Urine mercury

Pingree SD, Simmonds PL, Woods JS. 2001. Effects of 2,3-dimercapto-l-propanesutfonic acid (DMPS) on tissue and urine mercury levels following prolonged methyhnercury exposure in rats. Toxicol Sci 61 224-233. 

Blood and urine mercury concentrations are commonly used as biomarkers of mercury exposure. ... 

Unithiol and succimer increase urine mercury excretion following acute or chronic elemental mercury inhalation, but the impact of such treatment on clinical outcome is unknown. Dimercaprol has been shown to redistribute mercury to the central nervous system from other tissue sites, and since the brain is a key target organ, dimercaprol should not be used in treatment of exposure to elemental or organic mercury. Limited data suggest that succimer, unithiol, and N- acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC) may enhance body clearance of methylmercury. 

A 36-year-old man developed peripheral polyneuropathy after chronic perianal use of an ammoniated mercury ointment. He had very high blood and urine mercury concentrations. Sural nerve biopsy showed mixed axonal degeneration/demyelination. His symptoms improved progressively over 2 years after withdrawal of the ointment, but neurophysiological recovery was incomplete. 

Analytical methods are available to measure mercury in blood, urine, tissue, hair, and breast milk [11]. Biological monitoring of mercury is very useful for assessing exposure as well as risk for health effects [17], but comphcated by the fact that both organic and inorganic forms of mercury occur in the body and can be identified in blood and urine. Mercury concentration in individuals who are not occupationally exposed, and whose fish intake is moderate or low, varies between 0.1 and 7 pg/L. The lower values are found in urine and the higher in blood. Urinary mercury is thought... 

Conservative management includes a repeat abdominal radiograph in 1-2 weeks if the battery has not been observed to pass. There is no role for gastric emptying efforts (induced emesis or gastric lavage) or use of cathartics. Blood or urine mercury concentrations are not needed. 

Blood and urine mercury concentrations are commonly used as biomarkers of exposure to mercury. Hair has been used as a biomarker of exposure to methylmercury. Occupational studies show that recent mercury exposure is reflected in blood and urine (Naleway et al. 1991 WHO 1991). However, at low exposure levels (<0.05 mg Hg/m3), correlation to blood or urine mercury levels is low (Lindstedt et al. 1979). Blood levels of mercury peak sharply during and soon after short-term exposures, indicating that measurements should be made soon after exposure (Cherian et al. 1978). The specific time frame at which measurements become less reliable has not been determined. Workers exposed for a chronic duration, however, may have a high body burden of mercury, therefore, mercury levels would probably still be elevated in the urine and blood for a long period of time after cessation of exposure (Lindstedt et al. 1979). The following discussion of blood and urine mercury levels generally refers to measurements taken immediately or within a few days following the last exposure. 

Urine mercury measurement is reliable and simple, and it provides rapid identification of individuals with elevated mercury levels (Naleway et al. 1991). It is a more appropriate marker of inorganic mercury, because organic mercury represents only a small fraction of urinary mercury. Yoshida (1985)... 

Studies assessing mercury vapor exposure have suggested various ratios relating the concentration of mercury in the air (in g/m3) to the levels of mercury in the urine (in g/L). Such estimates include 1 1 (Bell et al. 1973), 1 1.22 (Roels et al. 1987), and 1 2.5 (Lindstedt et al. 1979 Rosenman et al. 1986). Urinary metallic mercury levels ranging from 0.05 to 1.7 g/L were detected in the urine of workers exposed to mercury vapor (>0.1 mg/m3) this elemental mercury represented <1% of the inorganic mercury content of the urine (Y oshida and Yamamura 1982). With increased exposure to mercury vapor (0.47-0.67 mg/m3), the amount of elemental mercury in the urine increased. A "rough" correlation between levels of metallic mercury vapor in air and mercury levels in blood and urine was established by Rosenman et al. (1986). They associated levels of 50 g/100 mL in blood and 250 g/L in urine with a mercury level in air of approximately 0.1 mg/m3 (8-hour TWA), and 28 g/100 mL in blood and 100 g/L in urine with a TWA of 0.05 mg/m3. Roels et al. (1987) found a correlation between daily mercury vapor exposure and blood or urine mercury levels in 10 workers employed for at least 1 year at an alkaline battery plant. The mercury levels in the air and the pre- or post-workshift levels of blood and urinary mercury correlated well (r=0.79-0.86 [blood] and r=0.70-0.80 [urine]). Based on a ratio of... 

