Mercury in human life: where it is used and what harm it causes to health

Mercury plays a dual role in human life: it is both beneficial and harmful under certain conditions. Humanity learned about the dangers of mercury substances for health and even life only as a result of the tragic outcomes of studies that were carried out to determine the possibilities of their use. A couple of hundred years BC it became clear that mercury is a poison for a living organism. It turned out that it is not mercury itself that poses a mortal danger, but its vapors. And even later we figured out why it was so dangerous. A complete understanding of the properties of compounds containing mercury still does not exist.

Mercury poisoning

There are different ways for mercury to enter the body, such as through the respiratory tract or ingestion. This is possible in the following cases:

• in production when working with metal in case of failure to comply with safety rules,
• in case of emergency,
• in everyday life - when thermometers, fluorescent or energy-saving lamps are broken,
• when eating seafood and fish from mercury-polluted waters.

Intoxication occurs in acute or chronic form. Symptoms of mercury poisoning after prolonged contact with metal are mild (sometimes it is only a slight trembling or rapid fatigue, etc.), but if a large amount of poison enters the body, the state of health deteriorates noticeably and sharply.

Mercury vapor first settles in the lungs, then enters the blood and spreads with it to all organs. After this, symptoms of poisoning appear. But exactly how they manifest themselves always depends on the individual characteristics of the organism. For example, in children, poisoning occurs faster and is more severe than in adults. Therefore, first aid and emergency actions of doctors should be aimed at quickly removing mercury vapor from the body.

Mercury poisoning can be mild or severe. In mild cases, symptoms may be almost completely absent. The condition improves within a day. But you still need to think about how to remove mercury so that health problems do not arise later.

A severe form is necessarily accompanied by characteristic signs of mercury intoxication; there is a high probability of coma or death. With such poisoning, emergency medical first aid and hospital treatment are required.

It is difficult to remove mercury from the body, and it is impossible to do without medical prescriptions, even if the treatment of a mild form is carried out at home.

Mercury dichloride and its role in the body

In small quantities, this compound promotes the activation of enzymatic processes and bio-oxidation, resulting in an increased level of oxygen supply to the body.

As a result of such processes, there is an improvement in metabolism and strengthening of the protective functions of the immune system. It is not for nothing that in ancient times it was mentioned that this compound is effective in the fight against external tumors.

The results of the latest research on the effect of mercury compounds have shown that in microscopic doses they help stimulate the secretion of immunoglobulins, as well as enhance the interaction of certain categories of lymphocytes.

Also, mercury and its compounds activate the production of interleukin-II and interferon, control the optimal level of concentration of T-lymphocytes, which are effective in the treatment of cancer cells. In this regard, active work is currently underway to develop particularly effective immunomodulators from this compound. If successful, it is possible that the world will soon see the first cure against cancer.

Diagnosis of poisoning

There are several ways to determine whether a person has been poisoned by mercury or another heavy metal. These methods allow you to accurately identify the poison, and then accurately begin its removal:

• blood test to determine the amount of heavy metal,
• blood for hemoglobin (the presence of mercury in the body is indicated by a drop in hemoglobin, a sharp increase in ESR, a decrease in red blood cell counts),
• studying the hair structure for poisoning (mercury accumulates in the hair, and taking into account its growth rate of approximately 1 cm per month, the approximate time of poisoning can be determined).

All studies can be carried out only in laboratory conditions.

How to remove poisons

If we talk about how to remove poisons from our inner world, in particular arsenic or cyanide, we can resort to folk remedies. They are effective if their concentration in the patient’s body is low and they can be destroyed using folk remedies. Otherwise, you should immediately, in a matter of minutes, consult a doctor in order to prevent death.

Among the many recipes are the following:

1. Recipe with apple and cinnamon: when one medium-sized fruit is grated on a river, pour half a liter of water and add 1 tsp. ground cinnamon and drink this infusion throughout the day. It is the combination of apple and cinnamon that normalizes metabolism and cleanses the esophagus.

