What are sources of exposure to elemental mercury?
Sources of elemental mercury in the home include broken mercury thermometers, broken fluorescent light bulbs, dental amalgam fillings, mercury containing latex paints, extraction of gold from ore using mercury, and contaminated clothing from workers in thermometer making plants. Elemental mercury is also used as a Mexican folk medicine to treat “empacho,” a chronic stomach disorder. How toxic is elemental mercury? Of all the forms of mercury, elemental mercury is the most commonly swallowed form of mercury, usually from a broken thermometer. Fortunately, elemental mercury from a thermometer is not absorbed from the stomach and will not cause any poisoning in a healthy person. In a healthy person, the slippery swallowed mercury will roll into the stomach, out in to the bowels and will be quickly eliminated without causing any symptoms. A person with severe inflammatory bowel disease or those with a fistula (hole or opening) in their gut may have problems with mercury if it is not all cl
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