OBJECTIVES It is important to characterize the surface of dental amalgam in order to understand the process of mercury release from amalgam restorations in the oral cavity. The mercury evaporation occurs not only from the newly made restoration but also from the set material. METHODS The surfaces of four different types of amalgams, which had been well set, were analyzed with X-ray photoelect...

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), factors such as growing electricity demand, ever-advancing technologies and changes in social behaviour have led to steadily increasing exposure to man-made electromagnetic fields.  Dental amalgam fillings are among the major sources of exposure to elemental mercury vapour in the general population. Although it was previously believed that low l...

Mercury is receiving more concern due to its high mobility and high toxicity to human health and the environment. Restrictive legislations and world-wide efforts have been made on mercury control, especially the release and disposal of mercury-contaminated wastes. This paper describes a novel technology for detoxifying mercury-containing solid wastes with thiosulfate salts. Various parameters w...

Anthropogenic inventories for copper (229 ± 89 ug/cm2, N = 30), and mercury (470 ± 307 ng/cm2, N = 25) in Lake Superior sediments are much greater than inventories in remote lakes (Cu 50 ± 31 ug/cm2, Hg 64 ± 34 ng/cm2, N = 16) that receive inputs largely from long-distance atmospheric sources. Whereas the absolute concentration of mercury in Lake Superior sediments is not high (80–110 ng/g), en...

Dental amalgam is one of the most commonly used materials in restorative dentistry. However, one of its major components, mercury, is of particular concern due to its potential adverse effects on humans and the environment. In this review, the environmental impact of dental amalgam will be discussed, with particular reference to the effects attributed to its mercury component. Mercury commonly ...

Mercury is known to be a toxic material with adverse effects on the body as claimed by so many researchers and always projected a negative aspect of this element. It is true that it may cause a several problems when it exceeds the safe limit but along with its negative image, mercury has been playing a positive role in the field of medicine and dentistry. It has many therapeutic uses including ...

Nickel, cobalt and palladium ions can induce an innate immune response by triggering Toll-like receptor (TLR)-4 which is present on dendritic cells (DC). Here we studied mechanisms of action for DC immunotoxicity to gold and mercury. Next to gold (Na3Au (S2O3)2⋅2H2O) and mercury (HgCl2), nickel (NiCl2) was included as a positive control. MoDC activation was assessed by release of the pro-inflam...

There are some 60 gold-mining sites in the Bento Gomes River basin (Mato Grosso), at the border of the Mato Grosso Pantanal (Swamp), where mercury is used to agglutinate fine gold particles through amalgamation. During burning of the amalgam to release the gold, mercury vapor is lost to the atmosphere, since closed systems for mercury recovery are not always used. This study shows the results o...

The present article reviews current knowledge and recent progress on the bioavailability and toxicity of mercury to aquatic primary producers. Mercury is a ubiquitous toxic trace element of global concern. At the base of the food web, primary producers are central for mercury incorporation into the food web. Here, the emphasis is on key, but still poorly understood, processes governing the inte...