Urinary Excretion of Mercury from Mice Exposed to Metallic Mercury Vapor Determined with NTA Complex

Abstract

Urinary Excretion of Mercury from Mice Exposed to Metallic Mercury Vapor Using NTA Complex: Hiromi Aikoh, et al. Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Okayama University of Science—Urinary excretion of mercury was determined in mice exposed to mercury vapor by using the incomplete cubane‐type sulfur‐bridged molybdenum complex [Mo3S4(Hnta)3]2‐ (referred to as the NTA complex). Mice exposed to metallic mercury vapor quickly excreted the mercury in their urine after being given the NTA complex solution. The cumulative amount of mercury in the urine of these mice was 1.3 times higher than that in mice that had received L‐ cysteine and 1.8 times higher than that in mice that had received water. The study revealed that the NTA complex is capable of promoting extra‐corporeal excretion of mercury that had been bodily absorbed by mice.