Human mercury poisoning

Gerstner, H.B., Huff, J.E. (1977). Selected case histories and epidemiologic examples of human mercury poisoning. Clin. Toxicol. 11 131-50. 

Cadmium (Cd) anode cells are at present manufactured based on nickel-cadmium, silver-cadmium, and mercury-cadmium couples. Thus wastewater streams from cadmium-based battery industries carry toxic metals cadmium, nickel, silver, and mercury, of which Cd is regarded the most hazardous. It is estimated that globally, manufacturing activities add about 3-10 times more Cd to the atmosphere than from natural resources such as forest fire and volcanic emissions. As a matter of fact, some studies have shown that NiCd batteries contribute almost 80% of cadmium to the environment,4,23 while the atmosphere is contaminated when cadmium is smelted and released as vapor into the atmosphere4 Consequently, terrestrial, aquatic, and atmospheric environments become contaminated with cadmium and remain reservoirs for human cadmium poisoning. 

Methylmercury affects the central nervous system in humans — especially the sensory, visual, and auditory areas concerned with coordination. The most severe effects lead to widespread brain damage, resulting in mental derangement, coma, and death (Clarkson and Marsh 1982 USPHS 1994). In mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus hemionus), after acute oral mercury poisoning was... 

Tamir M, Boustein B, Behar M, Chwat M. Mercury poisoning from an unsuspected source. Br J Ind Med 1968 21 299-303. Deutsch MF, Morton Jl. Dissociation of human serum macroglobulins. Science 1957 125 600-601. 

Organic Mercury. Limited information was located regarding respiratory effects in humans after oral exposure to organic mercury. Two boys who died after eating meat from a hog that had eaten seed treated with ethylmercuric chloride developed bronchopneumonia and edematous alveolitis, and required artificial ventilation (Cinca et al. 1979). Bronchopneumonia was also identified as the cause of death in four adults and one infant who died as the result of methylmercury poisoning in Iraq during 1972 (Al-Saleem and the Clinical Committee on Mercury Poisoning 1976). It is unclear whether these respiratory effects were the result of direct effects on the respiratory system or were secondary to other effects. 

Miyakawa T, Murayama E, Sumiyoshi S, et al. 1976. Late changes in human sural nerves in Minamata disease and in nerves of rats with experimental organic mercury poisoning. Acta Neuropath (Berlin) 35 131-138. 

Kang-Yum, E. and Oransky, S. 1992. Chinese patent medicine as a potential source of mercury poisoning. Vet. Human Toxicol. 34, 235-238. 

Mercury poisoning in humans and seed-eating birds (Kurland et ah, 1960 Harada, 1982 Scheuhammer, 1987). 

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