HAZARDS OF TOPICALLY APPLIED MERCURIALS of Mercury Poisoning Following Use of Ammoniated Mercury Bleach Creams 881 Blood Hair Total Urine Plasma Cells Whole Hg CHaHg C•H•Hg (/•g/24 hr) b (ng/txfi)(ng/ml) (ng/ml) b (ppm) (ppm) (ppm) (ppm) 864 (7-15-70) H 945 (8-06-70) H 120 H 0.3 q- 0.1 0.13 0 (2/72) (2/72) 634 (2-3-7)n 2.2 q- 0.3 0.83 0 (2/72) (2/72) 30FDA 5.2 q- 0.3 0.48 0 (9/71) (2/72) (2/72) 0 30-54 (2-24-71) H 7.4 q- 0.5 1 (12/71) 251 (1-17-72)H 100 40 128 q- 4 0.3 ... 224 (4-29-71) H 7/30/71 8/10/71 8/10/71 0.05 (10) (11) 8 8.4 60 (4/71) 1.9 (Av. level of 50 adults hair at N.Y. state) 42 (3/71) 17 (6/71) article. 2--Peripheral neuropathy. 3--Physician reports fluctuation of symptoms is puzzling. turned black. Curv. of spine. 6--Treated as psychotic, vision change confirmed by ophthal- Hg. b H = hospital records. All clinical information from records of attending physicians.

882 JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF COSMETIC CHEMISTS A study of normal individuals showed 8.4 ng of mercury per g of red blood cells (11). In subjects 2 and 4 of the present study, whole blood mercury was 120 and 30 ng/ml, respectively. Thus, the mercury in the blood of one of these subjects was definitely elevated that of the other was slightly above normal. A mean of 1.9 ppm total mercury in the hair was found in 50 normal adults in New York State (12). Subject 6, whose hair contained 128 4- 4 ppm Hg, showed a clearly elevated level. Subject 5 (7.4 ppm) had a somewhat elevated mercury level in hair 11 months after discontinuing the use of mercurial bleach cream. Source of Mercury--Organic rs. Inorganic In order to ascertain whether organic or inorganic sources have con- tributed to the mercury in human tissues, certain tests can be performed on the blood and hair. Alkyl mercury tends to bind to red blood cells (RBC) thus 10 times as much Hg will be in RBC as in plasma, whereas ionic forms show relatively equal distribution in plasma and RBC (13). An analysis of the total amounts of mercury in RBC and plasma, there- fore, enables one to assess the form in which mercury was likely to have been taken into the body. The distribution of Hg between plasma and blood cells of Subject 6 (Tables IV and V) is consistent with the hypothesis Table V Results of Mercury Analyses of Subject 6• Total Methyl Phenyl Test S ample Mercury Mercury Mercury Material Date (ppm) b (ppm)* (ppm) c RBC 7-30-71 0.04 0.03 0.05 3-16-72 0.05 a N.A. N.A. Plasma 7-30-71 0.10 0.03 0.05 3-16-72 0.04 a N.A. N.A. Whole blood 3-16-72 0.05 a N.A. N.A. Hair 8-10-71 128 4- 4 0.3 0.5 11-3-71 199 4- 20 0.3 N.A. 3-16-72 140 4- 2 N.A. N.A. Urine 4-29-71 224 •g/24 hr 9-?-71 158 •g/24 hr 1-17-72 251 t•g/24 hr N.A. indicates not analyzed. Neutron activation analysis. Gas-liquid chromatography. Atomic absorption.