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Abstract
The aim of this study was to see if dental personnel with previous exposure to metallic mercury have later developed disturbances in cognitive function. Ninety-one female participants who had been selected from a previous health survey of dental personnel were investigated neuropsychologically within the following domains: motor function, short-term memory, working memory, executive function, mental flexibility, and visual and verbal long-term memory. The scores were mainly within normal ranges. Relationships between an exposure score, the duration of employment before 1990, and previously measured mercury in urine as independent variables and the neuropsychological findings as dependent variables, were analyzed by multiple linear regression controlling for age, general ability, length of education, alcohol consumption, and previous head injuries. The only relationship that was statistically significant in the hypothesized direction was between the previously measured urine mercury values and visual long-term memory, where the urine values explained 30% of the variability. As the study had a low statistical power and also some other methodological limitations, the results have to be interpreted with caution. Even so, we think it is right to conclude that neuropsychological findings indicative of subsequent cognitive injuries are difficult to find in groups of otherwise healthy dental personnel with previous occupational exposure to mercury.
Highlights
The acute toxic effects of metallic mercury on CNS functions have been known for centuries
The aim of our study was to see if dental personnel with previous exposure to metallic mercury have later developed disturbances in such cognitive domains as psychomotor speed, attention, and verbal and visual long-term memory, which was hypothesized to be the case
The only hypothesized relationship between the indicators of mercury exposure and cognitive function that was found was in the regression analysis of a relationship between previously measured urinary mercury and long-term visual memory
Summary
The acute toxic effects of metallic mercury on CNS functions have been known for centuries. Symptoms of mercury poisoning comprise tremor, reduced psychomotor speed, paresthesia and a fairly distinct constellation of psychological symptoms, namely nervousness, shyness, blushing, irritability, and lability of mood. Mild forms of this syndrome are termed micromercurialism, whereas more grave conditions entailing psychotic symptoms are called erethism (Berlin, Zalups & Fowler, 2007; O’Carrol, Masterton, Dougall, Ebmeier & Goodwin, 1995). The effects of acute mercury poisoning are well described and documented, the risk of long-term effects on the CNS from chronic low-level exposure is still debated. Previous studies of long-term effects from relatively low level exposures have been performed in different groups of mercury-exposed workers (Rohling & Demakis, 2006). In some Scandinavian countries, in particular in Norway and Denmark, the question of various late effects from mercury exposure in dental personnel has been a public issue during the last years
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