Spleen containing mercury

Mercury compounds are generally less toxic than mercury(II) compounds because of then-lower solubilities. Calomel, a preparation containing Hg2Cl2, was once widely used in medicine. Its use as a teething powder for children has been known to cause a hypersensitivity response in children called pink disease, manifested by a pink rash and swelling of the spleen and lymph nodes. 

In BALB/c mice administered a diet containing 0.5 mg Hg/kg/day as methylmercury for 12 weeks, the thymus weight and cell number decreased by 22 and 50%, respectively, compared to the control group (Ilback 1991). The natural killer cell activity was reduced by 44 and 75% in the spleen and blood, respectively. However, the lymphoproliferative response in the spleen increased at this dose of mercury. 

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