1. A mixture of lemon juice and honey is also an excellent cleanser of poisons and toxins. In this case, it is worth taking 2 tbsp. l. lemon juice, diluting it in 200 ml. water, adding 1 tbsp. l. honey and a pinch of ground ginger root. All this should be taken within 30 minutes. Before meals, precisely in the morning.

1. Ginger root drink. In this option, 4-5 cm of peeled ginger root should be cut into small circles and poured with a liter of warm water. Boil and cook for about 7-8 minutes. over low heat, after adding a pinch of cinnamon and 3-4 tbsp. l. rosehip syrup - taking this drink costs 150 ml. half an hour before meals 3-4 times a day. The drink itself not only cleanses the organs and systems themselves, but also tones our body, giving it a charge of vigor and strength.

All these recipes are simple and accessible, but you should not self-medicate - at the first suspicion of poisoning with heavy metals or poisons, you should immediately call an ambulance.

You should not test traditional medicine on yourself in case of serious poisoning and thereby expose yourself and your body to additional stress that has not been tested for individual intolerance and can ultimately lead to death.

How to remove mercury from the body using medication

Deciding on your own how and with what to remove mercury from the body is strictly prohibited. Preparations created for this purpose contain sulfur, which, when it enters the body poisoned by mercury, binds the poison into safe sulfur sulfides - compounds harmless to humans that are eliminated naturally.

There are many drugs that can remove this heavy metal, but their combination is dangerous. Therefore, the prescription should be carried out only by a doctor.

• Succimer. This is an antidote that binds mercury in the digestive tract and removes it out. Due to some components in the drug, the drug is allergic, so you should monitor your condition when taking it.
• Unithiol. An excellent remedy for the treatment of many poisonings, but is not suitable for people suffering from ulcers of internal organs or heart disease.
• Taurine. This acid with sulfur in its composition actively helps with mercury poisoning.
• Thetacine-calcium. It is used to remove heavy metals from the body in case of acute poisoning. It helps well with intoxication caused by mercury vapor.
• Methionine. This amino acid accelerates metabolic processes, which promotes the elimination of mercury.
• Sodium thiosulfate. A good anti-inflammatory drug for various poisonings.
• D-penicillamine. The drug has a strong anti-inflammatory and immune-strengthening effect. Not suitable for those people who have kidney disease.

Any of these remedies will definitely be included in the treatment and will help remove mercury from the body. But which drug is more suitable than others, and how long the therapeutic course will last - only the doctor can decide.

The thermometer broke. Procedure

If a mercury thermometer breaks in your house, the first thing to do is not panic. Call the employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations or the SES (for example, in Kazakhstan the SES deals with this), explain the situation. As a rule, demercurization specialists arrive quite quickly, but it is important to prepare a little before their arrival.

Let your family and animals leave the house or at least not enter the room where the accident occurred. If it’s cool outside, open the window; it’s important to maintain an extremely low temperature in the room (do you remember that mercury evaporates at 18 degrees?).

But do not allow drafts so that balls of a dangerous substance do not scatter throughout the room, and mercury vapor does not spread throughout the apartment. Therefore, close the door to the “affected” room tightly.

If it’s warm outside, then don’t take risks, don’t open the window and close the door to the room tightly to stop the spread of toxic fumes.

Have you decided not to call specialists (bad idea!) and are looking for how to collect and neutralize mercury? Then act strictly according to the instructions.

Be sure to wear rubber gloves on your hands and a gauze bandage soaked in water on your face.

Of course, it’s better to wear a respirator, but I don’t think everyone just has one lying around at home. Although, for our polluted city this is normal, and the person on the street in “Lepestk” does not cause any side glances at all.

As I said earlier, open (close) the window, take everyone in the household out and close the door to the room. Mark the area where you spilled the mercury, as otherwise you could easily step on it and spread it on the soles of your shoes throughout the house.

Forget about a broom and vacuum cleaner. Instead, use a soft brush for painting or shaving; a sheet of foil or paper will serve as a scoop. When you have collected all the mercury on paper, pour it into a container (preferably glass) with cold water or a solution of potassium permanganate. You can also use a douche or syringe.

