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Mercury

Know the latest Utah Fish Consumption Advisories.

If you have additional questions about mercury in your home, please contact Mark Jones at markejones@utah.gov or call (801)-538-6191.
Mercury, also known as quicksilver, is a naturally occurring element that is found in air, water, and soil. It exists in several forms: elemental or metallic mercury, inorganic mercury, and organic mercury. Pure mercury is a liquid metal that evaporates readily. It has traditionally been used to make products like thermometers, switches, and some light bulbs. Burning coal and other fossil fuels is the largest source of mercury pollution. Factories, mining activities, and the burning of trash can also increase levels of mercury in the environment. Mercury in the air is brought back to the earth by rain, snow, or sleet and ends up in our lakes and rivers.
Methylmercury is one of the more toxic forms of mercury. Methylmercury is rapidly absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract. The body absorbs about 90 to 100 percent of ingested methylmercury. Your body can change methylmercury to inorganic mercury. When this happens in the brain, the mercury can remain there for a long time. When methylmercury does leave your body after you have been exposed, it leaves slowly over a period of several months, mostly as inorganic mercury in the feces.
The biological half-life of methylmercury in humans is roughly 50 to 65 days. The half-life is a measure of rate for the time required to eliminate one half of a quantity of a chemical from the body. As with inorganic mercury, some of the methylmercury in a nursing woman's body will pass into her breast milk. The nervous system is very sensitive to all forms of mercury. In poisoning incidents that have occurred in other countries, some people who ate fish contaminated with large amounts of methylmercury or seed grains treated with methylmercury or other organic mercury compounds, developed permanent damage to the brain and kidneys. Animals exposed orally to long-term, high levels of methylmercury or phenyl mercury in laboratory studies experienced damage to the kidneys, stomach, and large intestine; changes in blood pressure and heart rate; adverse effects on the developing fetus, sperm, and male reproductive organs; and increases in miscarriages and stillbirths.
Pregnant women, children in utero, and small children are particularly susceptible to the effects of mercury poisoning. Additionally, people who work in certain industries may have a higher risk of exposure to mercury- such as dental and health services, electric meter repair, and any other industry that uses mercury.
To help reduce your risk of exposure to mercury, know the latest Utah Fish Consumption Advisories.

Resources

Environmental Health Reports


Fish Advisories

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The Utah EPHT does not track mercury data.
The links listed below redirect you to health assessments that have been conducted in Utah that are relevant to mercury. The Utah APPLETREE program at the Utah Department of Health is responsible for evaluating and responding to environmental public health issues in Utah. For more information, please visit the Utah APPLETREE website.

Utah Environmental Public Health Tracking Network, Utah Department of Health, P.O. Box 142104, Salt Lake City, UT 84114-2104, Telephone: 801-538-6191, Email: eep@utah.gov
The information provided above is from the Utah Department of Health's Center for Health Data IBIS-PH web site (http://epht.health.utah.gov). The information published on this website may be reproduced without permission. Please use the following citation: " Retrieved Sat, 29 January 2022 0:27:13 from Utah Department of Health, Center for Health Data, Indicator-Based Information System for Public Health Web site: http://epht.health.utah.gov ".

Content updated: Tue, 17 Apr 2018 10:49:20 MDT