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Mercury (element)

January 29, 2023

Mercury is a chemical element with the symbol Hg and atomic number 80. It is also known as quicksilver and was formerly named hydrargyrum (/haɪˈdrɑːrdʒərəm/ hy-DRAR-jər-əm) from the Greek words hydor (water) and argyros (silver).[4] A heavy, silvery d-block element, mercury is the only metallic element that is known to be liquid at standard temperature and pressure; the only other element that is liquid under these conditions is the halogen bromine, though metals such as caesium, gallium, and rubidium melt just above room temperature.

Mercury, 80Hg
Mercury
Appearanceshiny, silvery liquid
Standard atomic weight Ar°(Hg)
  • 200.592±0.003
  • 200.59±0.01 (abridged)[1]
Mercury in the periodic table
Hydrogen Helium
Lithium Beryllium Boron Carbon Nitrogen Oxygen Fluorine Neon
Sodium Magnesium Aluminium Silicon Phosphorus Sulfur Chlorine Argon
Potassium Calcium Scandium Titanium Vanadium Chromium Manganese Iron Cobalt Nickel Copper Zinc Gallium Germanium Arsenic Selenium Bromine Krypton
Rubidium Strontium Yttrium Zirconium Niobium Molybdenum Technetium Ruthenium Rhodium Palladium Silver Cadmium Indium Tin Antimony Tellurium Iodine Xenon
Caesium Barium Lanthanum Cerium Praseodymium Neodymium Promethium Samarium Europium Gadolinium Terbium Dysprosium Holmium Erbium Thulium Ytterbium Lutetium Hafnium Tantalum Tungsten Rhenium Osmium Iridium Platinum Gold Mercury (element) Thallium Lead Bismuth Polonium Astatine Radon
Francium Radium Actinium Thorium Protactinium Uranium Neptunium Plutonium Americium Curium Berkelium Californium Einsteinium Fermium Mendelevium Nobelium Lawrencium Rutherfordium Dubnium Seaborgium Bohrium Hassium Meitnerium Darmstadtium Roentgenium Copernicium Nihonium Flerovium Moscovium Livermorium Tennessine Oganesson
Cd
↑
Hg
↓
Cn
gold ← mercury → thallium
Atomic number (Z)80
Groupgroup 12
Periodperiod 6
Block  d-block
Electron configuration[Xe] 4f14 5d10 6s2
Electrons per shell2, 8, 18, 32, 18, 2
Physical properties
Phase at STPliquid
Melting point234.3210 K ​(−38.8290 °C, ​−37.8922 °F)
Boiling point629.88 K ​(356.73 °C, ​674.11 °F)
Density (near r.t.)13.534 g/cm3
Triple point234.3156 K, ​1.65×10−7 kPa
Critical point1750 K, 172.00 MPa
Heat of fusion2.29 kJ/mol
Heat of vaporization59.11 kJ/mol
Molar heat capacity27.983 J/(mol·K)
Vapor pressure
P (Pa) 1 10 100 1 k 10 k 100 k
at T (K) 315 350 393 449 523 629
Atomic properties
Oxidation states−2 , +1, +2 (a mildly basic oxide)
ElectronegativityPauling scale: 2.00
Ionization energies
  • 1st: 1007.1 kJ/mol
  • 2nd: 1810 kJ/mol
  • 3rd: 3300 kJ/mol
Atomic radiusempirical: 151 pm
Covalent radius132±5 pm
Van der Waals radius155 pm
Spectral lines of mercury
Other properties
Natural occurrenceprimordial
Crystal structure ​rhombohedral
Speed of soundliquid: 1451.4 m/s (at 20 °C)
Thermal expansion60.4 µm/(m⋅K) (at 25 °C)
Thermal conductivity8.30 W/(m⋅K)
Electrical resistivity961 nΩ⋅m (at 25 °C)
Magnetic orderingdiamagnetic[2]
Molar magnetic susceptibility−33.44×10−6 cm3/mol (293 K)[3]
CAS Number7439-97-6
History
DiscoveryAncient Egyptians (before 1500 BCE)
Symbol"Hg": from its Latin name hydrargyrum, itself from Greek hydrárgyros, 'water-silver'
Main isotopes of mercury
Iso­tope Decay
abun­dance half-life (t1/2) mode pro­duct
194Hg syn 444 y ε 194Au
195Hg syn 9.9 h ε 195Au
196Hg 0.15% stable
197Hg syn 64.14 h ε 197Au
198Hg 10.04% stable
199Hg 16.94% stable
200Hg 23.14% stable
201Hg 13.17% stable
202Hg 29.74% stable
203Hg syn 46.612 d β− 203Tl
204Hg 6.82% stable
 Category: Mercury (element)
| references

Mercury occurs in deposits throughout the world mostly as cinnabar (mercuric sulfide). The red pigment vermilion is obtained by grinding natural cinnabar or synthetic mercuric sulfide.

Mercury is used in thermometers, barometers, manometers, sphygmomanometers, float valves, mercury switches, mercury relays, fluorescent lamps and other devices, though concerns about the element's toxicity have led to mercury thermometers and sphygmomanometers being largely phased out in clinical environments in favor of alternatives such as alcohol- or galinstan-filled glass thermometers and thermistor- or infrared-based electronic instruments. Likewise, mechanical pressure gauges and electronic strain gauge sensors have replaced mercury sphygmomanometers.

Mercury, and mercury compounds, remain in use in scientific research applications and in amalgam for dental restoration in some locales, and in some food manufacturing operations. In food manufacturing, mercuric chloride is used in the starch extraction process during rice, corn, and wheat refining to inhibit starch degrading enzymes.[5][6] It is also used in fluorescent lighting. Electricity passed through mercury vapor in a fluorescent lamp produces short-wave ultraviolet light, which then causes the phosphor in the tube to fluoresce, making visible light.

Mercury poisoning can result from exposure to water-soluble forms of mercury (such as mercuric chloride or methylmercury), by inhalation of mercury vapor, or by ingesting any form of mercury. Mercury poisoning is intensified with lead co-exposures. Concurrent mercury and lead exposures are considered one risk factor for autism.[7][8][9]

Properties

Physical properties

 
An old[10] pound coin (density ~7.6 g/cm3) floats on mercury due to the combination of the buoyant force and surface tension.

