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The quicksilver prize: Mercury vapor poisoning aboard HMS Triumph and HMS Phipps
1Swedish Epilepsy Center, Seattle, WA, USA. michael.doherty@swedish.org
Abstract:
In 1810, two British ships, HMS Triumph and HMS Phipps, salvaged a large load of elemental mercury from a wrecked Spanish vessel near Cadiz, Spain. The bladders containing the mercury soon ruptured. The element spread about the ships in liquid and vapor forms. The sailors presented with neurologic compromises: tremor, paralysis, and excessive salivation as well as tooth loss, skin problems, and pulmonary complaints. The events are reviewed in the context of what was known about mercury vapor inhalation.
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