Mercury: A Potential Contaminant

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Introduction:

A fifteen year old boy abruptly became ill; he experienced fatigue, headaches, tingling limbs, weakness, and weight loss. The only information provided stated that he had been using an acne cream prescribed by a dermatologist as well as an over the counter “beauty cream” to deal with skin irritation. The doctors could not find the reason for the boy’s illness, but interestingly a heavy metal was found in the boy’s urine. What could possibly be the heavy metal and could it have caused such a severe reaction? The objective was to find the cause behind the sudden sickness of this 15 year old boy.

In hopes of finding the cause for his sickness research, diagnostics, and analysis were used to solve the perplexing situation. Hypothesizing that the only scientific explanation for his illness could be that it was a reaction to some heavy metal present in the creams therefore research was conducted to find in which of the compounds that compose the creams is a heavy metal found in. The compounds that are part of the two creams are benzoyl peroxide, acetone, resorcinol, salicylic acid, and calomel. After researching what elements formed part of these compounds, it was found that of those compounds, the first four are organic compounds composed of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen. Of the first three none contained a heavy metal. However, the last one calomel, which is the common name for mercury (I) chloride (Hg2Cl2), is an ionic bond between mercury and chlorine. Mercury is a heavy metal.

Once the heavy metal was identified, it was needed to ascertain that it was the correct element. To do so, there was a research conducted on cases of mercury contamination and its effects on the human body. The research showed mercury to be...

... middle of paper ...

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Huckleberry, Michael and Bryan Rosner, eds.. “Chapter 8: Supportive Therapies for Accelerated Progress”. Lyme Disease and rife Machines. 1st ed. BioMed Publishing Group, 2004. 128. Print.

Merieb, Elaine N. “Chapter 6: Bones and Bone Tissue”. Human Anatomy and Physiology. 4th ed. Benjamin-Cummings PC /Addison W. L., Inc, 1997. 154. Print.

Olmsted, Dan, and Mark Blaxill. The Age of Autism: Mercury, Medicine, and a Man-made Epidemic. 1st ed. New York: Thomas Dunne /St. Martin's, 2010. Print.

Ovalle, David. “A University of Miami official was hospitalized for poisoning; subordinate arrested”. Miami Herald. September 2006. Print.

Scerri, Eric R. The Periodic Table: Its Story and Its Significance. New York: Oxford UP, 2007. Print.

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