Mercury content in tissues of rats given diet containing dental amalgam powder.

Dental amalgam powder consisting of conventional, spherical-shaped alloy was prepared and added to the diet at the rate of 10% or 20% of the weight. An inorganic mercury compound, a solution of 10ppm or 20ppm of mercurous nitrate was also prepared for a comparative study. Five groups of rats were fed the test diet or test solution ad libitum for 8 weeks. Throughout the experiment, all rats were checked for body weight at weekly intervals, and diet consumption was examined at daily intervals. At the end of 8 weeks, the animals were killed, and the mercury content in the brain, liver and kidney was measured with a flameless atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The amalgam powder affected the growth of the rats, and the growth of the kidney tissue of rats was also affected when the rats were fed both mercurous nitrate and amalgam powder. The mercury content was the highest in the kidney, intermediate in the liver and lowest in the brain.