What should you do if you ingest mercury?

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I would say call the emergency line at once!

Answer

Canadian scientists studying the toxic effects of mercury have discovered it debilitates and destroys parts of nerve cells.

Three scientists at the University of Calgary exposed the brain cells of snails (the protein in snail brain cells is identical to that in the nerves of humans to small amounts of mercury and found the damage caused by the silvery-grey metal was similar to that seen in brains of humans suffering from Alzheimer's.

Until now, scientists have known that mercury is a potent nerve poison, causing tremors, loss of memory, insomnia, depression and personality changes, but they did not understand how.

Dr. Lorscheider and the two other researchers found that mercury attacks proteins called microtobules, which provide the structure of a nerve cell in much the same way that a skeleton provides structure for an animal.

Nerves form the electrical wiring of the body, and disintegration of parts of this network could explain behavioural changes. The expression "mad as a hatter" arose when hat makers who used mercury in a felt process got the shakes and showed mental.

impairmenthttp://www.mindfully.org/Pesticide/Mercury-Harmful-Effects.htm

First answer by Nirel. Last edit by Nirel. Contributor trust: 672 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 29 [recommend question]