Mercury is a heavy, silvery-white metal that is liquid at room temperature. Compared to other metals, it is a poor conductor of heat, but a fair conductor of electricity.[11]

It has a freezing point of −38.83 °C and a boiling point of 356.73 °C,[12][13][14] both the lowest of any stable metal, although preliminary experiments on copernicium and flerovium have indicated that they have even lower boiling points.[15] This effect is due to lanthanide contraction and relativistic contraction reducing the radius of the outermost electrons, and thus weakening the metallic bonding in mercury.[13] Upon freezing, the volume of mercury decreases by 3.59% and its density changes from 13.69 g/cm3 when liquid to 14.184 g/cm3 when solid. The coefficient of volume expansion is 181.59 × 10−6 at 0 °C, 181.71 × 10−6 at 20 °C and 182.50 × 10−6 at 100 °C (per °C). Solid mercury is malleable and ductile and can be cut with a knife.[16]

Table of thermal and physical properties of liquid mercury:[17][18]

Temperature (°C) Density (kg/m^3) Specific heat (kJ/kg K) Kinematic viscosity (m^2/s) Conductivity (W/m K) Thermal diffusivity (m^2/s) Prandtl Number Bulk modulus (K^-1)
0 13628.22 0.1403 1.24E-07 8.2 4.30E-06 0.0288 0.000181
20 13579.04 0.1394 1.14E-07 8.69 4.61E-06 0.0249 0.000181
50 13505.84 0.1386 1.04E-07 9.4 5.02E-06 0.0207 0.000181
100 13384.58 0.1373 9.28E-08 10.51 5.72E-06 0.0162 0.000181
150 13264.28 0.1365 8.53E-08 11.49 6.35E-06 0.0134 0.000181
200 13144.94 0.157 8.02E-08 12.34 6.91E-06 0.0116 0.000181
250 13025.6 0.1357 7.65E-08 13.07 7.41E-06 0.0103 0.000183
315.5 12847 0.134 6.73E-08 14.02 8.15E-06 0.0083 0.000186

Chemical properties

Mercury does not react with most acids, such as dilute sulfuric acid, although oxidizing acids such as concentrated sulfuric acid and nitric acid or aqua regia dissolve it to give sulfate, nitrate, and chloride. Like silver, mercury reacts with atmospheric hydrogen sulfide. Mercury reacts with solid sulfur flakes, which are used in mercury spill kits to absorb mercury (spill kits also use activated carbon and powdered zinc).[19]

Amalgams

 
Mercury-discharge spectral calibration lamp

Mercury dissolves many metals such as gold and silver to form amalgams. Iron is an exception, and iron flasks have traditionally been used to trade mercury. Several other first row transition metals with the exception of manganese, copper and zinc are also resistant in forming amalgams. Other elements that do not readily form amalgams with mercury include platinum.[20][21] Sodium amalgam is a common reducing agent in organic synthesis, and is also used in high-pressure sodium lamps.

Mercury readily combines with aluminium to form a mercury-aluminium amalgam when the two pure metals come into contact. Since the amalgam destroys the aluminium oxide layer which protects metallic aluminium from oxidizing in-depth (as in iron rusting), even small amounts of mercury can seriously corrode aluminium. For this reason, mercury is not allowed aboard an aircraft under most circumstances because of the risk of it forming an amalgam with exposed aluminium parts in the aircraft.[22]

Mercury embrittlement is the most common type of liquid metal embrittlement.

Isotopes

Main article: Isotopes of mercury

There are seven stable isotopes of mercury, with 202
Hg being the most abundant (29.86%). The longest-lived radioisotopes are 194
Hg with a half-life of 444 years, and 203
Hg with a half-life of 46.612 days. Most of the remaining radioisotopes have half-lives that are less than a day. 199
Hg and 201
Hg are the most often studied NMR-active nuclei, having spins of 1⁄2 and 3⁄2 respectively.[11] For the synthesis of precious metals two stable mercury isotopes are of potential interest - the trace isotope 196
Hg and the more abundant 198
Hg. Both are "one neutron removed" from 197
Hg, a radioisotope which decays to 197
Au, the only known stable isotope of gold. However, the rarity of 196
Hg and the high energy requirements of nuclear reactions "knocking out" a neutron from 198
Hg (either via photodisintegration or via a (n,2n) reaction involving fast neutrons), have thus far ruled out practical application of this "real philosopher's stone".

Etymology

 
The symbol for the planet Mercury (☿) has been used since ancient times to represent the element

"Hg" is the modern chemical symbol for mercury. It is an abbreviation of hydrargyrum, a romanized form of the ancient Greek name for mercury, ὑδράργυρος (hydrargyros). Hydrargyros is a Greek compound word meaning "water-silver", from ὑδρ- (hydr-), the root of ὕδωρ (hydor) "water", and ἄργυρος (argyros) "silver". Like the English name quicksilver ("living-silver"), this name was due to mercury's liquid and shiny properties.

The modern English name "mercury" comes from the planet Mercury. In medieval alchemy, the seven known metals—quicksilver, gold, silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin—were associated with the seven planets. Quicksilver was associated with the fastest planet, which had been named after the Roman god Mercury, who was associated with speed and mobility. The astrological symbol for the planet became one of the alchemical symbols for the metal, and "Mercury" became an alternative name for the metal. Mercury is the only metal for which the alchemical planetary name survives, as it was decided it was preferable to "quicksilver" as a chemical name.[23][24]

History

The mercury compound known as cinnabar was recorded as a component of the red pigments in Paleolithic cave paintings of 30,000 years ago in Spain and France.[25]

Mercury was found in Egyptian tombs that date from 1500 BC.[26]

In China and Tibet, mercury use was thought to prolong life, heal fractures, and maintain generally good health, although it is now known that exposure to mercury vapor leads to serious adverse health effects.[27] The first emperor of a unified China, Qín Shǐ Huáng Dì—allegedly buried in a tomb that contained rivers of flowing mercury on a model of the land he ruled, representative of the rivers of China—was reportedly killed by drinking a mercury and powdered jade mixture formulated by Qin alchemists intended as an elixir of immortality.[28][29] Khumarawayh ibn Ahmad ibn Tulun, the second Tulunid ruler of Egypt (r. 884–896), known for his extravagance and profligacy, reportedly built a basin filled with mercury, on which he would lie on top of air-filled cushions and be rocked to sleep.[30]

