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ImAScientistToo t1_irvjc7x wrote

Mercury toxicity usually comes from inhalation of the vapors but in some cases can be absorbed in the skin or ingested. One of the properties of mercy is that it interacts with other many elements many of which are needed for normal body functions and many of these functions are in the brain. When mercury binds with these elements they it changes the way they function so our body no longer functions like it should. Symptoms include vision changes, pins and needles feelings, decreased coordination, and sometimes death. The symptoms can range in severity from very mild to death depending on the amount and length of exposure.

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[deleted] t1_is08dvu wrote

Um, no it doesn't come from inhaling the vapors, it comes from exposure to mercury ions or mercury organic complexes such as methylmercury dimethyl mercury or any other monovalent or divalent form of mercury. It bioaccumulates via being exposed to large amounts of heat in coal fired plants, floating through the air and depositing in lakes and streams in its ionic or organo-equivalent form, where it is processed into methylmercury, which makes it lipophilic/hydrophobic, then up the food chain it goes. I live in Ne England and we get a shit ton of mercury in our lakes due to Ohio and Indiana coal fired power plants that send it via airmail.

Mercury is rather hard to ionize vs most solid metals as being liquid allows any oxidized atoms electron deficit to be spread out amongst the other atoms in the drop.

This is what my PhD I worked with told me. He had a PhD in Biochem, not inorgo chem, so he might have been wrong.

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