Agocs M M, Etzel R A, Parrish R G, Paschal D C, Campagna P R, Cohen D S, Kilbourne E M, Hesse J L
Division of Environmental Hazards and Health Effects, Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta, GA 30306.
N Engl J Med. 1990 Oct 18;323(16):1096-101. doi: 10.1056/NEJM199010183231603.
Many paint companies have used phenylmercuric acetate as a preservative to prolong the shelf life of interior latex paint. In August 1989, acrodynia, a form of mercury poisoning, occurred in a child exposed to paint fumes in a home recently painted with a brand containing 4.7 mmol of mercury per liter (at that time the Environmental Protection Agency's recommended limit was 1.5 mmol or less per liter).
To determine whether the recent use of that brand of paint containing phenylmercuric acetate was associated with elevated indoor-air and urinary mercury concentrations, we studied 74 "exposed" persons living in 19 homes recently painted with the brand and 28 "unexposed" persons living in 10 homes not recently painted with paint containing mercury.
The paint samples from the homes of exposed persons contained a median of 3.8 mmol of mercury per liter, and air samples from the homes had a median mercury content of 10.0 nmol per cubic meter (range, less than 0.5 to 49.9). No mercury was detected in paint or air samples from the homes of unexposed persons. The median urinary mercury concentration was higher in the exposed persons (4.7 nmol of mercury per millimole of creatinine; range, 1.4 to 66.5) than in the unexposed persons (1.1 nmol per millimole; range, 0.02 to 3.9; P less than 0.001). Urinary mercury concentrations within the range that we found in exposed persons have been associated with symptomatic mercury poisoning.
We found that potentially hazardous exposure to mercury had occurred among persons whose homes were painted with a brand of paint containing mercury at concentrations approximately 2 1/2 times the Environmental Protection Agency's recommended limit.
许多涂料公司曾使用醋酸苯汞作为防腐剂来延长室内乳胶漆的保质期。1989年8月，一名儿童在家中接触了近期用某品牌涂料粉刷房屋产生的烟雾后出现了肢痛症（一种汞中毒形式），该品牌涂料每升含4.7毫摩尔汞（当时美国环境保护局推荐的限值为每升1.5毫摩尔或更低）。
为确定近期使用该含醋酸苯汞品牌涂料是否与室内空气和尿汞浓度升高有关，我们研究了居住在近期用该品牌涂料粉刷的19所房屋中的74名“暴露”者，以及居住在近期未用含汞涂料粉刷的10所房屋中的28名“未暴露”者。
暴露者家中的涂料样本每升汞含量中位数为3.8毫摩尔，房屋空气样本汞含量中位数为每立方米10.0纳摩尔（范围为低于0.5至49.9）。未暴露者家中的涂料或空气样本中未检测到汞。暴露者的尿汞浓度中位数（每毫摩尔肌酐含4.7纳摩尔汞；范围为1.4至66.5）高于未暴露者（每毫摩尔1.1纳摩尔；范围为0.02至3.9；P<0.001）。我们在暴露者中发现的尿汞浓度范围已与有症状的汞中毒相关。
我们发现，家中用汞含量约为美国环境保护局推荐限值2.5倍的某品牌涂料粉刷过的人，曾有过潜在的危险汞暴露。
