Paint and Mercury Posioning
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Paint and Mercury Poisoning
1) Mercury is just one of the many elements on the periodic table, but is the only element that can be in liquid form. However, one of the most seemingly important characteristics of Mercury is perhaps that it is poisonous and becomes very harmful when it reaches the bloodstream. Mercury poisoning can be caused by the effects of eating some fish such as tuna, salmon, and swordfish, amalgam fillings in teeth, when released into the air from coal burning plants, some paints, thermometers and blood pressure gages, and fluorescent light bulbs.
Mercury poisoning can cause very harmful affects to the body but there are some treatments, among one is the use of chelating agents and chelates. As said in Webster's dictionary, chelating is a verb meaning; to combine with (a metal) so as to form a chelate ring. Chelating agents are used to prevent mercury poisoning as well as other metal ion poisoning - they are used both chemical form and through medical treatment. A chelating agent is a chemical substance that contains molecules which form bonds to a single metal ion. The most common used chelating agents are those that connect with metal ions through oxygen or nitrogen supporter atoms. They are compounds with two or more binding groups for certain metals combined into one molecule. These agents are widely formed to compound metal ions in biological systems...