doubt make broken bulbs an important indoor and environmental source of mercury vapor
(Appell, 2007).
The daily amount of mercury absorbed fromthe atmosphere into the bloodstreamas a result
of respiratory exposure in adults is about 32 ng in rural areas and about 160 ng in urban areas.
These calculations are based on rural concentrations of 2 ng/m3 and urban concentrations of
10 ng/m3 (absorption rate 80%). Depending upon the number of amalgam fillings,
mercury concentrations in inhaled air have ranged up to several thousand ng/m3, and the
estimatedaveragedailyabsorptionis thought tovarybetween3000and17,000 ng(IPCS,1991).