Phenylmercuric acetate intoxication in mink.

Mink died following an incidental phenylmercuric acetate (PMA) intoxication. Mortality was restricted to the older animals (31% in the females and 40% in the males). Of all organs the kidneys were most seriously damaged (tubulonephrosis) and contained the highest residual levels of mercury. No lesions were observed in the central nervous system. Twenty-one weeks after exposure mercury residues had declined to normal levels. The half-time of disappearance of mercury was 10 days in skeletal muscle, 22 days in kidneys, 27 days in brain and 36 days in liver. The reproductivity of the surviving mink was not affected by the PMA-intoxication.