If mercury is clogged in the cracks of a plank floor, sprinkle some sand on the area, and then sweep the substance along with the sand using a brush.

Are the drops stuck under the baseboard and you can’t get them out? You'll have to remove the baseboard; it's cheaper to pay for your carelessness with a piece of plastic (or wood) than with your health.

But the carpet will have to be thrown away or sent for special cleaning. Naturally, pre-packed in polyethylene.

When the toxic substance is completely collected, close the container tightly.

No matter how hard you try, it is still impossible to collect absolutely all the mercury - its microscopic drops get clogged in the smallest cracks, from where you can’t get them out. Therefore, we need to remember chemistry and carry out demercurization - that is, make mercury turn into a harmless and non-volatile compound.

Two groups of substances will help you with this:

1) everything that contains chlorine: chlorine bleaches, bleach, “Whiteness”;

2) potassium permanganate, to which a small amount of any acid is added.

Recipe 1:

Wipe the floor with a concentrated bleach solution.

Recipe 2.

Treat the floor with a strong solution of potassium permanganate - half a teaspoon per liter of water, then add half a glass of table (9%) vinegar or 1 tablespoon of vinegar essence.

Treat the wooden and metal surfaces in the room with one of these solutions. You cannot use all solutions at once due to their possible interaction with each other and the formation of unwanted and harmful compounds.

Now you can open the windows!

It is advisable to let the solutions sit for one and a half to two hours after applying them and only then wash them off with a soapy water solution.

Ventilate the room thoroughly for 2-3 hours and call the Ministry of Emergency Situations or SES to find out where to take the container with hazardous metal. It is likely that the specialists themselves will come and pick it up.

How to remove mercury from a child's body

For children, mercury poisoning is much more dangerous than for adults and is fraught with more serious consequences. Any prescriptions in this case should be made exclusively by a doctor. But if the child was in the room where the thermometer broke and inhaled mercury fumes for some time, you need to immediately provide assistance to the child in case of poisoning even before the doctor arrives, in order to at least partially remove the poison from the body:

• give a weak solution of potassium permanganate to rinse your mouth,
• mix egg white with water and give the child a drink,
• the baby must take a sorbent (activated carbon or any other drug in this group),
• if mercury peas were swallowed, induce vomiting in the child.

In any case, even at the slightest suspicion of poisoning with this poison, you need to consult a doctor and insist on laboratory tests to identify the cause of intoxication. If everything is confirmed, the doctor will prescribe detoxification of the child’s body with the obligatory administration of antidotes intravenously or intramuscularly. The duration of treatment depends on the amount of mercury entering the body.

Some symptoms of mercury poisoning are similar to those of common food poisoning. And if you ignore the situation and do not correctly determine the cause of the poisoning, the child will have serious health problems. Therefore, calling a doctor is necessary, even if the parents think that they can cope on their own.

Use of mercury substances

Knowledge of the areas of application of mercury and substances containing it, at least to a small extent, can protect a person from rash actions and consequences in cases of poisoning of the body.

Use in everyday life

Everyone knows common products containing pure mercury. These are medical thermometers, called thermometers in everyday life. These high-precision devices can still be found in many apartments, houses, clinics and hospitals where people live and are treated. They monitor the body temperature of children and adults if they suspect many diseases: colds, poisoning, sunstroke, viruses.

Not a single mother can do without a thermometer when treating a child, not a single doctor when seeing patients. But there are already quite accurate instruments for measuring temperature in people and animals that do not pose any health hazard. Therefore, it is better to get rid of the risks of severe poisoning as a result of a broken mercury thermometer by replacing it with a safe device.

It should be noted that thermometers with a red or blue scale do not pose a danger. They are not filled with mercury, but with an alcohol solution with dye. But such thermometers are mostly used in everyday life to measure temperature outdoors or indoors. They are less accurate and it makes no sense to use them to measure body temperature: the error is too large for this.