In November 2014 "large quantities" of mercury were discovered in a chamber 60 feet below the 1800-year-old pyramid known as the "Temple of the Feathered Serpent," "the third largest pyramid of Teotihuacan," Mexico along with "jade statues, jaguar remains, a box filled with carved shells and rubber balls".[31]

Aristotle recounts that Daedalus made a wooden statue of Venus move by pouring quicksilver in its interior.[32] In Greek mythology Daedalus gave the appearance of voice in his statues using quicksilver. The ancient Greeks used cinnabar (mercury sulfide) in ointments; the ancient Egyptians and the Romans used it in cosmetics. In Lamanai, once a major city of the Maya civilization, a pool of mercury was found under a marker in a Mesoamerican ballcourt.[33][34] By 500 BC mercury was used to make amalgams (Medieval Latin amalgama, "alloy of mercury") with other metals.[35]

Alchemists thought of mercury as the First Matter from which all metals were formed. They believed that different metals could be produced by varying the quality and quantity of sulfur contained within the mercury. The purest of these was gold, and mercury was called for in attempts at the transmutation of base (or impure) metals into gold, which was the goal of many alchemists.[23]

The mines in Almadén (Spain), Monte Amiata (Italy), and Idrija (now Slovenia) dominated mercury production from the opening of the mine in Almadén 2500 years ago, until new deposits were found at the end of the 19th century.[36]

Occurrence

See also: Category:Mercury minerals and Category:Mercury mines

Mercury is an extremely rare element in Earth's crust, having an average crustal abundance by mass of only 0.08 parts per million (ppm).[37] Because it does not blend geochemically with those elements that constitute the majority of the crustal mass, mercury ores can be extraordinarily concentrated considering the element's abundance in ordinary rock. The richest mercury ores contain up to 2.5% mercury by mass, and even the leanest concentrated deposits are at least 0.1% mercury (12,000 times average crustal abundance). It is found either as a native metal (rare) or in cinnabar, metacinnabar, sphalerite, corderoite, livingstonite and other minerals, with cinnabar (HgS) being the most common ore.[38][39] Mercury ores often occur in hot springs or other volcanic regions.[40]

Beginning in 1558, with the invention of the patio process to extract silver from ore using mercury, mercury became an essential resource in the economy of Spain and its American colonies. Mercury was used to extract silver from the lucrative mines in New Spain and Peru. Initially, the Spanish Crown's mines in Almadén in Southern Spain supplied all the mercury for the colonies.[41] Mercury deposits were discovered in the New World, and more than 100,000 tons of mercury were mined from the region of Huancavelica, Peru, over the course of three centuries following the discovery of deposits there in 1563. The patio process and later pan amalgamation process continued to create great demand for mercury to treat silver ores until the late 19th century.[42]

 
Native mercury with cinnabar, Socrates mine, Sonoma County, California. Cinnabar sometimes alters to native mercury in the oxidized zone of mercury deposits.

Former mines in Italy, the United States and Mexico, which once produced a large proportion of the world supply, have now been completely mined out or, in the case of Slovenia (Idrija) and Spain (Almadén), shut down due to the fall of the price of mercury. Nevada's McDermitt Mine, the last mercury mine in the United States, closed in 1992. The price of mercury has been highly volatile over the years and in 2006 was $650 per 76-pound (34.46 kg) flask.[43]

Mercury is extracted by heating cinnabar in a current of air and condensing the vapor. The equation for this extraction is

HgS + O2 → Hg + SO2

In 2005, China was the top producer of mercury with almost two-thirds global share followed by Kyrgyzstan.[44]: 47  Several other countries are believed to have unrecorded production of mercury from copper electrowinning processes and by recovery from effluents.

Because of the high toxicity of mercury, both the mining of cinnabar and refining for mercury are hazardous and historic causes of mercury poisoning.[45] In China, prison labor was used by a private mining company as recently as the 1950s to develop new cinnabar mines. Thousands of prisoners were used by the Luo Xi mining company to establish new tunnels.[46] Worker health in functioning mines is at high risk.

A newspaper claimed that an unidentified European Union directive calling for energy-efficient lightbulbs to be made mandatory by 2012 encouraged China to re-open cinnabar mines to obtain the mercury required for CFL bulb manufacture. Environmental dangers have been a concern, particularly in the southern cities of Foshan and Guangzhou, and in Guizhou province in the southwest.[46]

Abandoned mercury mine processing sites often contain very hazardous waste piles of roasted cinnabar calcines. Water run-off from such sites is a recognized source of ecological damage. Former mercury mines may be suited for constructive re-use. For example, in 1976 Santa Clara County, California purchased the historic Almaden Quicksilver Mine and created a county park on the site, after conducting extensive safety and environmental analysis of the property.[47]

Chemistry

See also: Category:Mercury compounds

All known mercury compounds exhibit one of two positive oxidation states: I and II. Experiments have failed to unequivocally demonstrate any higher oxidation states: both the claimed 1976 electrosynthesis of an unstable Hg(III) species and 2007 cryogenic isolation of HgF4 have disputed interpretations and remain difficult (if not impossible) to reproduce.[48]

Compounds of mercury(I)

Unlike its lighter neighbors, cadmium and zinc, mercury usually forms simple stable compounds with metal-metal bonds. Most mercury(I) compounds are diamagnetic and feature the dimeric cation, Hg2+
2. Stable derivatives include the chloride and nitrate. Treatment of Hg(I) compounds complexation with strong ligands such as sulfide, cyanide, etc. induces disproportionation to Hg2+
 and elemental mercury.[49] Mercury(I) chloride, a colorless solid also known as calomel, is really the compound with the formula Hg2Cl2, with the connectivity Cl-Hg-Hg-Cl. It is a standard in electrochemistry. It reacts with chlorine to give mercuric chloride, which resists further oxidation. Mercury(I) hydride, a colorless gas, has the formula HgH, containing no Hg-Hg bond.

Indicative of its tendency to bond to itself, mercury forms mercury polycations, which consist of linear chains of mercury centers, capped with a positive charge. One example is Hg2+
3(AsF−
6)
2.[50]

Compounds of mercury(II)

Mercury(II) is the most common oxidation state and is the main one in nature as well. All four mercuric halides are known. They form tetrahedral complexes with other ligands but the halides adopt linear coordination geometry, somewhat like Ag+ does. Best known is mercury(II) chloride, an easily sublimating white solid. HgCl2 forms coordination complexes that are typically tetrahedral, e.g. HgCl2−
4.

