What happens if mercury comes into contact with skin?

Mercury is a metallic substance that rarely exists under natural conditions. Because mercury has very active chemical properties and is extremely volatile, it also causes some toxic effects on mercury and has certain harmful effects on human health. Therefore, people should try to avoid contact with it when handling mercury to prevent it from causing side effects to the body. Let's take a look at what happens when mercury comes into contact with the skin?

Mercury is mercury. Although it has the functions of disinfection and sterilization, it is a heavy metal that is harmful to human health. Once it enters the human body, it cannot be excreted naturally. Long-term use of mercury-containing cosmetics will cause chronic poisoning, and it will cause serious harm to the human nerves, digestive tract, urinary system, etc.

If it accidentally touches the skin, it can enter the human body and endanger human health.

The clinical manifestations of mercury poisoning include systemic symptoms such as headache, dizziness, fatigue and fever. Oral and digestive tract symptoms include red, swollen, sore gums, erosion and bleeding, loose teeth, pus in the gingival troughs, bad breath, nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, abdominal pain, and diarrhea. Skin contact may cause red maculopapular rash, which is more common on the limbs, head and face. A small number of patients may have renal damage, and some severe cases may have symptoms of acute interstitial pneumonia such as cough, chest pain, dyspnea, and cyanosis.

Mercury generally enters the human body through the respiratory tract in the form of vapor. The amount absorbed by the skin is very small, but the amount absorbed is higher when the skin is damaged or ulcerated. The digestive tract basically does not absorb it, so oral intake of metallic mercury by healthy people will not cause poisoning. Intravenous or subcutaneous injection of metallic mercury can cause poisoning. There have been reports of poisoning caused by broken thermometers piercing the subcutaneous tissue. Mercury vapor can easily pass through the alveolar membrane into the body and dissolve in the blood. Usually, about 50% of the inhaled mercury vapor can be absorbed by the alveoli, and the rest is expelled by exhalation.

As the air mercury concentration increases, the absorption rate also increases. Mercury in the blood is initially distributed in red blood cells and plasma, and then reaches various organs throughout the body. The highest content is in the kidneys, reaching up to 70% to 80% of the total mercury in the body. Mercury can enter the brain tissue through the blood-brain barrier and accumulate in the brain for a long time, with the highest concentrations in the cerebellum and brainstem. It can also easily enter the fetus through the placenta and accumulate to cause disease. Mercury is excreted through urine, feces, bile, milk, sweat, saliva, etc. The excretion of urinary mercury accounts for about 70% of the total excretion, but the excretion of urinary mercury is irregular, and can differ by about 4 times from day to day. More than ten years after the cessation of mercury exposure, urinary mercury can still exceed normal.