Kinetics of Mercury in Blood and Urine after Brief Occupational Exposure

Abstract

The decrease in mercury (Hg) levels in whole blood (B), plasma (P), erythrocytes (Ery), and urine (U) was investigated in nine men after 3 d of intense (> 100 μg/m3) exposure to metallic Hg vapor. In a model in which common half-times for all subjects were used, the best fit for B-Hg was obtained with half-times of 3.1 d for a fast phase and 18 d for a slow phase. P-Hg seemed to decay more rapidly than Ery-Hg. Peak U-Hg (morning, creatinine-corrected samples) was not observed until 2–3 wk after exposure. Thereafter, the median half-time was 40 d (assuming individual one-compartment models). In a model for which common half-times were used, the point estimates were 59 d for a one-compartment model and 28 and 141 d for a two-compartment model. The fractions of the fast phases (i.e., two-compartment models with common half-times) were 80% for B-Hg and 84% for U-Hg.