Mobilized mercury in subjects with varying exposure to elemental mercury vapour

In a mercury mobilization test, 0.3 g of the complexing agent sodium 2,3-dimercaptopropane-1-sulfonate (DMPS) was given orally to 10 workers with moderate occupational exposure to elemental mercury vapour, to 8 dentists with slight exposure, to 18 matched controls, and to 5 referents without amalgam fillings. In the workers, DMPS caused an increase in 24-h urinary mercury excretion by a factor of 10; in the dentists, 5.9; in the controls, 5.3; and in the amalgam-free referents, 3.8. Of the mercury excreted during 24 h, 59% appeared during the first 6 h. Close, albeit non-linear, associations were found between mobilized mercury and the premobilization mercury levels in plasma and urine, but not with the duration of occupational exposure or the rough estimate of the integrated function of blood levels vs time. The present data indicate that mercury mobilized after a single DMPS dose in close connection with exposure is mainly an index of recent exposure and is not significantly affected by slow body pools or long-term exposure.