First aid for mercury poisoning

It’s no secret that mercury vapor is extremely toxic. However, a person encounters this metal both in everyday life and at work. What is mercury? At room temperature, this metal turns into a silvery-white liquid, which gradually evaporates in air, releasing toxic fumes.

This metal is found in mercury medical thermometers, in fluorescent energy-saving lamps, and various electrical appliances.

Once upon a time, doctors used mercury to treat diseases. It was used in dental practice, in the treatment of “intestinal volvulus” and syphilis. In the Middle Ages, this metal was often used for the preparation of poisons, in the manufacture of mirrors and felt. The most famous and common mercury compounds are sublimate, cinnabar, calomel.

Both mercury itself and its compounds have a pronounced neurotoxic effect. Mercury poisoning is quite easy, especially in production, where the concentrations of this metal are very high. At home, of course, you should not sit idly by with a broken mercury thermometer, but in this case you will not get severe poisoning.

However, you should definitely know how mercury poisoning manifests itself, what are its signs and symptoms? What should be done in cases where a thermometer has broken or mercury has leaked in any other way at home? Especially if there are small children in the house. These and many other questions will be discussed in this article.

How does mercury poisoning happen?

Mercury poisoning is a condition of the body caused by the inhalation of mercury vapor or the substance itself through the gastrointestinal tract, as well as mercury compounds.

At a mercury concentration of more than 0,25 milligrams per cubic meter, various problems with the respiratory organs begin to develop, with a higher density, almost all other internal organs and body systems are affected.

In human blood, an overestimated concentration of mercury is considered to be 35 ng / ml or more, in urine – 150 μg / l. Experts believe that children and women are most susceptible to mercury vapor.

Both organic and inorganic mercury can cause poisoning. Elemental or inorganic mercury is used in sphygmomanometers, thermometers, filling materials. Mercury salts are used in the manufacture of certain drugs, plastics, and food products. Organic mercury can be found in cosmetics, paints, foods, and medicines.

Mercury salts are often methylated in bacteria, which leads to pollution of the environment by this metal, its deposition in living organisms, for example, in fish. Further, it turns out that by eating such poisoned fish, a person poisons his own body.

Vapors of inorganic mercury enter the human body with the air and settle in the lungs. After, through the pulmonary alveoli they penetrate into the circulatory system and are carried with blood to all internal organs and systems. The absorption of this metal by the organs of the gastrointestinal tract is very insignificant. Elemental mercury is excreted from the human body with feces and urine. Quite a bit of it goes back with the help of the lungs. Its half-life is approximately two months.

Inorganic mercury and its compounds that enter the human body with food cause the greatest harm to the digestive system: it corrodes the mucous membranes of the stomach and intestines, due to which it spreads throughout the body. Mercury salts settle mostly in the kidneys, the rest affects the liver, spleen, intestines, lungs, skin, bone marrow and blood. It is also excreted with the help of the urinary system and feces. In such cases, its half-life is about forty days.

Organic methylated mercury and its compounds enter the body mainly orally – through the mouth. Usually it is quickly absorbed in the intestines, as well as through the pores of the skin. Such mercury is also dangerous because it easily penetrates the placental and blood-brain barriers, as well as into breast milk. Due to its association with blood proteins, methylated mercury is distributed throughout the body, settling mostly in the circulatory system, kidneys and central nervous system. The organic metal is excreted from the human body with urine. The half-life reaches seventy days.

Symptoms of mercury poisoning

The first symptoms indicating mercury poisoning begin to appear when the concentration of this metal in the blood is more than 500 ng / ml and in the urine – more than 600 μg / ml. There are acute and chronic mercury poisoning.

Signs characteristic of acute metal poisoning:

• severe cough, asthma attacks, catarrh of the upper respiratory tract;
• sore throat when swallowing, shortness of breath, chest pain, pneumonia;
• headaches and dizziness, trembling in the body;
• increased excitability;
• elevated body temperature up to 40 degrees, chills;
• severe fluid loss leading to dehydration;
• pain in the abdomen, nausea, tenesmus, vomiting and diarrhea with blood impurities;
• bleeding gums, gingivitis;
• taste of metal in the mouth, profuse salivation.