In everyday life, you often find fluorescent lamps that use mercury vapor to operate. One broken lamp will not cause any harm, but you should not set up a warehouse of used fluorescent lamps in your house. It is better to dispose of them out of harm's way. You can’t just throw away such a lamp; there are special containers for this. Or you should take it to a toxic disposal facility. The same applies to quartz lamps, which are used mainly for disinfection of premises. Such devices are rarely used in anyone's home.

Medical devices

In medicine, the same mercury thermometers are used, but one must hope that soon, by some decree from above, they will be replaced with safer methods for accurately measuring body temperature (there are quite accurate electronic devices). Quartz lamps are also often found in many institutions of the Ministry of Health for various purposes (disinfection of rooms, quartz treatment procedures for medicinal purposes).

In dentistry, silver amalgam is used, obtained from an alloy of metals and mixing it with mercury. But here, too, other possibilities have already been found for the production of high-quality fillings (for example, reflective fillings).

In addition, mercury compounds make it possible for medicine to obtain some effective drugs against parasites, as well as antiseptics. Mercury-based diuretics are also important.

In other areas of life

Mercury is also used in other areas:

• The chemical industry uses this substance and various compounds based on it in the production of chlorine and caustic soda to produce some organic substances.
• In nuclear energy, mercury is needed to dissolve uranium blocks and to decompose water into oxygen and hydrogen.
• In the agro-industrial complex, organic mercury compounds have been used to treat grain and seed material against rodents.
• In the mining industry, mercury is used to separate metal impurities from gold.
• The oil refining industry uses mercury vapor in the purification of raw materials.

Here we can add the usefulness of mercury substances for the jewelry industry, photography, pyrotechnics, mirror production, fabric dyeing and shipbuilding.

Products for removing mercury from the body

Special nutrition in case of poisoning is always beneficial and allows the body to recover faster. The same applies to heavy metal intoxication. The following products will help remove mercury from the body at home:

• beets (thanks to the flavonoids contained in them, they can quickly remove many toxic substances),
• chlorella (algae) eliminates excess mercury,
• Boiled rice perfectly absorbs heavy metals and helps remove them from the body,
• decoctions of cilantro, oats or alfalfa, if drunk as tea, accelerate the elimination of toxins,
• berries and fruits high in pectin have antioxidant properties,
• vitamin C will help the body gain strength faster and improve the immune system (pears, apples, apricots, raspberries and blackberries will be useful),
• potatoes (the starch in its composition will quickly bind and absorb heavy metals and remove them from the body),
• seaweed neutralizes mercury using alginates in its composition,
• teas made from sea buckthorn, calendula, rose hips or chamomile, as well as sesame and garlic will help increase the resistance of the liver, which always suffers from poisoning.

Eating the listed foods that remove mercury can be equated to traditional methods of treatment, but removing mercury from the body only with their help will not work. But such nutrition can have a good effect in mild cases of poisoning, used as preventive or auxiliary measures simultaneously with the main therapy.

Which thermometer is more accurate? Electronic or mercury?

Experts often have to answer this question. They usually say that a mercury thermometer would be more accurate, but you should also have an electronic one at home. They explain this by saying that both instruments may have errors and their readings must be double-checked.

Under normal conditions, mercury is always liquid.

The error of a mercury thermometer is approximately 0.1 degrees. For electronic deviations are typically in the range of 0.2 to 0.4 degrees. The largest error in non-contact thermometers is up to 0.5 degrees. If the sensor of a non-contact thermometer is not wiped, then the deviations may even amount to 1.5-2 degrees.

It must be remembered that the peculiarity of a mercury thermometer is that it shows the maximum temperature during the measurement, while an electronic one usually gives average readings, and a non-contact one gives instantaneous readings. Body temperature can change within 5 minutes within one degree. This should also be kept in mind.

The use of a non-contact thermometer is most appropriate for measuring the temperature of visitors to public places or airplane passengers, as well as children. In these cases, it will not be possible to detain the person for 5 minutes for a more accurate temperature measurement.

