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Mercury |
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| Properties and Health Effects |
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Mercury and its compounds exist in three general forms:
- Elemental (or metallic).
- Inorganic. Mercury can combine with other elements (mainly chlorine, sulfur, and oxygen) to form inorganic mercury compounds.
- Organic. Mercury may combine with carbon or carbon-containing substances to make organic mercury compounds. These organic
compounds are further divided between alkyl (carbon-chain) and aryl (aromatic ring) groups.
Although all mercury compounds are toxic, the small-chain alkyl compounds are the most hazardous. Mercury
compounds vary in toxicity, so OSHA provides standards for each. It is important to clarify which category a compound belongs to
before comparing it with a standard or determining its relative toxicity.
Properties
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Chemical
Sampling Information. OSHA. Presents in concise
form, data on a large number of chemical substances that may be encountered in
industrial hygiene investigations. Acts as a basic reference for
industrial hygienists engaged in OSHA field activity.
Health Effects
According to
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR),
mercury is not classifiable as a human carcinogen, although the EPA classifies mercury chloride and
methyl mercury as possible human carcinogens. The following resources contain
valuable information about the health effects of mercury.
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Mercury. Center for the Evaluation of Risks to Human Reproduction (CERHR). Contains an overview, description,
sources, and more information on mercury and its effects.
- Mercury Compounds.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), (2002, January). Discusses hazards associated with mercury
exposure, both acute and chronic.
- The Registry of Toxic Effects of Chemical Substances: Mercury.
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), (2006,
November).
Gives synonyms, mutation, reproductive and tumorgenic data, acute toxicity, standards and regulations, NIOSH documentation, and status in federal agencies.
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NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards. National Institute for Occupational
Safety and Health (NIOSH) Publication No. 2005 -149, (2005, September). Contains exposure limits, physical description, health effects, and personal
protective equipment.
- ToxFAQs for Mercury.
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), (1999, April). Contains general information
on mercury.
- ATSDR Public Health Statement
for Mercury.
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), (1999, March). Discusses exposure pathways, health effects, and exposure limits.
- Health Effects of Mercury.
Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS),
(1998, December 21). Discusses the main health
effects of mercury as well as local and systematic effects.
- Mercury, elemental (CASRN 7439-97-6).
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), (1998, September 7).
Discusses oral RfD assessment, inhalation RfC assessment and carcinogenity
assessment, and evaluates evidence and documentation review.
- Dimethylmercury. OSHA
Hazard Information Bulletin (HIB), (1998, March 9). Provides information
about a death of a chemistry
professor in June 1997 was apparently due to a single exposure to dimethylmercury.
- Occupational Safety and Health Guideline for Mercury
Vapor. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), OSHA, Department
of Energy (DOE) Health Guidelines. Summarizes pertinent
information about mercury vapor for workers and employers as well as for
physicians, industrial hygienists, and other occupational safety and
health professionals who may need such information to conduct effective
occupational safety and health programs.
Epidemiological Studies
- Jones, L., J. Bunnell, and J. Stillman. "A 30-year follow-up of residual effects on New Zealand School Dental Nurses, from occupational mercury exposure."
Human & Experimental Toxicology 26.4(2007): 367-375.
- Williams, PL., et al.
"Reconstruction of Occupational Mercury Exposures at a Chloralkali
Plant." Occupational Environmental Medicine 58.2(2001): 81-86.
- Frumkin, H., et al. "Health effects of long-term mercury exposure among chloralkali plant workers." Am. J. Ind. Med. 39.1(2001): 1-18.
- Domingo, J., et al. "Levels of Metals and Organic Substances in Blood and Urine of Workers at a
New Hazardous Waste Incinerator." Int. Arch. Occupational Environmental Health 74.4(2001): 263-269.
Occupational Exposures
- Echeverria, D. "Mercury and Dentists." Occupational Environmental
Medicine 59.5(2002): 285-286.
- Sattler, B. "Environmental Health in the Health Care
Setting." Am. Nurse 34.2(2002): 25-38; quiz 39-40.
- Burger, J., K. Gaines, and M. Gochfeld. "Ethnic Differences in
Risk from Mercury Among Savannah River Fishermen." Risk Anal. 21.3(2001): 533-544.
- Amalgam and A. Donoghue. "Mercury Toxicity Due to the
Smelting of Placer Gold Recovered by Mercury." Occupational Medicine 48.6(1998): 413-415.
- Bittner, A., et al. "Behavioral Effects of Low-Level Exposure to Hg-0 Among Dental
Professionals: A Cross-Study Evaluation of Psychomotor Effects." Neurotoxicology and
Teratology 20.4(1998): 429-439.
- Bellander, T. and E. Merler. "Historical Exposure to Inorganic Mercury at the Smelter Works of Abbadia San Salvatore, Italy." Annals of Occupational Hygiene 42.2(1998): 81-90.
- Ritchie, K. and E. MacDonald. "A Pilot Study of the Effect of Low Level Exposure to Mercury on the Health of Dental Surgeons." Occupational and Environmental Medicine 52.12(1995): 813-817.
- Krochmalnyckyj, R. "Exposure to Mercury From a Metal Furnace." Applied Occupational and Environmental Hygiene 10.9(1995): 730-732.
- Koizumi, A., et al. "Mercury, Not Sulphur Dioxide, Poisoning as Cause of Smelter Disease in Industrial Plants Producing Sulphuric
Acid." Lancet 343.8910(1994): 1411-1412.
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