The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Mercury Poisoning

mercurialism, an occupational disease; poisoning by metallic mercury or its compounds.

Mercury poisoning results from contact with fumes of mercury metal or its amalgams and readily decomposing compounds or from the accidental ingestion of mercury salts. Acute mercury poisoning is characterized by fever and necrotic ulcerative lesions of the oral and intestinal mucosae. Severe kidney lesions are dominant in poisoning by mercury salts. Chronic mercury

Table 1. Launches of Mercury spacecraft
code designation of vehicle	Date of launon	Elements of orbit (km)			Period of revolution(min)	Length of flight	Type of flight (name of astronaut)
		perigee	apogee	inclination
MR-3 .....	May 5, 1961	–	–	–	–	15 min	Suborbital (A. Shepard)
MR-4 .....	July 21, 1961	–	–	–	–	16 min	Suborbital V. Grissom)
MA-6 .....	Feb. 20, 1962	161.4	262.8	32.5	88.2	4 hr 55 min	Orbital (J. Glenn)
MA-7 ....	May 24, 1962	160.9	268.4	32.5	88.3	4 hr 56 min	Orbital (M. Carpenter)
MA-8 ....	Oct. 3, 1962	161.4	278.2	32.56	88.9	9 hr 13 min	Orbital (W. Schirra)
MA-9 .....	May 15, 1963	160.9	267	32.5	88.7	34 hr 20 min	Orbital (G. Cooper)

poisoning involves damage to the central nervous system (increased excitability and rapid fatigability of neural processes, increasing involuntary tremor in the extremities). Mental changes and severe systemic exhaustion (mercury cachexia) develop with the passage of time. Mercury’s ability to penetrate the placenta can lead to poisoning of the fetus in pregnant women.

Mercury poisoning is treated with antidotes and drugs that help to remove the mercury from the body. Hydrogen sulfide baths are also useful. The condition can be prevented by observing safety standards in dealing with mercury.

REFERENCES

Kevork’ian, A. A. ProfessionaVnye neirotoksikozy. Minsk, 1955.
Drogichina, E. A. Prefessionarnye bolezni nervnoi sistemy. [Leningrad] 1968.
Trakhtenberg, I. M. Khronicheskoe vozdeistvie rtuti na organizm. Kiev, 1969.

A. A. BEZRODNYKH

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