Problems of Forensic Sciences 1998 Vol. 38 (XXXVIII) 55-78
ACUTE AND CHRONIC POISONINGS WITH MERCURY AND ITS COMPOUNDS
Teresa LECH, Józefa Krystyna SADLIK, Kazimiera KOBYLECKA
Institute of Forensic Research, Cracow
Streszczenie
Mercury is, beside lead and cadmium, one of the most toxic metals. It occurs as metallic mercury and mercury compounds, both organic and inorganic, and displays various toxicological properties. In the presented work the following cases of poisonings, studied at the Institute of Forensic Research, Cracow in the period 1980- 1997, are described: 13 acute poisonings with mercury compounds, mainly inorganic - mercury (II) chloride, and mercury (II) oxide; and several cases of exposure to the action of metallic mercury, introduced into the organism in different ways (orally, rectally, by injection, by inhalation of mercury vapour). Some of the cases were fatal. In some of the studied cases a short history of the poisoning is given and the concentration of mercury determined in either clinical or post-autopsy material is presented. The concentrations of mercury in the blood and urine of people exposed to mercury compounds (n = 16) studied at the Institute during the same years, and of people who are suspected to have been exposed due to their occupation or dwelling area (n = 41), and also of those people who have been exposed to mercury for many years (living in the vicinity of factories producing mercury discharge lamps, n = 161), are also given.
Słowa kluczowe
Mercury compounds; Metallic mercury; Poisonings; Exposure; Mercury concentration.