toxicity mercury

[chiwi]

Hi,

we were having a discussion the other night, and I said, mercury was much more toxic than lead or arsenic, to humans.

does anyone know if this is true. My friend, the nurse, said she worked with mercury all the time, and made up skin creams containing mercury for patients in the hospital where she worked. We were originally talking about mercury in CFL's.

Thanks,

Chiwi

[Strange]

Mercury is very, very toxic.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_Wetterhahn

 

My friend, the nurse, said she worked with mercury all the time, and made up skin creams containing mercury for patients in the hospital where she worked.

She is putting her, and her patient's, health at serious risk. In many countries, treatments like this are illegal for very good reasons. (I am guessing these are skin lightening creams?)

Edited January 12, 2015 by Strange

[chiwi]

I am not sure what they were for, but believe it or not, this was in California, and I could hardly believe what she was saying, but I was right, thank you. I am now trying to change out all my CFL's to LED's. I will take lead and arsenic over mercury any day. Plus, I just read that those CFL's that are broken, can keep emitting mercury over a long period, like average 40 days, unless you remove them. The thought of this, kind of paralyzes me, with children around.

Thank you, Strange.

Chiwi

[Phi for All]

I am not sure what they were for, but believe it or not, this was in California, and I could hardly believe what she was saying, but I was right, thank you. I am now trying to change out all my CFL's to LED's. I will take lead and arsenic over mercury any day. Plus, I just read that those CFL's that are broken, can keep emitting mercury over a long period, like average 40 days, unless you remove them. The thought of this, kind of paralyzes me, with children around.

Thank you, Strange.

Chiwi

 

There's a tiny bit of mercury in every fluorescent lamp. They don't emit it, it's just a tiny bit inside the vacuum tube that gets atomized to react with the phosphor coating the inside of the lamp. Mercury itself does give off mercury vapor, which is toxic, but the amount in a CFL is negligible in terms of the vapor produced. Here's a PDF on cleanup if you break a CFL.

 

What a CFL emits is UV radiation. The phosphor blocks most of it, but CFL tubing is very tiny and tight compared to a fluorescent tube. The phosphor doesn't always coat all the inside, especially on the tighter twists, so UV will leak out.

[John Cuthber]

A typical CFL contains a few milligrams of mercury. My teeth contain of the order of a thousand times more.

While it's true that some of the UV will get past the phosphor, most of it will then be blocked by the glass. (Cheap glass absorbs UV; better in case you were wondering).

Good luck finding one that produces anything like as much UV as sunlight.

 

Mercury based antiseptics were in fairly common use until recently

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merbromin

Edited January 12, 2015 by John Cuthber

[CharonY]

As John and Phi pointed out, one important aspect is concentration. Another one is the form of the metal (be it mercury or arsenic or anything else). If the bioavailability (i.e. the ability of it entering your body) is low and it does not accumulate (as it is secreted fast) it is of no health concern. According to the FDA mercury is allowed to be used as preservatives in certain creams in concentrations lower than 0.0065%. I assume that is what it is used for in hospitals and it is considered to be safe.

Harmful levels of mercurous chloride in skin whiteners were 6% and above.

[chiwi]

Wow, I am getting some good info, on mercury, thank you so much, everyone! I just would rather have the facts, and then I can make more of an informed decision. I am not a chemist, am more of a botanist; husband was the chemist.

I will tell my friend, the former hospital nurse.