Several potential biomarkers of effect for mercury have been evaluated, usually for neurological and renal dysfunction. Many of these toxic effects have been correlated with blood and urine levels (see Table 2-13). However, most indicators are nonspecific and may have resulted from other influences. As discussed in Section 2.2, many studies have examined the relationship between urine mercury levels and specific renal and neurological effects. Renal dysfunction has been studied extensively as a potential sensitive measure of mercury exposure. Signs of renal dysfunction at mercury air concentration of 0.1 mg/m3 were reported by Stewart et al. (1977). Case reports have associated the therapeutic use of inorganic mercury salts with the occurrence of nephrotic syndrome (Kazantzis et al. 1962). 

An association between urine mercury levels and performance on memory tests and verbal intelligence tests has been established. Abnormal results on memory tests were reported for 9 workers exposed to mercury in the production of thermometers urinary mercury excretion levels were 7-1,101 g/24 hours (Vroom and Greer 1972). The short-term memory span of 26 workers was examined by Smith et al. (1983) and found to decrease with increasing urine mercury levels. The range of mercury found in the urine of these workers was 0-510 g/L. A significant linear relationship was reported between subjects 50% memory threshold spans and 12-month urinary mercury concentrations. Disturbances on tests of verbal intelligence and memory were more frequent among individuals with mercury blood levels above 1.5 g/100 mL and mercury urine levels above 56 g/L in 36 male chloralkali workers (Piikivi et al. 1984). 

Adults may receive higher mercury exposures from dermal contact if they work with mercury-contaminated soils. Mercury has been detected in soil and sediment at 350 and 208 sites, respectively, of the 714 NPL sites where it has been detected in some environmental media (HazDat 1998). No experimental information on dermal exposure related to the bioavailability of mercury or mercury compounds sorbed to soils was found. However, Hursh et al. (1989) conducted a study to determine the role of dermal exposure in the uptake of mercury vapor from air. These authors estimated that during an 8-hour day, a person would absorb through the skin only 2.6% of the mercury vapor retained by the lungs exposed to the same atmosphere. These authors also noted that half of the dermal uptake is lost through normal shedding of the stratum comeum. Therefore, dermal uptake of mercury adsorbed to soil is likely to be minor compared to other exposure pathways. Recent information from Hamly et al. (1997) showed that urine mercury levels in a Native American population living near an inactive mercury mine in Clear... 

Bell ZG, Lovejoy HB, Vizena TR. 1973. Mercury exposure evaluations and their correlations with urine mercury excretion 3. Time-weighted average (TWA) mercury exposures and urine mercury levels. 

Lovejoy HB, Bell ZG, Vizena TR. 1974. Mercury exposure evaluations and their correlation with urine mercury excretion. J Occup Med 15 590-591. 

Blood mercury - increased Urine mercury - increased... 

Diagnosis is by estimation of blood and urine mercury concentrations (Table 1). Long-term monitoring of exposure, such as may be necessary with those working with dental amalgam, may be carried out using hair or nail clippings. 

Berman (1967) complexed mercury with ammonium pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (APDC) in urine, blood, and other tissue samples treated with trichloroacetic acid. She extracted the complex into methylisobutyl ketone (MIBK), and reported a detection limit of about 10 /complexed with APDC, can be quantitively extracted into MIBK from hydrochloric acid (at least up to 6 M) and nitric acid (up to 1.5 M) solutions (Brooks et al., 1989). 

C. Specific ieveis. See specific chemical. Urine mercury levels have been reported to be elevated after button battery ingestion. 

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