A STUDY ON ESTIMATION OF MERCURY DEPOSIT IN EX-MINERS WHO FORMERLY EMPLOYED IN A MERCURY MINE

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Inhaled mercury vapor is readily oxidized in the body. Organisms are capable of reducing the mercury and exhaling the produced elemental mercury. This reduction is enhanced by alcohol intake. In this project we have tried to estimate mercury deposit from previous exposure by examining expired mercury thus enhanced, because it was expected that mercury remains in the body for a long period and possibly affects the health status of ex-miners. Enhancement of expiration of mercury by alcohol was examined in mice injected with mercuric mercury one or two weeks before alcohol treatment. The amount of mercury exhaled correlated well with tissue concentrations and with mercury injection time spans. In human subjects, alcohol highly increased mercury concentrations in exhaled air. The peak concentrations of ex-miners who had suffered from mercury poisoning were slightly higher than those of whom were less exposed and were without experiences of poisoning. However, a clear cut discrimination level was not established, partly due to the long duration since last being exposed, ranging from 20 years or more. Effects of habitual alcohol intake were examined in mice repeatedly exposed to mercury vapor and given alcohol. The mercury concentration in brain, the target organ for mercury vapor exposure, of the mice given alcohol was lower than that of the mice not given alcohol. Two weeks after the cessation of exposure, the decrease of mercury concentration in the brain was greater in the alcohol group than in the non-alcohol group, resulting in much lower concentrations in the alcohol group.