Mercury(II) oxide, the main oxide of mercury, arises when the metal is exposed to air for long periods at elevated temperatures. It reverts to the elements upon heating near 400 °C, as was demonstrated by Joseph Priestley in an early synthesis of pure oxygen.[19] Hydroxides of mercury are poorly characterized, as they are for its neighbors gold and silver.

Being a soft metal, mercury forms very stable derivatives with the heavier chalcogens. Preeminent is mercury(II) sulfide, HgS, which occurs in nature as the ore cinnabar and is the brilliant pigment vermillion. Like ZnS, HgS crystallizes in two forms, the reddish cubic form and the black zinc blende form.[11] The latter sometimes occurs naturally as metacinnabar.[39] Mercury(II) selenide (HgSe) and mercury(II) telluride (HgTe) are also known, these as well as various derivatives, e.g. mercury cadmium telluride and mercury zinc telluride being semiconductors useful as infrared detector materials.[51]

Mercury(II) salts form a variety of complex derivatives with ammonia. These include Millon's base (Hg2N+), the one-dimensional polymer (salts of HgNH+
2)
n), and "fusible white precipitate" or [Hg(NH3)2]Cl2. Known as Nessler's reagent, potassium tetraiodomercurate(II) (HgI2−
4) is still occasionally used to test for ammonia owing to its tendency to form the deeply colored iodide salt of Millon's base.

Mercury fulminate is a detonator widely used in explosives.[11]

Organomercury compounds

Main article: Organomercury compound

Organic mercury compounds are historically important but are of little industrial value in the western world. Mercury(II) salts are a rare example of simple metal complexes that react directly with aromatic rings. Organomercury compounds are always divalent and usually two-coordinate and linear geometry. Unlike organocadmium and organozinc compounds, organomercury compounds do not react with water. They usually have the formula HgR2, which are often volatile, or HgRX, which are often solids, where R is aryl or alkyl and X is usually halide or acetate. Methylmercury, a generic term for compounds with the formula CH3HgX, is a dangerous family of compounds that are often found in polluted water.[52] They arise by a process known as biomethylation.

Applications

Mercury is used primarily for the manufacture of industrial chemicals or for electrical and electronic applications. It is used in some liquid-in-glass thermometers, especially those used to measure high temperatures. A still increasing amount is used as gaseous mercury in fluorescent lamps, while most of the other applications are slowly being phased out due to health and safety regulations. In some applications, mercury is replaced with less toxic but considerably more expensive Galinstan alloy.[53]

Medicine

See also: Amalgam (dentistry)
 
Amalgam filling

Mercury and its compounds have been used in medicine, although they are much less common today than they once were, now that the toxic effects of mercury and its compounds are more widely understood. An example of the early therapeutic application of mercury of was published in 1787 by James Lind.[54]

The first edition of the Merck's Manual (1899) featured many mercuric compounds[55] such as:

  • Mercauro
  • Mercuro-iodo-hemol.
  • Mercury-ammonium chloride
  • Mercury Benzoate
  • Mercuric
  • Mercury Bichloride (Corrosive Mercuric Chloride, U.S.P.)
  • Mercury Chloride
  • Mild Mercury Cyanide
  • Mercury Succinimide
  • Mercury Iodide
  • Red Mercury Biniodide
  • Mercury Iodide
  • Yellow Mercury Proto-iodide
  • Black (Hahnemann), Soluble Mercury Oxide
  • Red Mercury Oxide
  • Yellow Mercury Oxide
  • Mercury Salicylate
  • Mercury Succinimide
  • Mercury Imido-succinate
  • Mercury Sulphate
  • Basic Mercury Subsulphate; Turpeth Mineral
  • Mercury Tannate
  • Mercury-Ammonium Chloride

Mercury is an ingredient in dental amalgams. Thiomersal (called Thimerosal in the United States) is an organic compound used as a preservative in vaccines, though this use is in decline.[56] Thiomersal is metabolized to ethyl mercury. Although it was widely speculated that this mercury-based preservative could cause or trigger autism in children, scientific studies showed no evidence supporting any such link.[57] Nevertheless, thiomersal has been removed from, or reduced to trace amounts in all U.S. vaccines recommended for children 6 years of age and under, with the exception of inactivated influenza vaccine.[58]

Another mercury compound, merbromin (Mercurochrome), is a topical antiseptic used for minor cuts and scrapes that is still in use in some countries.

Mercury in the form of one of its common ores, cinnabar, is used in various traditional medicines, especially in traditional Chinese medicine. Review of its safety has found that cinnabar can lead to significant mercury intoxication when heated, consumed in overdose, or taken long term, and can have adverse effects at therapeutic doses, though effects from therapeutic doses are typically reversible. Although this form of mercury appears to be less toxic than other forms, its use in traditional Chinese medicine has not yet been justified, as the therapeutic basis for the use of cinnabar is not clear.[59]

Today, the use of mercury in medicine has greatly declined in all respects, especially in developed countries. Thermometers and sphygmomanometers containing mercury were invented in the early 18th and late 19th centuries, respectively. In the early 21st century, their use is declining and has been banned in some countries, states and medical institutions. In 2002, the U.S. Senate passed legislation to phase out the sale of non-prescription mercury thermometers. In 2003, Washington and Maine became the first states to ban mercury blood pressure devices.[60] Mercury compounds are found in some over-the-counter drugs, including topical antiseptics, stimulant laxatives, diaper-rash ointment, eye drops, and nasal sprays. The FDA has "inadequate data to establish general recognition of the safety and effectiveness" of the mercury ingredients in these products.[61] Mercury is still used in some diuretics although substitutes now exist for most therapeutic uses.

Production of chlorine and caustic soda

Chlorine is produced from sodium chloride (common salt, NaCl) using electrolysis to separate the metallic sodium from the chlorine gas. Usually the salt is dissolved in water to produce a brine. By-products of any such chloralkali process are hydrogen (H2) and sodium hydroxide (NaOH), which is commonly called caustic soda or lye. By far the largest use of mercury[62][63] in the late 20th century was in the mercury cell process (also called the Castner-Kellner process) where metallic sodium is formed as an amalgam at a cathode made from mercury; this sodium is then reacted with water to produce sodium hydroxide.[64] Many of the industrial mercury releases of the 20th century came from this process, although modern plants claimed to be safe in this regard.[63] After about 1985, all new chloralkali production facilities that were built in the United States used membrane cell or diaphragm cell technologies to produce chlorine.

