Three forms of mercury occur:
• Elemental or metallic mercury (Hg0) is mercury not combined with other elements. Elemental mercury is a silver, odourless liquid that slowly evaporates at room temperature. This form of mercury can be found in natural settings, industrial applications (combustion of fossil fuels, gold mining, incinerators), products (thermometers, dental amalgam, fluorescent light bulbs) and in ethnic folk medicine, such as azogue. Exposure normally occurs via vapour inhalation.
• Inorganic mercury (Hg+ or Hg2+) is mercury combined with other chemical elements, commonly forming salts. Exposure can occur via inhalation, ingestion or skin contact. Historical uses of inorganic mercury compounds include as fungicides, skin-lightening creams, topical antiseptic or disinfecting agents. However, their use in many of these applications has been replaced with safer and more effective agents.
• Organic mercury is mercury combined with carbon-containing compounds, such as:
– dimethylmercury (in fungicides and insecticides)
– ethylmercury (in medical preservatives such as thimerosal and topical antiseptics)
– methylmercury (MeHg) (microorganisms convert mercury (Hg0, Hg+, Hg2+) to its organic form, which bioaccumulates in the environment, most notably in freshwater and saltwater fish species, and constitutes the main source of dietary mercury exposure in the general population)
– phenylmercury (applied as an antifungal and found in products such as paints, cosmetics, and toiletries. Exposure can occur via inhalation, dermal absorption or ingestion).
Lipids/Trace Metals
BHG
Do not separate.
Gross haemolysis OK, gross lipemia OK, gross icterus OK
Ambient 28 days, refrigerated (preferred) 28 days, frozen 28 days
14 days
4291