Mercury concentration in the blood and organs of normal and acatalasemic mice after intraperitoneal injection of metallic mercury (203Hg0).

The total amount of mercury exhaled from acatalasemic mice in ten minutes after injection of metallic mercury was about 1.6 times higher than that of normal mice. The level of metallic mercury in the blood of acatalasemic mice was significantly higher than that of normal mice. The levels of mercury in the brain and liver in acatalasemic mice in ten minutes after injection of metallic mercury, and the brain/blood ratio or liver/blood ratio of mercury in acatalasemic mice were significantly higher than those of normal mice. These results suggest that metallic mercury in the blood readily passes through the blood-brain or blood-liver barrier.