Urine inorganic mercury

New York Developing capacity to monitor for polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in urine, polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in serum, organochlorine pesticides in serum, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in blood, cotinine in saliva, trace elements in blood and urine, inorganic mercury in blood and to generate data on exposure to persistent organic pollutants (CDC 2005). 

In addition to intensive supportive care, prompt chelation with oral or intravenous unithiol, intramuscular dimercaprol, or oral succimer may be of value in diminishing nephrotoxicity after acute exposure to inorganic mercury salts. Vigorous hydration may help to maintain urine output, but if acute renal failure ensues, days to weeks of hemodialysis or hemodiafiltration in conjunction with chelation may be necessary. Because the efficacy of chelation declines with time since exposure, treatment should not be delayed until the onset of oliguria or other major systemic effects. 

Excretion of inorganic mercury occurs through the urine and feces. The mechanisms by which excretion occurs are not well understood. 

Both lead and mercury speciation has been performed by Shum and coworkers [43]. Direct injection nebulization and an ion-pair separation with a microbore LC column were used with ICP-MS detection. A mobile phase of 20 80% v/v ace-tonitrile/water with 5 mM ammonium pentanesulfonate ion pairing reagent at pH 3.4 was used to separate inorganic lead, inorganic mercury, and three organomer-cury species. Detection limits, based on peak area calculations, were 0.2 pg of Pb for all the lead compounds and 7-18 pg of Hg for the mercury compounds. Spiked urine samples were analyzed to evaluate the performance of the method. 

ACGIH TLV TWA 0.1 mg(Hg)/m3 (sHn) BEL 35 ng/g creatinine total inorganic mercury in urine preshift 15 ng/g creatinine total inorganic mercury in blood at end of shift at end of workweek. 

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