The ATSDR receives many inquiries from physicians who do not know how to evaluate exposed patients. Hazardous Substances Emergency Events Surveillance, an ongoing event-based survey conducted in 14 states by the Department of Health and Human Service's Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), received reports of 405 mercury spills in the six-year period 1993 to 1998. The precise number of incidents is unknown because reporting is not mandated by law. Sporadic reports of spills of elemental mercury to federal public health authorities have increased dramatically in recent years (Figure 1), reflecting greater access to expert assistance in such cases. The vast majority of those thermometers were believed to contain mercury. In 1999, the most recent year for which reporting statistics are available, poison control centers in the United States received more than 19,000 calls from Americans whose thermometers broke, according to the Georgia Poison Center. The fact remains, however, that mercury is a poison that can terminate human life.Īlthough no national statistics exist on the prevalence of mercury poisoning, what limited data are available suggest that mercury exposure occurs with considerable frequency among all age groups and in all geographic regions of the United States. Mercury is especially attractive to adolescents, who have been known to rub it on their skin and hair to take on the physical appearance of the silvery villain in the motion picture Terminator 2. Even adults amuse themselves with mercuryboiling it so that it jumps in the pan, throwing it against walls to see it dribble down, and coating it on cigarettes to revel in the colorful sparks created. Mercury is an amusing and attractive silvery liquid that appeals to children, who love to play with the shiny beads. Mercuryit's not hard to find Physical properties and toxicity Clinical manifestations and evaluation Responding to an exposure A deadly plaything By Sherlita Amler, MDįaced with a child who has been exposed to mercury, would you recognize the signs and symptoms? Would you know what questions to ask, which lab tests to draw, and what treatment to initiate? Would you know what to advise parents about a mercury spill at home?
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