Heavy connection in everyday life

Almost every day a person is exposed to the effects of this compound. Moreover, it is hidden in the most common objects.

Mercury sources

Heavy metal can enter the body from the following sources:

Fluorescent lamps are sources of heavy metal

• The thermometer is the most affordable of all existing ones, present in every home. You should not neglect the situation when it is accidentally broken. In such a case, it is necessary to call special services (for example, the Ministry of Emergency Situations) to help collect and dispose of the substance. If this is not possible, it is necessary to promptly take those present outside and, putting on a bandage moistened with water, collect the metal with paper pieces without touching it with your hands. Then place the mercury lumps in a container of water and ventilate the apartment for several days. Dispose of the thermometer and clothing in contact with the substance. For this purpose, there are special services in every locality.
• Fluorescent gas-discharge or mercury lamps. If they are damaged, then you need to do the same steps described above.
• Cosmetology products.
• Waste from industrial factories and factories. After all, the end products in the combustion process of oil or coal are mercury-containing.
• Sea water can accumulate this substance. This is due to the presence of the element in fish and other seafood.
• Mercury containing vaccine. It is safe when dosages are followed.
• Amalgam-containing fillings of previous samples contain heavy metal.
• Water used to irrigate fields may contain heavy metal, thereby promoting its accumulation by plants.

Routes of penetration

The substance enters the human body in various ways: with food, during vaccination, dental filling, the use of whitening and antifungal ointments, and by airborne droplets.

Moreover, this compound is able to pass through histohematic barriers, including the blood-brain and placental ones.

Pharmacodynamics

Mercury vapor is especially dangerous

If mercury enters the body in the form of vapor, then it is absorbed by the lungs in an amount of 85-90%. Erosion particles containing mercury salts settle on the mucous membrane of the respiratory tract, dissolve, and enter the stomach when partially swallowed.

Then mercury albuminates from the lungs and gastrointestinal tract are carried by the bloodstream throughout the body, accumulating in the tissues of organs with good blood saturation - kidneys, brain, endocrine gland, liver, heart.

By damaging the cell membrane, which is caused by a reaction with sulfhydride protein groups, mercury ions disrupt the structure of the cell. Then they settle in the nucleus, cytoplasm, as well as mitochondria and microsomes, disrupting all types of metabolic processes (protein, energy, and nucleic acid), and the stability of tissue complexes of lipoprotein origin.

The gastrointestinal tract can absorb from 10 to 30% of water-soluble metal compounds of inorganic origin, and about 75% of organic origin, and pure metal has poor absorption (0.01%).

Pharmacokinetics

The half-life of the substance is approximately 65 days. Compounds are removed in the form of methylmercury, a mercury cation of organometallic origin.

In other words, inside the body it is methylated, forming organic substances that have good solubility in fats.

The process of removing them is very difficult and lengthy (six months to a year).

The methylated metal undergoes a process of acetylation in the liver, binding to cysteine, after which the formed complex from the liver enters the kidneys and is then excreted directly in the urine.

First aid for mercury poisoning

In case of mercury poisoning, you should definitely call a doctor. While the ambulance is on the way, you need to provide first aid to the patient. In case of mercury vapor poisoning, you need to rinse your mouth with potassium permanganate or other antiseptic solution. Induce vomiting in the patient by drinking large amounts of liquid. Give the patient 8-10 tablets of activated carbon to drink.

Mercury is excreted in the urine, so to remove at least some of the heavy metals, you need to give a person a lot to drink. As an antidote, you can drink a raw chicken egg white or a liter of milk. Also, to cleanse the intestines, the patient is given a laxative and an enema.

These simple rules will help you provide first aid to a person before qualified specialists arrive. Correct, coordinated and timely actions can cost a person his life.

Every year you do a thorough cleaning of your house. So why is your body worse? It also needs to be periodically cleaned of accumulated heavy metals. Monitor your health so you know how to remove mercury from your body quickly and safely.