What Can a Drop of Liquid Mercury Be Described as

USEFUL LINKS FOR Hg

PSA – data on mercury

world wide web.webelements.com

www.wikipedia.org

world wide web.environmentalchemistry.com

http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov

Quick Facts:

Mercury is a silvery-white poisonous metallic element.

Mercury is liquid at room temperature and used in thermometers, barometers, fluorescent lighting, batteries and in the preparation of chemical pesticides.

Mercury is besides sometimes called quicksilver or liquid silvery.

The chemical symbol for Mercury is Hg.

Mercury was named afterward the Roman god. Its chemical symbol (Hg) comes from hydrargyrum from the Greek word hydrargyros meaning ‘water’ and ‘silver’.

Mercury is classified as a “Transition Metal” as information technology is ductile, malleable, and is able to behave estrus and electricity.

Properties of mercury:

Elemental Symbol: Hg
Atomic Number of Mercury : 80

Diminutive Mass: 200.59 amu

Melting Point: -38.87 °C – 234.28 °1000
Boiling Bespeak: 356.58 °C – 629.73 °Yard
Number of Protons/Electrons: eighty

Number of Neutrons: 121

Crystal Structure: Rhombohedral

Density 13.546 chiliad/cmⁱⁱⁱ
@ 300K

Colour: silverish-white

What is mercury?

Mercury is a naturally occurring element found in air, water and soil.

Mercury exists in a number of unlike forms:

• elemental mercury

• metal mercury

• inorganic mercury compounds

• organic mercury compounds.

Elemental or metallic mercury is a shiny, silver-white metallic and is liquid at room temperature. When dropped, elemental mercury breaks into smaller droplets.

At room temperature, exposed elemental mercury can evaporate to become an invisible, odorless toxic vapor. Exposure to elemental mercury vapor can occur when products that contain mercury break and betrayal mercury to the air, particularly in poorly-ventilated spaces where very pocket-size amounts of elemental mercury (even a few drops) can heighten air concentrations of mercury to harmful levelsInorganic mercury compounds take the form of mercury salts and are generally white powder or crystals, with the exception of mercuric sulfide (cinnabar) which is carmine.

Inorganic mercury compounds accept been included in products such as fungicides, antiseptics, disinfectants, make upwards and traditional medicines.

Organic mercury compounds, such equally methylmercury, are formed when mercury combines with carbon.

How does mercury occur in the surroundings?

Mercury is a naturally occurring element that can be constitute throughout the surroundings. Homo activities, such every bit burning coal and using mercury to industry certain products, accept increased the amount of mercury in many parts of the environment including the atmosphere, lakes and streams.

How do people and wild animals become exposed to mercury?

I of the main ways in which humans are exposed to mercury is past consuming fish containing methylmercury. Mercury in the atmosphere is eventually deposited to the world’s surface, either through dry or wet deposition (rain or snow). When mercury falls from the air or runs off the ground into the water, sure micro-organisms in soils and sediments catechumen some role of it into methylmercury, a highly toxic form of mercury.

Small organisms accept upwards methylmercury every bit they feed. When animals college upward the food chain consume the smaller ones, they likewise take in the methylmercury. As this procedure, (known as bioaccumulation), continues, levels of methylmercury increase upwards the food chain. Fish that are college in the food concatenation, such equally sharks and swordfish, take much greater methylmercury concentrations than fish that are lower on the food concatenation. This is true for both saltwater and freshwater fish. People and fish-eating wild fauna go exposed when they eat fish and shellfish that contain methylmercury. Humans can be exposed to other forms of mercury in varying means.

How does mercury affect human being wellness?

Near people accept at least trace amounts of mercury in their tissues yet it has been shown that high levels of mercury in the bloodstream of unborn babies and immature children may impairment the developing nervous organization.

Whether mercury exposure volition harm a person’s wellness and the severity of the harm depends on a number of factors the item chemical form of mercury – elemental (metallic), inorganic compounds, or organic compounds, the amount of mercury the subject was exposed to the length of exposure, the nature of exposure east.1000. eating, breathing, injecting, touching or chemical exposures and the age and general health of the discipline

Methylmercury is removed from the body naturally, just this can be a dull process. The effects of mercury exposure range from astringent to subtle, or indeed may not occur at all, depending on the factors outlined above. Mercury tin impact the nervous system and as fetuses, infants, and children are nonetheless developing, they are especially sensitive to the effects of methylmercury on the nervous organization. Nearly exposure to methylmercury occurs throught the ingestion of fish and shellfish that contain methylmercury.

Outbreaks of methylmercury poisonings have shown that adults, children, and unborn babies are at risk from ingestion exposure to mercury. During poisoning outbreaks some mothers gave nascence to infants with severe disabilities and it was proved that the developing nervous system of the foetus and immature children is more vulnerable to methylmercury than the developed adult nervous system. Mothers who are exposed to methylmercury and breast-feed their babies may besides expose their infant children through their milk. Various research has shown that for the bulk of people fish consumption does not crusade a health concern. By following advisory guidelines, parents can reduce their unborn or young kid’south exposure to the harmful effects of methylmercury, while at the same fourth dimension maintaining a salubrious nutrition that includes the nutritional benefits of fish and shellfish.

What are the sources of exposure to other forms of mercury and what are their health effects?

Elemental or metallic mercury is the liquid metal used in thermometers, button jail cell batteries (standard household batteries practice non comprise mercury), electrical switches, and some folk remedies and religious practices. . The longer people breathe the contaminated air, the greater the adventure to their health. At high exposures, through inhalation, elemental mercury vapors tin can produce severe lung, gastrointestinal, and nervous system harm. Inorganic mercury compounds take the class of mercury salts.

Excessive exposure to inorganic and organic mercury compounds tin can event from misuse or overuse of mercury-containing products. Exposure to mercury compounds is primarily through ingestion, but can occur through other pathways. Organic mercury compounds are more than readily absorbed through the alimentary canal and skin than are inorganic compounds. High exposures to mercury compounds tin damage the gastrointestinal tract, the nervous system, and the kidneys.

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