Laboratory uses

Some medical thermometers, especially those for high temperatures, are filled with mercury; they are gradually disappearing. In the United States, non-prescription sale of mercury fever thermometers has been banned since 2003.[65]

Some transit telescopes use a basin of mercury to form a flat and absolutely horizontal mirror, useful in determining an absolute vertical or perpendicular reference. Concave horizontal parabolic mirrors may be formed by rotating liquid mercury on a disk, the parabolic form of the liquid thus formed reflecting and focusing incident light. Such liquid-mirror telescopes are cheaper than conventional large mirror telescopes by up to a factor of 100, but the mirror cannot be tilted and always points straight up.[66][67][68]

Liquid mercury is a part of popular secondary reference electrode (called the calomel electrode) in electrochemistry as an alternative to the standard hydrogen electrode. The calomel electrode is used to work out the electrode potential of half cells.[69] Last, but not least, the triple point of mercury, −38.8344 °C, is a fixed point used as a temperature standard for the International Temperature Scale (ITS-90).[11]

In polarography both the dropping mercury electrode[70] and the hanging mercury drop electrode[71] use elemental mercury. This use allows a new uncontaminated electrode to be available for each measurement or each new experiment.

Mercury-containing compounds are also of use in the field of structural biology. Mercuric compounds such as mercury(II) chloride or potassium tetraiodomercurate(II) can be added to protein crystals in an effort to create heavy atom derivatives that can be used to solve the phase problem in X-ray crystallography via isomorphous replacement or anomalous scattering methods.

Niche uses

Gaseous mercury is used in mercury-vapor lamps and some "neon sign" type advertising signs and fluorescent lamps. Those low-pressure lamps emit very spectrally narrow lines, which are traditionally used in optical spectroscopy for calibration of spectral position. Commercial calibration lamps are sold for this purpose; reflecting a fluorescent ceiling light into a spectrometer is a common calibration practice.[72] Gaseous mercury is also found in some electron tubes, including ignitrons, thyratrons, and mercury arc rectifiers.[73] It is also used in specialist medical care lamps for skin tanning and disinfection.[74] Gaseous mercury is added to cold cathode argon-filled lamps to increase the ionization and electrical conductivity. An argon-filled lamp without mercury will have dull spots and will fail to light correctly. Lighting containing mercury can be bombarded/oven pumped only once. When added to neon filled tubes the light produced will be inconsistent red/blue spots until the initial burning-in process is completed; eventually it will light a consistent dull off-blue color.[75]

  •  

    The deep violet glow of a mercury vapor discharge in a germicidal lamp, whose spectrum is rich in invisible ultraviolet radiation.

  •  

    Skin tanner containing a low-pressure mercury vapor lamp and two infrared lamps, which act both as light source and electrical ballast

  •  

    Assorted types of fluorescent lamps.

  •  

    The miniaturized Deep Space Atomic Clock is a linear ion-trap-based mercury ion clock, designed for precise and real-time radio navigation in deep space.

The Deep Space Atomic Clock (DSAC) under development by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory utilises mercury in a linear ion-trap-based clock. The novel use of mercury allows very compact atomic clocks, with low energy requirements, and is therefore ideal for space probes and Mars missions.[76]

Cosmetics

Mercury, as thiomersal, is widely used in the manufacture of mascara. In 2008, Minnesota became the first state in the United States to ban intentionally added mercury in cosmetics, giving it a tougher standard than the federal government.[77]

A study in geometric mean urine mercury concentration identified a previously unrecognized source of exposure (skin care products) to inorganic mercury among New York City residents. Population-based biomonitoring also showed that mercury concentration levels are higher in consumers of seafood and fish meals.[78]

Skin whitening

Mercury is effective as an active ingredient in skin whitening compounds used to depigment skin.[79] The Minamata Convention on Mercury limits the concentration of mercury in such whiteners to 1 part per million. However, as of 2022, many commercially sold whitener products continue to exceed that limit, and are considered toxic.[80]

Firearms

Mercury(II) fulminate is a primary explosive which is mainly used as a primer of a cartridge in firearms.

Historic uses

 
A single-pole, single-throw (SPST) mercury switch
 
Mercury manometer to measure pressure

Many historic applications made use of the peculiar physical properties of mercury, especially as a dense liquid and a liquid metal:

  • Quantities of liquid mercury ranging from 90 to 600 grams (3.2 to 21.2 oz) have been recovered from elite Maya tombs (100–700 AD)[31] or ritual caches at six sites. This mercury may have been used in bowls as mirrors for divinatory purposes. Five of these date to the Classic Period of Maya civilization (c. 250–900) but one example predated this.[81]
  • In Islamic Spain, it was used for filling decorative pools. Later, the American artist Alexander Calder built a mercury fountain for the Spanish Pavilion at the 1937 World Exhibition in Paris. The fountain is now on display at the Fundació Joan Miró in Barcelona.[82]
  • Mercury was used inside wobbler lures. Its heavy, liquid form made it useful since the lures made an attractive irregular movement when the mercury moved inside the plug. Such use was stopped due to environmental concerns, but illegal preparation of modern fishing plugs has occurred.
  • The Fresnel lenses of old lighthouses used to float and rotate in a bath of mercury which acted like a bearing.[83]
  • Mercury sphygmomanometers (blood pressure meter), barometers, diffusion pumps, coulometers, and many other laboratory instruments took advantage of mercury's properties as a very dense, opaque liquid with a nearly linear thermal expansion.[84]
  • As an electrically conductive liquid, it was used in mercury switches (including home mercury light switches installed prior to 1970), tilt switches used in old fire detectors, and tilt switches in some home thermostats.[85]
  • Owing to its acoustic properties, mercury was used as the propagation medium in delay-line memory devices used in early digital computers of the mid-20th century.
  • Experimental mercury vapor turbines were installed to increase the efficiency of fossil-fuel electrical power plants.[86] The South Meadow power plant in Hartford, CT employed mercury as its working fluid, in a binary configuration with a secondary water circuit, for a number of years starting in the late 1920s in a drive to improve plant efficiency. Several other plants were built, including the Schiller Station in Portsmouth, NH, which went online in 1950. The idea did not catch on industry-wide due to the weight and toxicity of mercury, as well as the advent of supercritical steam plants in later years.[87][88]
  • Similarly, liquid mercury was used as a coolant for some nuclear reactors; however, sodium is proposed for reactors cooled with liquid metal, because the high density of mercury requires much more energy to circulate as coolant.[89]
  • Mercury was a propellant for early ion engines in electric space propulsion systems. Advantages were mercury's high molecular weight, low ionization energy, low dual-ionization energy, high liquid density and liquid storability at room temperature. Disadvantages were concerns regarding environmental impact associated with ground testing and concerns about eventual cooling and condensation of some of the propellant on the spacecraft in long-duration operations. The first spaceflight to use electric propulsion was a mercury-fueled ion thruster developed at NASA Glenn Research Center and flown on the Space Electric Rocket Test "SERT-1" spacecraft launched by NASA at its Wallops Flight Facility in 1964. The SERT-1 flight was followed up by the SERT-2 flight in 1970. Mercury and caesium were preferred propellants for ion engines until Hughes Research Laboratory performed studies finding xenon gas to be a suitable replacement. Xenon is now the preferred propellant for ion engines as it has a high molecular weight, little or no reactivity due to its noble gas nature, and has a high liquid density under mild cryogenic storage.[90][91]

