Evans Blue (EBD) is an azo dye which has a very high affinity for serum albumin. It can be useful in physiology in estimating the proportion of body water contained in blood plasma. Evans Blue Dye is widely used to study blood vessel and cellular membrane permeability as it is non-toxic, it can be administered as an intravital dye and it binds to serum albumin – using this as its transporter molecule. The EBD–albumin conjugate (EBA) can be: (i) identified macroscopically by the striking blue colour within tissue; (ii) observed by red auto-fluorescence in tissue sections examined by fluorescence microscopy; and (iii) assessed and quantified by spectrophotometry for serum samples, or homogenised tissue. has recently been utilised in mdx mice to identify permeable skeletal myofibres that have become damaged as a result of muscular dystrophy. EBD has the potential to be a useful vital stain of myofibre permeability in other models of skeletal muscle injury and membrane-associated fragility. Evans Blue is a potent inhibitor of L-glutamate uptake into synaptic vesicles. It also inhibits AMPA and kainate receptor-mediated currents (IC50 values are 220 and 150 nM respectively). P2X-selective purinoceptor antagonist.

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 former 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.

Pigment blue 16 is the metal-free phtalocyane, once found an outlet as a green shade blue but its inferior heat stability and its poorer chemical fastness, coupled with a price almost three times that of the copper containing salt, has resulted in a rapid decline in its consumption for all but very special applications. Pigment blue 16 is used especially to produce metallic finishes. Incorporated in acrylate resin system for this purpose, the pigment is more weatherfast than types of Copper Phthalocyanine Blue. Pigment blue 16 is also used for artists’ paints.