Clinical glass thermometers This article will cover checking the temperature using a clinical glass thermometer which contains mercury. This is the most accurate and most commonly used thermometer. Digital thermometers are available but they require batteries which may not be readily available. WARNING: Mercury is toxic. If a thermometer breaks, put on gloves and use a tissue or a piece of clot...

Mercury has long been recognized as a serious global pollutant that has a significant impact upon our ecosystem. Unlike most other pollutants, it is highly mobile, non-biodegradable, and bio-accumulative and as a result has to be closely monitored to ensure its harmful effects on local populations are minimized. Approximately 50 tons of mercury particulates are emitted into the atmosphere every...

This study investigated the role of dissolved organic matter on mercury partitioning between a hydrophobic surface (polyethylene, PE) and a reduced sulfur-rich surface (polysulfide rubber, PSR). Comparative sorption studies employed polyethylene and polyethylene coated with PSR for reactions with DOM-bound mercuric ions. These studies revealed that PSR enhanced the Hg-DOM removal from water whe...

Mercury is a toxic and non-essential metal in the human body. Mercury is ubiquitously distributed in the environment, present in natural products, and exists extensively in items encountered in daily life. There are three forms of mercury, i.e., elemental (or metallic) mercury, inorganic mercury compounds, and organic mercury compounds. This review examines the toxicity of elemental mercury and...

The Wisconsin Division of Health investigated mercury exposure in a 40-year-old man, his 42-year-old wife, and their 2.5-year-old son. At the time of our investigation, these individuals had blood mercury levels ranging from 37 to 58 micrograms/L (normal < 5 micrograms/L) and hair samples from the adults contained 10-12 micrograms mercury/g dry weight. A personal interview and home inspection f...

Dental amalgam fillings containing approximately 50% mercury have been used for almost 200 years and have been controversial for almost the same time. Allegations of effects caused by amalgams have involved many diseases. Amalgam is one of the most popular dental restoratives, but concerns exist over its safety because of the mercury in its formulation. Small amounts of mercury are released fro...

application of chemical pesticides has increased significantly worldwide and has raised serious concerns about environmental pollutions. one of the encouraging trends to minimize pesticide risk is production of resistant plants containing toxic proteins against insect pests. considering the importance of purification and characterization of digestive enzymes in the production of resistant plant...

Mercury-resistant Aeromonas strains isolated from diarrhea were studied. Resistance occurs via mercuric ion reduction but merA and merR genes were only detected in some strains using PCR and dot hybridization. Results indicate a high variability in mer operons in Aeromonas. To our knowledge, this is the first report of mercury-resistant clinical Aeromonas strains.

Mercury in the Arctic is an important environmental and human health issue. The reliance of Northern Peoples on traditional foods, such as marine mammals, for subsistence means that they are particularly at risk from mercury exposure. The cycling of mercury in Arctic marine systems is reviewed here, with emphasis placed on the key sources, pathways and processes which regulate mercury levels in...

The widely spread use of the hanging mercury drop electrode (HMDE) for multi-ion analysis is primarily ascribed to following reasons: (i) excellent reproducibility owing easy renewal surface avoiding any hysteresis effect (i.e., a new identical generated each measurement be accomplished); (ii) wide cathodic potential window originating from passive hydrogen evolution and solvent electrolysis; (...