L'exposition au mercure en 2007 toxicité et prise en charge

Mercury is a metal whose physicochemical properties have always fascinated. Not poison by ingestion, the metal is strongly harmful by inhalation while its inorganic compounds are very toxic. The organic derivatives, methylmercury in particular, are at the origin of environmental disasters present in all the memories and still remain a subject of concern for food supply. If the restriction of the use of mercury - as medical thermometers - made it possible to decrease the frequency of intoxications, it remains the cause of professional exposures, marginal intoxications and recurring controversies (dental amalgams, vaccines). Its determination in the biological fluids and tissues allows the diagnosis and the follow-up of the intoxications if the most relevant markers are used.