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

MERCURY 160
2. HEALTH EFFECTS
1967; Faria and Freitas 1992; Goh and Ng 1988; Nordlind and Liden 1992; Pambor and Timmel 1989;
Skoglund and Egelrud 1991; Veien 1990). Patch tests conducted in many of the cases show some cross-
reactivity between various inorganic and organic forms of mercury (Faria and Freitas 1992; Pambor and
Timmel 1989; Veien 1990). In these studies, dermal exposure occurred as a result of the breakage of
mercury-containing thermometers or sphygmomanometers, dental amalgams containing elemental mercury,
or mercuric sulfide in tattoos. One report of contact dermatitis caused by mercuric sulfide in a tattoo
suggested that the reaction was not to mercuric sulfide itself but to a mercury derivative that was formed in
the skin (Biro and Klein 1967).
No studies were located regarding immunological or lymphoreticular effects in animals following dermal
exposure to inorganic mercury.
Organic Mercury. No studies were located regarding immunological or lymphoreticular effects in humans
or animals after dermal exposure to organic mercury.
2.2.3.4 Neurological Effects
Inorganic Mercury. DeBont et al. (1986) described a 4-month-old boy who had signs of acrodynia
accompanied by coma, paralysis of one side of the body, generalized muscle stiffness, and muscular tremors
12 days after he was treated with yellow mercuric oxide ointment for eczema. Topical application of a
depigmenting cream containing 17.5% mercuric ammonium chloride for 18 years resulted in mild tremors,
anxiety, depression, and paranoid delusions in a 42-year-old woman (Dyall-Smith and Scurry 1990).
Children who were treated with an ointment containing ammoniated mercury or who were exposed to
diapers that had been rinsed in a mercuric chloride-containing solution experienced irritability, fretfulness,
and sleeplessness (Warkany and Hubbard 1953).
No studies were located regarding neurological effects in animals after dermal exposure to inorganic
mercury.
Organic Mercury. No studies were located regarding neurological effects in humans or animals after
dermal exposure to organic mercury.