Notes from the Field: Acute Mercury Poisoning After Home Gold and Silver Smelting--Iowa, 2014

In March 2014, a man, aged 59 years, who lived alone and had been using different smelting techniques viewed on the Internet to recover gold and silver from computer components, was evaluated at a local emergency department for shortness of breath, tremors, anorexia, and generalized weakness. During the smelting processes, he had used hydrogen peroxide, nitric acid, muriatic acid, and sulfuric acid purchased from local stores or Internet retailers. For protection, he wore a military gas mask of unknown type. The mask was used with filter cartridges, but their effectiveness against chemical fumes was not known.