ELEMENTAL, MERCURIC AND METHYLMERCU RY: BIOLOGICAL INTERACTIONS AND DILEMMAS

摘要

The National Research Council (NRC) report on methylmercury toxicity has agreed with the EPA current RfD, 0.lμg/kg per day, although a newer and different study was used as the basis of the committee 's calculations. The greatest exposure of the U.S. population to mercury appears to be from the elemental mercury emitted by dental amalgams. Methylmercury from seafood and elemental mercury are transported rapidly to and deposited in the brain. The former is converted in the brain very slowly to mercuric mercury and the latter is converted very quickly. Methylmercury and elemental mercury are extremely toxic to the developing central' nervous system. There are no safe methods to remove these two forms of mercury and their biotransformant mercuric mercury from the brain at the present time. DMPS and DMSA decrease the body burden of mercury but not of the brain.