), accumulation of mercury was observed within all cell types examined (ganglion cells, satellite cells, fibroblasts, and macrophages). Mercury has also been detected in dorsal root neurons and satellite cells of primates exposed for one year to mercury through amalgams in dental fillings or the maxillary bone (Danscher et al. 1990). 

Pharmacokinetic studies indicate that repeated or continuous exposure to any form of mercury can result in the accumulation of mercury in the body. Numerous studies using laboratory animals have shown that retention of mercury in the brain may persist long after cessation of short- and long-term exposures. 

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