Mercury poisoning
poisoning caused by mercury chemicals
Mercury poisoning is a type of metal poisoning due to exposure to mercury. Symptoms depend upon the type, dose, method, and duration of exposure. They may include muscle weakness, poor coordination, numbness in the hands and feet, skin rashes, anxiety, memory problems, trouble speaking, trouble hearing, or trouble seeing. High-level exposure to methylmercury is known as Minamata disease. Methylmercury exposure in children may result in acrodynia (pink disease) in which the skin becomes pink and peels. Long-term complications may include kidney problems and decreased intelligence. The effects of long-term exposure to methylmercury at very low doses are unclear.
Forms of mercury exposure include metal, vapor, salt, and organic compound. Most exposure is from eating fish, amalgam-based dental fillings, or exposure at a workplace. In fish, those higher up in the food chain generally have higher levels of mercury, a process known as biomagnification.
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This entry incorporates text from “Mercury poisoning” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.