Essay on Mercury Poisoning

Wrangell-St Elias is one in four Alaskan national parks that tested positive for mercury. In some cases the levels exceeded the State of Alaska’s human consumption levels of mercury for women and children. The test was part of a multi-year U.S. geological survey and study of fish in high elevation lakes and streams. Mercury was found in all fish and can be harmful to other fish, wildlife, humans etc. The mercury was found in fish in Copper, Tanada, and Summit Lakes. Consuming high amounts of mercury can damage developing brains in babies and

Mercury is another toxic pollutant that may be found in the tailings and in the surface and ground water supplies of the Silver Bow Creek area. While mercury is

On average, individuals have eight amalgram fillings, which means they are absorbing 120 micrograms of mercury daily. People are also absorbing an average of 2.3 micrograms of mercury from eating fish and other seafoods and an additional 0.3 micrograms from water, air and other foods.

Karen Nelson, Neuroepidemiology Branch, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke; and Margaret Bauman, Children’s Neurology Service, Harvard Medical School conducted a study on neuropathology of mercury toxicity. Nelson and Bauman asserted ethylmercury lacks the active transport mechanism across the blood-brain barrier that other found available to methylmercury however; they provided no evidence to support this assertion. The L system is the major transport

The HAPI organization is fueling their mission on their fears about vaccinations. Dawn Winkler the executive director of the HAPI believed her infant died from mercury poisoning after receiving her vaccines. Mercury poisoning was never confirmed and medical professionals labeled the cause of death to be SIDS, also known as Sudden infant death syndrome. They use myths and make them frightening. The group’s main concern on vaccinations are the amounts of mercury. On the organizations website they pressure parents into choosing whether to vaccinate their children using the words “the most important decisions you will ever make for your child.” On a separate section of the website they say vaccines are supposed to be mercury free, which isn’t true. The reason why vaccines contain mercury and that is to kill any bacteria. They describe mercury as toxic in the tiniest amounts and never mention the fact that it has never shown to have harmful effects.

Mercury is a heavy metal with serious side effects like heart problems, digestive imbalance, loss of memory, breathing problems, ADD, depression, etc.

There are three different chemical forms that mercury exists in and each has a specific effect on human health, however for the purpose of this paper only two will be talked about. The first is elemental mercury (Hg), which also called metallic mercury. In this form the primary health effect is when it is breathes as vapor where it can be absorbed through the lungs. Symptoms of this kind include tremors, emotional changes, insomnia, neuromuscular changes, headaches, disturbances in sensations, changes in nerve responses, and performance deficits on tests of cognitive functions. At higher doses there can be kidney effects, respiratory failure, and even death. In this form it is emitted into the air from coal-fired power plants, waste incinerators, smelting plants, which is by far the leading man-made source of mercury in the Great Lakes. It is released into the air and transported by air currents and will eventually fall and be deposited in soil or water. This is particularly important to the people living in Michigan because in Detroit the mercury found in rain has been

Another claim anti-vaxxers make is that vaccines contain mercury which is toxic to humans (Ross, np). Thimerosal, which was in multi-dose vaccines to prevent bacteria growth, did in fact contain traces of mercury (Ross, np) (CDC, np). However, there are two types of mercury: methylmercury and ethylmercury (CDC, np). Methylmercury, which is found in some kinds of fish, is toxic to humans in high doses, while ethylmercury is cleaned out of the body rapidly and is less likely to cause any harm, especially at low doses (CDC, np). Thimerosal contained a very low dose of ethylmercury, and studies showed it would not be toxic to humans, aside from some minor side effects such as redness or swelling after injection (CDC, np). Even so, the FDA decided to remove thimerosal from vaccines back in 2001 (Ross, np).

As already stated, many other locations around the world are affected by mercury poisoning and contamination. For example, Canada and Japan have an extensive history of mercury poisoning, including neurologic symptoms and contaminated fish. These studies have has been documented since the 1950’s in these locations. In fact, the contamination became so problematic the Ontario health department formed a task force on organic mercury in 1972. Further, recent protesting throughout Toronto has asked for Canada to address the contamination of mercury. Findings revealed levels of mercury exceeding those of international standards and included the highest recorded mercury contamination among in the western part of the world. (CITE 6)

Once released into the environment, mercury is free to be taken up by plants and animals but is not toxic unless transformed through bacterial or chemical processes into its organic form, the most famous of which is methylmercury [6], [8], [10] Methylmercury impacts several critical organ systems and particularly toxic to the development of the fetus [11]. It also bioaccumulates in living organisms, which leads to higher levels of methylmercury with each increasing trophic level [10], [12], [13]

In 2011, Dr. Jeremy L. Bria of DC made a claim that the flu shot did indeed increase your risk of getting Alzheimer’s disease. An advertisement was published in The Beacon with the title “Want to increase your risk of getting Alzheimer’s Disease?” which then went on to link Alzheimer’s with the flu shot because of the mercury that’s in it. Claiming “Flu shots contain 25 micrograms of mercury. And since the toxic level of mercury is one microgram, that’s 25 times the amount of toxicity your

Mercury is a heavy silver white liquid metal. Mercury’s melting point -38.9 degrees c. The group that mercury is in the zinc group and also the isotopes number of mercury is 198. Mercury was discovered by sumerians, mercury was discovered in 265 b.c. in 1639. It fits in because it has a melting point and it has atomic numbers. Mercury is used for batteries. Mercury’s medical issues are highly toxic, and it has fate transportation deposition. Mercury is toxic and makes you get nervous when effected. Mercury is affected because of its numbers and compounds. It causes effects the nerves, digestive, and the lungs. The environmental effects are elemental, inorganic, and methylmercury. The greek name of mercury is hydrargyrum wh

An element on the Periodic Table called mercury was used in various ways, and this element proved to be both fatal, yet beneficial at the same time. According to an article, “The Mad Hatter Syndrome: mercury and biological toxicity”, by Leigh Erin Connealy, M.D., the author stated, “A mercury solution was commonly used during the process of turning fur into felt, which caused the hatters to breathe in the fumes of this highly toxic metal, a situation exacerbated by the poor ventilation in most of the workshops,” (Connealy). These hatters eventually developed a disease called mad hatter disease. If the people had known that mercury was a lethal element, they would have had safety regulations or substituted mercury with another safe element to make the hats. Also, according to the same article, French dentists in the late 1800s mixed mercury with silver to bond the amalgams at room temperature. These dentists had a lack of knowledge concerning the health effects of mercury inside a person. The mercury inside these patients’ mouths put them at an exceedingly high risk of mad hatter disease. This lack of knowledge caused society to be at high risk of spreading

Atmospheric exposures come from volcanic eruptions, coal burning, and through mining, then the mercury goes through a cycle such as the nitrogen cycle and then settles into the ocean (Bernhoft 2011). As the mercury settles into the water the small creatures with the water, and people ingest the fish containing mercury and can cause major damage to people and pregnant women (Bernhoft 2011). Although exposure usually occurs with the atmospheric reasoning, but there are other parts of the human body that can be affected such as the kidneys, skin, breast etc. (Bernhoft 2011). However there are many different ways that mercury can be taken out of a person’s body, that being through urination, and many large amounts come out through sweat and saliva (Bernhoft

The health hazards for humans who come in contact with contaminants from exposure to polluted water can have long term effects on the body causing possible organ failure and death. Contaminants and chemicals such lead and mercury can bring about many minor illnesses ranging from nausea, lung irritation, skin rash, vomiting, and dizziness, to the major diseases that include cancer, liver and kidney damage, disorders of the nervous system, damage to the immune system, birth defects and even death.