Other applications made use of the chemical properties of mercury:

  • The mercury battery is a non-rechargeable electrochemical battery, a primary cell, that was common in the middle of the 20th century. It was used in a wide variety of applications and was available in various sizes, particularly button sizes. Its constant voltage output and long shelf life gave it a niche use for camera light meters and hearing aids. The mercury cell was effectively banned in most countries in the 1990s due to concerns about the mercury contaminating landfills.[92]
  • Mercury was used for preserving wood, developing daguerreotypes, silvering mirrors, anti-fouling paints (discontinued in 1990), herbicides (discontinued in 1995), interior latex paint, handheld maze games, cleaning, and road leveling devices in cars. Mercury compounds have been used in antiseptics, laxatives, antidepressants, and in antisyphilitics.
  • It was allegedly used by allied spies to sabotage Luftwaffe planes: a mercury paste was applied to bare aluminium, causing the metal to rapidly corrode; this would cause structural failures.[93]
  • Chloralkali process: The largest industrial use of mercury during the 20th century was in electrolysis for separating chlorine and sodium from brine; mercury being the anode of the Castner-Kellner process. The chlorine was used for bleaching paper (hence the location of many of these plants near paper mills) while the sodium was used to make sodium hydroxide for soaps and other cleaning products.[94] Although this usage has largely been discontinued and replaced with other technologies that utilize membrane cells,[94] the World Chlorine Council Report indicates there were still eleven manufacturing plants operating in North and South America in 2020.[95]
  • As electrodes in some types of electrolysis, batteries (mercury cells), sodium hydroxide and chlorine production, handheld games, catalysts, insecticides.
  • Mercury was once used as a gun barrel bore cleaner.[96][97]
  • From the mid-18th to the mid-19th centuries, a process called "carroting" was used in the making of felt hats. Animal skins were rinsed in an orange solution (the term "carroting" arose from this color) of the mercury compound mercuric nitrate, Hg(NO3)2·2H2O.[98] This process separated the fur from the pelt and matted it together. This solution and the vapors it produced were highly toxic. The United States Public Health Service banned the use of mercury in the felt industry in December 1941. The psychological symptoms associated with mercury poisoning inspired the phrase "mad as a hatter". Lewis Carroll's "Mad Hatter" in his book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was a play on words based on the older phrase, but the character himself does not exhibit symptoms of mercury poisoning.[99]
  • Gold and silver mining. Historically, mercury was used extensively in hydraulic gold mining in order to help the gold to sink through the flowing water-gravel mixture. Thin gold particles may form mercury-gold amalgam and therefore increase the gold recovery rates.[11] Large-scale use of mercury stopped in the 1960s. However, mercury is still used in small scale, often clandestine, gold prospecting. It is estimated that 45,000 metric tons of mercury used in California for placer mining have not been recovered.[100] Mercury was also used in silver mining.[101]

Historic medicinal uses

Mercury(I) chloride (also known as calomel or mercurous chloride) has been used in traditional medicine as a diuretic, topical disinfectant, and laxative. Mercury(II) chloride (also known as mercuric chloride or corrosive sublimate) was once used to treat syphilis (along with other mercury compounds), although it is so toxic that sometimes the symptoms of its toxicity were confused with those of the syphilis it was believed to treat.[102] It is also used as a disinfectant. Blue mass, a pill or syrup in which mercury is the main ingredient, was prescribed throughout the 19th century for numerous conditions including constipation, depression, child-bearing and toothaches.[103] In the early 20th century, mercury was administered to children yearly as a laxative and dewormer, and it was used in teething powders for infants. The mercury-containing organohalide merbromin (sometimes sold as Mercurochrome) is still widely used but has been banned in some countries such as the U.S.[104]

Toxicity and safety

See also: Mercury poisoning and Mercury cycle
Mercury
Hazards
GHS labelling:
   
Danger
H330, H360D, H372, H410
P201, P233, P260, P273, P280, P304, P308, P310, P313, P340, P391, P403[105]
NFPA 704 (fire diamond)
2
0
0

Mercury and most of its compounds are extremely toxic and must be handled with care; in cases of spills involving mercury (such as from certain thermometers or fluorescent light bulbs), specific cleaning procedures are used to avoid exposure and contain the spill.[106] Protocols call for physically merging smaller droplets on hard surfaces, combining them into a single larger pool for easier removal with an eyedropper, or for gently pushing the spill into a disposable container. Vacuum cleaners and brooms cause greater dispersal of the mercury and should not be used. Afterwards, fine sulfur, zinc, or some other powder that readily forms an amalgam (alloy) with mercury at ordinary temperatures is sprinkled over the area before itself being collected and properly disposed of. Cleaning porous surfaces and clothing is not effective at removing all traces of mercury and it is therefore advised to discard these kinds of items should they be exposed to a mercury spill.

