Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Case Reports
. 2010 Mar 19:10:7.
doi: 10.1186/1471-227X-10-7.

Acute mercury poisoning: a case report

Sezgin Sarikaya  1 , Ozgur Karcioglu, Didem Ay, Asli Cetin, Can Aktas, Mustafa Serinken
Affiliations
Case Reports

Acute mercury poisoning: a case report

Sezgin Sarikaya et al. BMC Emerg Med. .

Abstract

Background: Mercury poisoning can occur as a result of occupational hazard or suicide attempt. This article presents a 36-year-old case admitted to emergency department (ED) due to exposure to metallic mercury.

Case presentation: A 36-year-old woman presented to the ED with a three-day history of abdominal pain, diarrhea and fever. One week ago her daughter had brought mercury in the liquid form from the school. She had put it on the heating stove. One day later, her 14-month old sister baby got fever and died before admission to the hospital. Her blood pressure was 134/87 mmHg; temperature, 40.2 degrees C; heart rate 105 bpm and regular; respiration, 18 bpm; O2 saturation, 96%. Nothing was remarkable on examination and routine laboratory tests. As serine or urinary mercury levels could not be tested in the city, symptomatic chelation treatment with N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) was instituted with regard to presumptive diagnosis and history. At the 7th day of admission she was discharged without any sequelae or complaint. At the discharge day blood was drawn and sent for mercury levels which turned out to be 30 microg/dL (normal range: 0-10 microg/dL).

Conclusion: Public education on poisoning and the potential hazards of mercury are of vital importance for community health.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Caravati EM, Erdman AR, Christianson G, Nelson LS, Woolf AD, Booze LL, Cobaugh DJ, Chyka PA, Scharman EJ, Manoguerra AS, Troutman WG. American Association of Poison Control Centers. Elemental mercury exposure: an evidence-based consensus guideline for out-of-hospital management. Clin Toxicol (Phila) 2008;46:1–21. - PubMed
    1. Nakayama H, Shono M, Hada S. Mercury exanthem. J Am Acad Dermatol. 1984;13:848–52. - PubMed
    1. Fischbach FT. A manual of laboratory & diagnostic testing. 4. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Company; 1992. pp. 214–6.
    1. Ford MD. In: Emergency Medicine: A Comprehensive Study Guide. 5. Tintinalli JE, Kelen GD, Stapczynski JS, editor. Newyork, McGraw Hill; 1999. Metals and Metalloids: Mercury; pp. 1191–93.
    1. Risher JF, Amler SN. Mercury Exposure: Evaluation and Intervention. In: The Inappropriate Use of Chelating Agents in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Putative Mercury Poisoning. Neurotoxicology. 2005;26:691–9. doi: 10.1016/j.neuro.2005.05.004. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types