The manifestation of signs of chronic mercury poisoning is called mercurialism. The phenomenon of micromercurialism is also known, in which a person shows some signs of mercury poisoning when exposed to slightly small doses of metal for five to ten years.

Signs of incipient Mercurialism are:

• general weakness, apathy, severe fatigue;
• frequent urination, severe swelling of the limbs;
• nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite;
• decreased taste, smell, skin sensitivity;
• stomatitis, gingivitis, tooth loss;
• excessive salivation, excessive sweating;
• tremor of the limbs, turning into trembling throughout the body;
• skin rashes, hyperkeratosis and hypertrichosis of the skin, dermatitis;
• photophobia, irritability, insomnia or drowsiness, decreased intellectual abilities, irritability, headaches and dizziness;
• heart rhythm disturbances, low blood pressure, acrodynia or pink disease.

Complications and consequences of mercury poisoning

Mercury poisoning does not pass without a trace for the body and without proper treatment in most cases leads to serious complications and unforeseen consequences, which are expressed in:

• delirium;
• paralysis;
• respiratory failure;
• to whom and smertelnom results.

If a pregnant woman breathed in high concentrations of mercury vapor, this does not go away without consequences for the unborn baby. In severe cases, this leads to atrophy of the cerebellum or cerebral cortex, to the development of cerebral palsy in the fetus.

Postpartum poisoning with mercury vapor or mercury compounds in some cases leads to:

• headaches;
• hearing, speech and vision impairment;
• violation of coordination of movement;
• paresthesias and paralysis;
• memory loss;
• stupor, coma and death.

It happens that some of these symptoms remain with the poisoned person for the rest of his life.

Causes of mercury poisoning

Sources of mercury poisoning are:

• mercury lamps;
• mercury thermometers;
• fluorescent gas-discharge energy-saving lamps;
• mercury-zinc batteries;
• dental fillings with amalgam;
• medications: mercusal, calomel, sublimate;
• industrial combustion of gas or coal in large quantities;
• fish or shellfish living in ecologically polluted water bodies;
• places of natural origin of mercury.

First aid for mercury poisoning

If a person has signs of acute poisoning with mercury vapor, it is necessary:

1. Remove the injured person from the lesion.
2. Make him drink several glasses of salted water or a weak solution of potassium permanganate.
3. Induce vomiting mechanically.
4. Gargle with a weak solution of manganese.
5. Again give a few glasses of water to drink.
6. Give the victim “Unithiol” – a universal remedy that is an antidote for heavy metal poisoning. Activated charcoal in this case is useless and its use will not affect the patient’s condition in any way.
7. Give the poisoned person laxatives.

After providing first aid, it is necessary to deliver the injured person to a medical facility for further therapy.

All treatment of a person poisoned by heavy metals, in particular mercury, comes down to the speedy removal of them from the body of the victim. For this, complex medical preparations with active dithiol groups are used. If renal failure is detected, it is advisable to prescribe hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis.

Symptomatic treatment is also often used to improve the patient’s condition.

Prevention of poisoning by mercury vapor and compounds

To prevent this kind of poisoning, it is necessary to observe safety measures.

When working in industrial enterprises in conditions of possible mercury vapor poisoning, you should rinse your mouth daily with a solution of potassium permanganate or potassium chlorate. Keep the mercury thermometer away from children. It is best to replace mercury thermometers with safer ones: electronic or infrared. Refuse to use mercury energy-saving lamps, replacing them with more economical LEDs. Do not consume fish and shellfish caught in polluted waters. Do not leave a child unattended when measuring temperature with a mercury thermometer. Do not self-medicate and take medications prescribed by a doctor.

Summing up

Mercury vapor poisoning most often occurs in industrial enterprises working with this metal. The reason for this is the leakage of mercury in various emergency situations or in case of non-compliance with safety regulations. Mercury poisoning, especially in high concentrations, often leads to serious and severe consequences, up to coma or death. Therefore, it is extremely important to be able to provide first aid to the injured person and start therapy as soon as possible. To prevent such situations, it is necessary to know and follow the safety rules when working with substances containing mercury or its compounds.