Whole blood mercury

Human body contains about 13mg of mercury. There are two main types of mercury compounds, namely inorganic mercury and organic mercury. The oral intake of mercury is mainly from the mercury content of edible rice and fresh fish, which is about half of the total intake. Inorganic mercury is absorbed by the gut about 1%, while methylmercury is as high as 90%. Mercury is excreted mainly through urine and hair. Once the kidneys excrete high levels of mercury, it can cause kidney damage. Mercury specifically inhibits a series of enzymes, causing these biological enzymes to lose their activity and cause poisoning. The toxicity of mercury mainly occurs in kidney, brain, liver, lung, skin and other organs.

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