Mercury guideline value

The guideline value for mercury is conservative because it is based on the provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI) for methylmercury, which is more toxic than mercury. Monitoring would normally only be justified if mercury were known to be present due to unusual circumstances, such as an industrial or mining discharge. 

WHO Drinking-water guideline values for health-related organics (applies to all forms of mercury) 0.001 mg/L WHO 1984... 

CLEA SGV = Contaminated land exposure assessment soil guideline values. The values given are the minimum values and relate to use of land as Allotments or Residential with plant uptake. See page 22. Relates to Cr(VI) and inorganic mercury. 

DEFRA and Environment Agency (2002r) CLR 10 SGV5 Guideline values for inorganic mercury contamination in soils. 

Until 1997, in Germany the Federal Health Agency (EGA 1997) published annual guideline values for lead, cadmium, and mercury in different types of food. For a long time these values provided the basis for the control and monitoring of the current levels of cadmium, lead, and mercury in food. Today, these values have been substituted by setting maximum levels in the previously mentioned EG-Regulation. 

WHO has published guidelines for drinking water quality (WHO 1996, 1998), including values for antimony, arsenic, barium, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, manganese, mercury, molybdenum, nickel, and... 

The debate about the relation between autism and mercury (as thimerosal) in vaccines continues, without useful conclusions [37 ]. In a population-based study of the pharmacokinetics of mercury after immunization of 72 premature infants weighing 2000-3000 g at birth, the mean maximal blood mercury concentration was 3.6 fig/l, and it occurred at 1 day after immunization the maximal mean stool mercury concentration was 35 ng/g, and it occurred on day 5 urine mercury was almost undetectable [38 ]. The blood mercury half-life was 6.3 (95% Cl = 3.9S.8) days, and mercury concentrations returned to prevaccination values by day 30. The blood half-life of intramuscular ethyl mercury from thimerosal in vaccines given to premature infants is substantially shorter than that of oral methyl mercury in adults. Because of the differing pharmacokinetics, exposure guidelines based on oral methyl mercury in adults may not be accurate for children who receive thimerosal-containing vaccines. 

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