Korean J Occup Environ Med.  2003 Dec;15(4):446-451.

Subcutaneous and Gastrointestinal Exposure to Metallic Mercury: Report of 2 Cases

• Lee SK
• Lee HJ
• Chae HJ
• Moon JD

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Mercury poisoning presents a variety of clinical pictures depending on the chemical structure, the route of exposure, the amount absorbed and other individual factors. Therefore, the ingestive and subcutaneous absorption of elemental(metallic) mercury can be considered to be relatively harmless in contrast to the inhalation of mercury vapor.
CASE REPORT
S: A 72-year-old man presented to the department of urology due to tenderness, edema and a necrotic abscess of his penis after trauma. The soft tissue abscess required a surgical resection of the penis. For chelation therapy, oral D-penicillamine was administrated. 7 months later, he showed no subjective or objective signs of mercury poisoning. Another 5-yearold girl presented to the emergency department after accidental self-ingestion of elemental mercury. She was followed clinically and did not show any systemic mercury poisoning.
CONCLUSION
The Mercury concentrations in the blood and urine were elevated in the case of subcutaneous exposure, but was unchanged in the case of ingestion. Subcutaneous and gastrointestinal exposure to metallic mercury has a minimal risk for systemic mercury poisoning, which is in contrast to the exposure by inhalation.

Keyword

Mercury poisoning; Metallic mercury; Subcutaneous exposure; Gastrointestinal exposure; D-penicillamine

MeSH Terms

Abscess
Absorption
Aged
Chelation Therapy
Eating
Edema
Emergency Service, Hospital
Female
Humans
Inhalation
Male
Mercury Poisoning
Penicillamine
Penis
Urology
Penicillamine