Last week's New England Journal of Medicine had a report of a 21-year-old dental assistant who attempted suicide by injecting herself with 10 ml (135 g) of elemental mercury (quicksilver) intravenously.

• She was rushed to the emergency room with rapid breathing, a dry cough, and bloody sputum (saliva and mucous coughed up from the respiratory tract).

• A chest radiograph showed that the mercury was extensively distributed in her lungs.

• Oral chelation therapy with dimercaprol (DMSA) was given for nine months
  

• At 10 months, she was healthy, with no apparent long-term effects, with the exception of the lungs, which seemed to have sustained permanent damage, without causing any symptoms.

The authors note that this case illustrates the differences in effects of exposure to elemental mercury, inorganic mercury (e.g., mercuric chloride), and organic mercury (e.g., dimethylmercury). They point out that inorganic and organic mercury is much more toxic than elemental mercury, with a dose of 400 mg of dimethylmercury being usually lethal.

The New England Journal of Medicine -- June 15, 2000 -- Vol. 342, No. 24