Back in the 50's we played with mercury,,,polished coins with it, it was in dental <span title="fillings,,thermometers..???">fillings,,thermometers..?...</span>

Question

I'm 67, I have a full head of hair,,all of my teeth, am reasonably intelligent,,,So,, what am i supposed to be looking for as far as damage due to my over exposure to mercury in my youth?...How long do i have to wait for the hammer to fall??? We were also exposed to high concentrations of lead, asbestos, and in the area i lived in in Washington state, radiation fallout from the Hanford nuclear site....Seriously, could somebody please explain the harm that those metals, etc. could and should have caused?...thx. in advance..

Answer 1

You may sprout tentacles.

Answer 2

I&#039;m 19yrs old, and majoring in biochemistry, so I too have played with mercury in the past and have come into contact with some of the materials you&#039;ve just mentioned (the exception being radiation fallout) so I know what you mean.

The problem with Mercury is that once inside the human body it tends to store itself in fat cells. Once these cells are broken down they can send the mercury to other various parts of the human body. This is where Hg (mercury) becomes a problem because it causes cellular damage to the surrounding tissues/organs (especially the lungs, kidneys, and developing fetuses). However, the area most affected by Hg is the nervous system.

The same is essentially the same for the other elements you claimed that you were exposed to.

HOWEVER, all of them are notoriously known for having nasty effects on the reproductive system (defects, still births, cancer, miscarriges, etc.)

Now in terms of when the &quot;hammer&quot; is going to fall, that depends on a great number of factors. The main two being the level of contamination you were exposed to as well as the length of the exposure. Really when it comes to these types of elements it varies greatly. Some people are affected immediately, while for others it can take years. Heck, some people never show signs of segative side effects. But it&#039;s relatively safe to say that if you haven&#039;t experienced and side effects from them at this point then your chances of being harmed are fairly slim.

Lastly, all of these materials are a PAIN to clean up. You probably remember from experience like I do that if you accidently spill mercury it takes a ridiculous amount of time to clean it all up. The same can be said of the other materials.

Answer 3

You may have mercury in your body but everyone has some level of mercuy from natural sources.  Even though you were in contact directly with mercury it may not be at toxic levels.  Most people who get mercury poisoning are exposed to mercury for extended periods or eat food that has high levels due to bio accumulation.  For example you may have been exposed to mercury at moderate levels 20 or so times but if you ate mercury contaminated fish you could have had a much higher dose because the fish may have eaten 1000 or so contaminated small fish.  Lets say you then ate 20 fish a year the dosage would be significantly higher.

If you are not sick now don&#039;t be too concerned.  You could get tested if you are concerned.  Don&#039;t eat swordfish, shark or other top order predators any you wont keep increasing the mercury level in your system.

Answer 4

Think head if you get large undetected levels in your blood stream it can cause memory problems. When you see truck loads of people in hazmet suits to clean up broken thermometer in school it makes you wonder.

Answer 5

Free mercury metal is actually quite difficult to get into the system - do you remember chasing it around the lab bench with a ruler? (I do).

It&#039;s only when combined with some other element that the true toxic nature of mercury shows up - particularly in combination with organic compounds.

Dentists have been using amalgams of gold/silver and mercury for many decades. If metallic mercury were that bad, most of the sweet eating western world would be cuckoo by now.

Answer 6

The standards for contamination of people is set for those that are most sensitive.  Since everyone is different, that toxic level may be set such that only one in 10, 000 is harmed at that level.  But we cannot know what each persons level is, so it is set low enough so everyone is safe.  Think of George Burns, smoking into his 90&#039;s and never a touch of cancer.  Yet some people get lung cancer in their 30&#039;s. It works the same for lead, asbestos and even radiation.

Answer 7

i worked in the mining industry and used pounds of mercury at a time.

i had a blood test for mercury levels every 3 months and they never found anything abnormal.

i lived about 150 miles from the nevada test site and can remember watching the flash of the nuclear shots go off.

Answer 8

Small exposures are not necessarily enough to harm you. Or at least not in a noticable way.

Large or long term exposure to heavy metals can cause a host of symptoms, including neurological damage.

As for smaller exposures, don&#039;t take this the wrong way, it&#039;s a serious question: How do you know that your IQ might not have been 3 or 4 points higher without all that exposure?

Answer 9

No effect yet then don&#039;t worry about. It would of showed up by now!