Mercury uptake and kinetics after ingestion of dental amalgam.
af Geijersstam E, Sandborgh-Englund G, Jonsson F, Ekstrand J.
Dept. of Basic Oral Sciences, School of Dentistry, Karolinska Institutet, Huddinge, Sweden.
The aim of the present study was to investigate the G-1 uptake of mercury (Hg) after intake of a single dose of amalgam-Hg, followed by pharmacokinetic analysis of the data. Eleven volunteers without amalgam fillings ingested 1.00 g amalgam powder. Hg in plasma vs. time was analyzed with a two-compartment model by means of mixed-effects modeling. A fraction of the absorption rate of Hg to the central compartment was inversely proportional to the plasma ferritin levels. The population mean half-life of the terminal phase of Hg in plasma was 37 days, with a considerable standard deviation in the population. The absorbed fraction of the administered dose was estimated to be about 0.04%. It is concluded that the G-1 uptake of Hg is of quantitative importance during dental treatment.
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PMID: 11926235 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]