Healthy Housing and Environment Team

Mercury

Mercury is a naturally occurring metal that has several forms and can affect people’s health if entered into the body. 
High levels of mercury in the body can cause harm to an adult's kidneys and brain. Symptoms can include irritability, shyness, tremors, and changes in vision or hearing, or memory problems. Mercury can cross the placenta and influence the neurological development of the fetus. Mercury exposure can affect how a baby learns, moves, and behaves.

The metallic mercury is a shiny, silver-white, odorless liquid. If heated, it is a colorless, odorless gas. Metallic mercury is used to produce chlorine gas and caustic soda, and is also used in thermometers, dental fillings, and batteries.

Mercury in thermometers

Mercury combines with other elements, such as chlorine, sulfur, or oxygen, to form inorganic mercury compounds or "salts."  Mercury salts are usually white powders or crystals, and are sometimes used in skin lightening creams and as antiseptic creams and ointments. Mercury also combines with carbon to make organic mercury compounds. The most common compound, methylmercury, is produced mainly by microscopic organisms in the water and soil. More mercury in the environment can increase the amounts of methylmercury that these small organisms make.

Mercury can enter ponds, lakes, and rivers through pollution. This can be dangerous, because mercury pollutes the water and it gets into the fish that live there.  Mercury is commonly found in fresh water fish and only in a few types of saltwater fish.

Mercury in fish