Mercury can be absorbed through the skin and mucous membranes and mercury vapors can be inhaled, so containers of mercury are securely sealed to avoid spills and evaporation. Heating of mercury, or of compounds of mercury that may decompose when heated, should be carried out with adequate ventilation in order to minimize exposure to mercury vapor.

The most toxic forms of mercury are its organic compounds, such as dimethylmercury and methylmercury. Inorganic mercury, by itself, however, is especially toxic with co-exposures to lead during child development.[107][108][109] Exposures to inorganic mercury are linked to the development of type-2 diabetes in the human population.[110][111] Mercury can cause both chronic and acute poisoning.

Dietary exposures to mercury

In 2021, the United States Congress released a report on the problem of heavy metals in baby foods, including mercury and lead.[112][113][114][115] Scholars have studied the effects of dietary inorganic mercury exposure from processed food consumption.[116]

Releases in the environment

 
Amount of atmospheric mercury deposited at Wyoming's Upper Fremont Glacier over the last 270 years

Preindustrial deposition rates of mercury from the atmosphere may be about 4 ng /(1 L of ice deposit). Although that can be considered a natural level of exposure, regional or global sources have significant effects. Volcanic eruptions can increase the atmospheric source by 4–6 times.[117]

Natural sources, such as volcanoes, are responsible for approximately half of atmospheric mercury emissions. The human-generated half can be divided into the following estimated percentages:[118][119][120]

  • 65% from stationary combustion, of which coal-fired power plants are the largest aggregate source (40% of U.S. mercury emissions in 1999). This includes power plants fueled with gas where the mercury has not been removed. Emissions from coal combustion are between one and two orders of magnitude higher than emissions from oil combustion, depending on the country.[118]
  • 11% from gold production. The three largest point sources for mercury emissions in the U.S. are the three largest gold mines. Hydrogeochemical release of mercury from gold-mine tailings has been accounted as a significant source of atmospheric mercury in eastern Canada.[121]
  • 6.8% from non-ferrous metal production, typically smelters.
  • 6.4% from cement production.
  • 3.0% from waste disposal, including municipal and hazardous waste, crematoria, and sewage sludge incineration.
  • 3.0% from caustic soda production.
  • 1.4% from pig iron and steel production.
  • 1.1% from mercury production, mainly for batteries.
  • 2.0% from other sources.

The above percentages are estimates of the global human-caused mercury emissions in 2000, excluding biomass burning, an important source in some regions.[118]

Recent atmospheric mercury contamination in outdoor urban air was measured at 0.01–0.02 μg/m3. A 2001 study measured mercury levels in 12 indoor sites chosen to represent a cross-section of building types, locations and ages in the New York area. This study found mercury concentrations significantly elevated over outdoor concentrations, at a range of 0.0065 – 0.523 μg/m3. The average was 0.069 μg/m3.[122]

Artificial lakes, or reservoirs, may be contaminated with mercury due to the absorption by the water of mercury from submerged trees and soil. For example, Williston Lake in northern British Columbia, created by the damming of the Peace River in 1968, is still sufficiently contaminated with mercury that it is inadvisable to consume fish from the lake.[123][124] Permafrost soils have accumulated mercury through atmospheric deposition,[125] and permafrost thaw in cryospheric regions is also a mechanism of mercury release into lakes, rivers, and wetlands.[126][127]

Mercury also enters into the environment through the improper disposal (e.g., land filling, incineration) of certain products. Products containing mercury include: auto parts, batteries, fluorescent bulbs, medical products, thermometers, and thermostats.[128] Due to health concerns (see below), toxics use reduction efforts are cutting back or eliminating mercury in such products. For example, the amount of mercury sold in thermostats in the United States decreased from 14.5 tons in 2004 to 3.9 tons in 2007.[129]

Most thermometers now use pigmented alcohol instead of mercury. Mercury thermometers are still occasionally used in the medical field because they are more accurate than alcohol thermometers, though both are commonly being replaced by electronic thermometers and less commonly by galinstan thermometers. Mercury thermometers are still widely used for certain scientific applications because of their greater accuracy and working range.

Historically, one of the largest releases was from the Colex plant, a lithium isotope separation plant at Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The plant operated in the 1950s and 1960s. Records are incomplete and unclear, but government commissions have estimated that some two million pounds of mercury are unaccounted for.[130]

A serious industrial disaster was the dumping of waste mercury compounds into Minamata Bay, Japan, between 1932 and 1968. It is estimated that over 3,000 people suffered various deformities, severe mercury poisoning symptoms or death from what became known as Minamata disease.[131][132]

The tobacco plant readily absorbs and accumulates heavy metals such as mercury from the surrounding soil into its leaves. These are subsequently inhaled during tobacco smoking.[133] While mercury is a constituent of tobacco smoke,[134] studies have largely failed to discover a significant correlation between smoking and Hg uptake by humans compared to sources such as occupational exposure, fish consumption, and amalgam tooth fillings.[135]

Sediment contamination

Sediments within large urban-industrial estuaries act as an important sink for point source and diffuse mercury pollution within catchments.[136] A 2015 study of foreshore sediments from the Thames estuary measured total mercury at 0.01 to 12.07 mg/kg with mean of 2.10 mg/kg and median of 0.85 mg/kg (n=351).[136] The highest mercury concentrations were shown to occur in and around the city of London in association with fine grain muds and high total organic carbon content.[136] The strong affinity of mercury for carbon rich sediments has also been observed in salt marsh sediments of the River Mersey mean of 2 mg/kg up to 5 mg/kg.[137] These concentrations are far higher than those shown in salt marsh river creek sediments of New Jersey and mangroves of Southern China which exhibit low mercury concentrations of about 0.2 mg/kg.[138][139]

Occupational exposure

 
EPA workers clean up residential mercury spill in 2004

Due to the health effects of mercury exposure, industrial and commercial uses are regulated in many countries. The World Health Organization, OSHA, and NIOSH all treat mercury as an occupational hazard, and have established specific occupational exposure limits. Environmental releases and disposal of mercury are regulated in the U.S. primarily by the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

Fish

Main article: Mercury in fish

Fish and shellfish have a natural tendency to concentrate mercury in their bodies, often in the form of methylmercury, a highly toxic organic compound of mercury. Species of fish that are high on the food chain, such as shark, swordfish, king mackerel, bluefin tuna, albacore tuna, and tilefish contain higher concentrations of mercury than others. Because mercury and methylmercury are fat soluble, they primarily accumulate in the viscera, although they are also found throughout the muscle tissue.[140] Mercury presence in fish muscles can be studied using non-lethal muscle biopsies.[141] Mercury present in prey fish accumulates in the predator that consumes them. Since fish are less efficient at depurating than accumulating methylmercury, methylmercury concentrations in the fish tissue increase over time. Thus species that are high on the food chain amass body burdens of mercury that can be ten times higher than the species they consume. This process is called biomagnification. Mercury poisoning happened this way in Minamata, Japan, now called Minamata disease.

