Inxight Drugs

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Status:

Other

Class (Stereo):

CHEMICAL (ACHIRAL)

MERCURY

MORE DETAILS

FXS1BY2PGL

Status:

US Previously Marketed

First marketed in 1921

Class (Stereo):

CHEMICAL (ACHIRAL)

Mercury, with the chemical symbol Hg (from Greek "Hydrargyros"), is the only metal adopting liquid form in room temperature. Mercury appears in seven natural isotopic forms. The metal is extracted from the mineral cinnabar, mercuric sulfide, in forme...

r times used also for paint. Mercury has fascinated people for millennia, as a heavy liquid metal. However, because of its toxicity, many uses of mercury are being phased out or are under review. It is now mainly used in the chemical industry as catalysts. It is also used in some electrical switches and rectifiers. Previously its major use was in the manufacture of sodium hydroxide and chlorine by electrolysis of brine. These plants will all be phased out by 2020. Elemental mercury is used in thermometers, blood pressure devices, and thermostats because its ability to expand and contract uniformly makes it useful for measuring changes in temperature and pressure. Mercury is also used in dental fillings, paints, soaps, batteries, and fluorescent lighting. Mercury will dissolve numerous metals to form amalgams and is used to extract gold dust from rocks by dissolving the gold and then boiling off the mercury. The amalgam used in dental fillings contains tin and silver alloyed with mercury. Because it works as a biocide, mercury has been used as a fungicide in paint, though this kind of paint is no longer sold. Mercury and its compounds used in dental practice may be responsible for release of mercury into the oral cavity. Compounds of mercury tend to be much more toxic than the element itself, and organic compounds of mercury (e.g., dimethyl-mercury) are often extremely toxic and may be responsible in causing brain and liver damage. Human exposure to mercury has increased through anthropogenic mercury emissions from fuel combustion, municipal incinerators, and chemical industries. Mercury is considered a major environmental toxicant throughout the world. Mercury is harmless in insoluble form, but vapor or soluble forms such as inorganic mercury or methylmercury can be extremely toxic to humans. Most human mercury exposure occurs through inhalation of elemental mercury vapor released from dental amalgam and through the consumption of fish contaminated with methylmercury.

Development Status

Approval Year

Substance Class

Code System

ATC Level 1

ATC Level 2

ATC Level 3

ATC Level 4

Substance Form

P-CHLOROSTYRENE

T0J05U220F

MERCURY

FXS1BY2PGL