Mercury

MERCURY has ranked prominently among the causes of poisoning for several hundred years. It was known to the Egyptians in 1600 BC The knowledge of mercury accompanied the gradual spread of Egyptian culture to Greece, and from Greece the information passed to Rome, and thence over the Roman Empire. The Egyp-tians, Greeks, and Romans considered mercury too toxic for medicinal use. Mercury was known in India about 500 BC where its medicinal value was recognized during the 1st century AD, and mercury stomatitis was described during this time.

“Reported instances of dermatitis or stomatitis from the mercury of amalgam fillings are rare, but undoubtedly such cases occur more frequently than a review of the literature would indicate. We have recently observed 2 examples of such a dermatitis, and we believe they are the first to be recorded in this country. In our first patient a mild stomatitis was also present. In neither of our patients was the cause recognized at the time of the first attack, and no doubt in many cases a mild involvement is unrecognized. We desire to stress the point that such cases represent examples of contact dermatitis rather than of irritation of the skin and the mucosa resulting from the absorption of mercury from the amalgam fillings and to review briefly the literature on the controversial subject of chronic mercurial poisoning resulting from amalgam fillings.”

“The guinea-pigs inoculated with 1 c.cm. of the mixtures after 24 hours all died ; the first of merthiolate poisoning and the remainder either of or with tuberculosis.”

“In our tissue culture experiements phenol showed a smaller toxicity index than merthiolate.”

“Recent investigations have demonstrated the fact that metals in the mouth may set up electro-galvanic discharges.  These discharges take place between dissimilar metals, and, according to Solomon, Reinhard and Goodale, on some few occasions between alloys of the same type. THEORY: It is generally well known that electrical energy is produced when dissimilar metals are immersed in an electrolyte. The metals are found to be arranged in the electromotive force series from positive (highest potential) to negative as follows: (positive end) aluminum, zinc, chromium, iron, nickel, tin, copper, mercury, silver, palladium, platinum, gold (negative end). Electrogalvanic activity parallels chemical activity.”

“The purpose of this report is to present data on Merthiolate observed in laboratory studies…”

“Dangerous anaphylatic reactions may follow the first or subsequent daily intravenous injections of anti-meningococcic serum.”

“When I am making the decision to report without hesitation to a wider circle about my personal problems, which ordinarily wouldn’t concern others and would not be worthy of publication, I am driven by the intense desire to warn emphatically all those who have to deal with metallic mercury about the dangers of this unstable metal, and to save them from the horrible experiences which have spoiled a great part of my life. Today I can speak about them freely because luckily they have been concluded, and they are behind me with sufficient distance.

The insidious horror of mercury is not nearly sufficiently well known and is being taken note of too little in those places where one is particularly threatened by it, in chemical and physical laboratories.”

“Mercurial necrosis is a field of pathology which has not received the investigation it deserves by the medical profession. While the poisonous effects of mercury have so long been recognized that I need take no time in rehearsing them, yet there are certain causes affecting the nerve centres which demand more thorough investigation than has yet been given.  In presenting this subject to the Society for consideration I want to show that by the use of amalgam in filling teeth there is a possibility of mercurial poisoning, which seriously affects the nerve-centres, impairs locomotion by heaviness of limb and stiffness of joint, gives rise to obstinate diseases of the skin, and makes a mental wreck of its victim, whose imaginations and hallucinations are more than my pen can describe.”

“The name Mercury was given by the ancients in honor of Mercurius, the messenger of the gods, whose volatile character mercury is supposed to typify. It is seldom found in the native state, but is usually combined. The most important as well as the most abundant combination is the sulphide of mercury, or cinnabar. It is found united with silver, forming an amalgam. The largest and richest mines are found in California. The process of obtaining pure mercury from the sulphide is very simple. The ore is mixed with one-half its weight of lime, and then distilled in iron retorts. The mercury is extracted and the lime remains in the retort. It is a heavy fluid metal, odorless, tasteless, of a whitish color, and when free from other metals it does not tarnish, and its globules roll freely over white paper without leaving a streak or losing their form. It is liquid at ordinary temperatures.”