A Detailed Review of Literature on Mercury Toxicity and Treatment

Mercury is a toxic heavy metal which is widely dispersed in nature. Most human exposure results from
fish consumption or dental amalgam. Mercury occurs in several chemical forms, with complex
pharmacokinetics. Mercury is capable of inducing a wide range of clinical presentations. Diagnosis of
mercury toxicity can be challenging but can be obtained with reasonable reliability. Effective therapies
for clinical toxicity have been described. There are currently no consensus criteria for the diagnosis of
mercury overload, nor for overload of other toxic metals. Clinicians who specialize in this area
generally consider a provoked urine metal output more than 2 standard deviations above the
NHANES reference range a positive result. Further research is required to clarify the relation between
provoked urine results and clinical disease and to document clinical outcomes.