Mercury poison

Compounds containing mercury, particularly its organic compounds, are acutely poisonous. Mercury vapor is an insidious poison because its effect is cumulative. Frequent exposure to low levels of mercury vapor can allow mercury to accumulate in the body. The effects include impaired neurological function, hearing loss, and other ailments. 

He also developed a seed disinfectant that was free of poisonous mercury, then widely used in agriculture. The disinfectant helped control Tilletia, a smut fungus that causes diseases in cereal crops. The product was introduced to Swiss agriculture in 1942, when grain supplies were extremely precarious. 

Various types of reference electrodes are used for permanent embedment in concrete. Some fall into the category of double junction electrodes of the second kind and are therefore reference electrodes in the true sense. Others are simply a piece of metal or another material put into the concrete. Although stable and accurate, SCE is not used for permanent embedment in concrete, mainly because it contains a liquid metal, which makes it difficult to manufacture in a rugged form. In addition, environmental reasons make it undesirable for permanent use in the field (poisonous mercury and mercury compounds). 

Mercury poisoning. Mercury manometers pose hazards of mercury contamination in the event of fracture of a glass apparatus. See Appendix C. 

All the compounds of the type R2Hg are liquids the methyl and ethyl derivatives are volatile at ordinary temperatures, and are said to be very poisonous. Mercury dimethyl, diethyl, and di-n-propyl may be distilled under ordinary pressure without decomposition mercury di-isopropyl, di-n-butyl, di-isobutyl and di-sec-butyl, have only been distilled under reduced pressure mercury di-tert-butyl and -tert-amyl show considerable decomposition even when distilled at 5 mm. mercury di-isoamyi also undergoes decomposition when distilled in vacuo, but is volatile in steam, whilst mercury di-sec-octyl cannot be distilled at all, since it decomposes even at 3 mm. 

The cardinal neurological marker of mercury vapor intoxication is tremor. Workers in the hat industry frequently suffered from mercury poisoning. Mercury compounds helped convert the stiff, straight animal fur into a limp, flexible mat that could be shaped into a hat. Vapor escaped during the process, and, inhaled day after day by the workers, sometimes evoked tremor so severe that some found it difficult even to walk without support. A survey of hat factories conducted by the US Public Health Service in 1940 found a clear relationship between workplace mercury levels and the severity and incidence of tremor. Eventually, the mercury compounds were replaced. 

Figure 6.19.7 depicts the mercury cell electrolysis process. A severe drawback of the process is the fact, that the chlorine and sodium hydroxide produced are contaminated with trace amounts of very poisonous mercury. 

Although poisonous, mercury compounds were once used to kill bacteria in wounds and on the skin. One was called ammoniated mercury and is made from mercury(ll) chloride according to the following equation ... 

Like any common batteries, lithium batteries will rupture if exposed to fire. The low-rate lithium batteries, intended for watches, should be safe if used within manufacturers specified temperatures. Thick separators in these low-rate cells prevent shorting and their small size permits easy heat dissipation if any local internal reactions should occur. In fact, a good case can be made that most low-rate lithium cells are safer than zinc-mercury cells, which can introduce poisonous mercury into the atmosphere when incinerated. SAFI supply lithium-copper oxide... 

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