A new European Union directive1 will prohibit the
use of mercury in sphygmomanometers and clinical
thermometers. We review here the toxic effect of
mercury and its compounds and discuss their relevance
to the environment and to modern medicine.
The Chinese used mercury (II) sulphide 1000
years before the birth of Christ as the red dye pigment
vermilion. It was used similarly in the GraecoRoman
world, with both Hippocrates and Galen recording
its toxic effects. Since then its toxicity has
become well known in metalworkers, miners, felthat
manufacturers, dyers and paint manufacturers.
Despite this, mercury has been incorporated into the
treatment of man’s maladies from ancient times. Its
main use has been to treat syphilis, from its first
appearance in the West in the 15th century up to
World War II.2 Mercury and its salts have at various
times been used as antiseptics, skin ointments, laxatives,
diuretics, bowel washouts for the treatment of
colorectal cancer, and scabicides. It is still used
today as a solvent for the silver-tin amalgams used
in dental fillings. So how toxic is mercury?