revised final - Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry ...

MERCURY 119
Dermal Effects
2. HEALTH EFFECTS
Inorganic Mercury. Limited information was located regarding dermal effects of inorganic mercury in
humans. Several children who were treated with medications containing mercurous chloride for
constipation, worms, or teething discomfort exhibited flushing of the palms of the hands and soles of the feet
(Warkany and Hubbard 1953). The flushing was frequently accompanied by itching, swelling, and
desquamation of these areas. Morbilliform rashes, conjunctivitis, and excessive perspiration were also
frequently observed in the affected children. Patch tests conducted in several children revealed that the
rashes were not allergic reactions to the mercury. Kang-Yum and Oransky (1992) reported hives in a woman
who ingested a Chinese medicine containing an unspecified amount of mercurous chloride, which suggests
an allergic response to the medicine.
No studies were located regarding dermal effects in animals after oral exposure to inorganic mercury.
Organic Mercury. Only a few studies were identified regarding dermal effects of organic mercury,
however, the case history concerning dimethylmercury exposure is a very important alert to the hazards of
this organomercurial.
Blayney et al. (1997) originally reported the fatal case of a dimethylmercury exposure after a dermal
exposure to an extremely small amount of material. The case history was subsequently detailed by
Nierenberg et al. (1998). The exposure occurred to a 48-year-old female chemistry professor who was
admitted to the hospital 5 months (154 days) after, as best as can be determined, she inadvertently spilled
several drops (estimated at 0.4–0.5 mL; about 1,500 mg) of dimethylmercury from the tip of her pipette
onto the back of her disposable latex gloves. The spill was cleaned and the gloves disposed of. Hair
analysis on a long strand of hair revealed that after a brief lag time, mercury content rose rapidly to almost
1,100 ppm (normal level, 50 ppm), and then slowly declined with a half-life of
74.6 days. These results support the occurrence of one or several episodes of exposure, and are consistent
with laboratory notebook accounts of a single accidental exposure. Testing of family members, laboratory
coworkers, and laboratory surfaces failed to reveal any unsuspected mercury spills or other cases of toxic
blood or urinary mercury levels. Permeation tests subsequently performed on disposable latex gloves
similar to those the patient had worn at the time of the lone exposure revealed that dimethylmercury
penetrates such gloves rapidly and completely, with penetration occurring in 15 seconds or less and perhaps
instantly. Polyvinyl chloride gloves were equally permeable to dimethylmercury. Five days prior to