Moszczyński P
Province Immunology Laboratory, Brzesko, Poland.
Cent Eur J Public Health. 1999 Feb;7(1):10-4.
The awareness of the effects of metallic mercury vapour on the human immune system has increased only in the last decade. The regulatory guidelines relating to testing for immunotoxicity of metals are not standardized so far. A full understanding of the relevance of the tests to man is still incomplete. Immunotoxicity investigation of metals in rodents, with subsequent extrapolation to man, forms the basis of human risk assessment. Human contact with mercury vapour is mainly in chloralkali plants and in factories producing controlling and measuring devices. When the immune system acts as a target of xenobiotic insults, the result can be a decreased resistance to infection, cancers, or immune disregulation that can induce the development of allergy, or autoimmunity (Fig. 1). This article reviews literature data and our studies concerning the immunotoxicity of metallic mercury vapour. A number of data shows that mercury exerts a suppressing effect but another data suggest stimulating effects on the human immune system. The results of immunological monitoring of individuals exposed to mercury vapour were either positive or negative as well as borderline and uncertain as to the influence of mercury vapour on human immune system. The positive data had no influence on the resistance of workers to infections and neoplasms. Skin and mucosa hypersensitivity to metallic mercury is rare. No positive report that mercury vapour could be carcinogenic in man has appeared up to now.
直到最近十年，人们才开始意识到金属汞蒸气对人体免疫系统的影响。目前，有关金属免疫毒性检测的监管指南尚未标准化。对于这些检测与人类的相关性，仍未完全了解。对啮齿动物进行金属免疫毒性研究，并随后外推至人类，是人类风险评估的基础。人类接触汞蒸气主要发生在氯碱工厂以及生产控制和测量设备的工厂。当免疫系统成为外源性损伤的靶点时，结果可能是对感染、癌症的抵抗力下降，或者免疫失调，进而引发过敏或自身免疫性疾病（图1）。本文综述了有关金属汞蒸气免疫毒性的文献数据和我们的研究。一些数据表明汞具有抑制作用，但另一些数据则表明其对人体免疫系统有刺激作用。对接触汞蒸气个体的免疫监测结果，对于汞蒸气对人体免疫系统的影响而言，既有阳性的，也有阴性的，还有临界和不确定的。阳性数据对工人抵抗感染和肿瘤的能力没有影响。皮肤和黏膜对金属汞过敏的情况很少见。到目前为止，尚无汞蒸气可导致人类致癌的阳性报告。