Cosmetics

Some facial creams contain dangerous levels of mercury. Most contain comparatively non-toxic inorganic mercury, but products containing highly toxic organic mercury have been encountered.[142][143]

Effects and symptoms of mercury poisoning

Main article: Mercury poisoning

Toxic effects include damage to the brain, kidneys and lungs. Mercury poisoning can result in several diseases, including acrodynia (pink disease), Hunter-Russell syndrome, and Minamata disease.

Symptoms typically include sensory impairment (vision, hearing, speech), disturbed sensation and a lack of coordination. The type and degree of symptoms exhibited depend upon the individual toxin, the dose, and the method and duration of exposure. Case–control studies have shown effects such as tremors, impaired cognitive skills, and sleep disturbance in workers with chronic exposure to mercury vapor even at low concentrations in the range 0.7–42 μg/m3.[144][145] A study has shown that acute exposure (4–8 hours) to calculated elemental mercury levels of 1.1 to 44 mg/m3 resulted in chest pain, dyspnea, cough, hemoptysis, impairment of pulmonary function, and evidence of interstitial pneumonitis.[146] Acute exposure to mercury vapor has been shown to result in profound central nervous system effects, including psychotic reactions characterized by delirium, hallucinations, and suicidal tendency. Occupational exposure has resulted in broad-ranging functional disturbance, including erethism, irritability, excitability, excessive shyness, and insomnia. With continuing exposure, a fine tremor develops and may escalate to violent muscular spasms. Tremor initially involves the hands and later spreads to the eyelids, lips, and tongue. Long-term, low-level exposure has been associated with more subtle symptoms of erethism, including fatigue, irritability, loss of memory, vivid dreams and depression.[147][148]

Treatment

Research on the treatment of mercury poisoning is limited. Currently available drugs for acute mercurial poisoning include chelators N-acetyl-D, L-penicillamine (NAP), British Anti-Lewisite (BAL), 2,3-dimercapto-1-propanesulfonic acid (DMPS), and dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA). In one small study including 11 construction workers exposed to elemental mercury, patients were treated with DMSA and NAP.[149] Chelation therapy with both drugs resulted in the mobilization of a small fraction of the total estimated body mercury. DMSA was able to increase the excretion of mercury to a greater extent than NAP.[150]

Regulations

International

140 countries agreed in the Minamata Convention on Mercury by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to prevent emissions.[151] The convention was signed on 10 October 2013.[152]

United States

In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency is charged with regulating and managing mercury contamination. Several laws give the EPA this authority, including the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and the Safe Drinking Water Act. Additionally, the Mercury-Containing and Rechargeable Battery Management Act, passed in 1996, phases out the use of mercury in batteries, and provides for the efficient and cost-effective disposal of many types of used batteries.[153] North America contributed approximately 11% of the total global anthropogenic mercury emissions in 1995.[154]

The United States Clean Air Act, passed in 1990, put mercury on a list of toxic pollutants that need to be controlled to the greatest possible extent. Thus, industries that release high concentrations of mercury into the environment agreed to install maximum achievable control technologies (MACT). In March 2005, the EPA promulgated a regulation[155] that added power plants to the list of sources that should be controlled and instituted a national cap and trade system. States were given until November 2006 to impose stricter controls, but after a legal challenge from several states, the regulations were struck down by a federal appeals court on 8 February 2008. The rule was deemed not sufficient to protect the health of persons living near coal-fired power plants, given the negative effects documented in the EPA Study Report to Congress of 1998.[156] However newer data published in 2015 showed that after introduction of the stricter controls mercury declined sharply, indicating that the Clean Air Act had its intended impact.[157]

The EPA announced new rules for coal-fired power plants on 22 December 2011.[158] Cement kilns that burn hazardous waste are held to a looser standard than are standard hazardous waste incinerators in the United States, and as a result are a disproportionate source of mercury pollution.[159]

European Union

In the European Union, the directive on the Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (see RoHS) bans mercury from certain electrical and electronic products, and limits the amount of mercury in other products to less than 1000 ppm.[160] There are restrictions for mercury concentration in packaging (the limit is 100 ppm for sum of mercury, lead, hexavalent chromium and cadmium) and batteries (the limit is 5 ppm).[161] In July 2007, the European Union also banned mercury in non-electrical measuring devices, such as thermometers and barometers. The ban applies to new devices only, and contains exemptions for the health care sector and a two-year grace period for manufacturers of barometers.[162]

Norway

Norway enacted a total ban on the use of mercury in the manufacturing and import/export of mercury products, effective 1 January 2008.[163] In 2002, several lakes in Norway were found to have a poor state of mercury pollution, with an excess of 1 μg/g of mercury in their sediment.[164] In 2008, Norway's Minister of Environment Development Erik Solheim said: "Mercury is among the most dangerous environmental toxins. Satisfactory alternatives to Hg in products are available, and it is therefore fitting to induce a ban."[165]

Sweden

Products containing mercury were banned in Sweden in 2009.[166][167]

Denmark

In 2008, Denmark also banned dental mercury amalgam,[165] except for molar masticating surface fillings in permanent (adult) teeth.

See also

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  167. ^ . 21 April 2012. Archived from the original on 28 August 2016. Retrieved 22 November 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)

Further reading

External links

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mercury (element).
 
Wikiquote has quotations related to Mercury (element).
 
Look up mercury in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
  • Chemistry in its element podcast (MP3) from the Royal Society of Chemistry's Chemistry World: Mercury
  • Mercury at The Periodic Table of Videos (University of Nottingham)
  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – Mercury Topic
  • EPA fish consumption guidelines
  • Hg 80 Mercury
  • Material Safety Data Sheet – Mercury
  • Stopping Pollution: Mercury – Oceana
  • Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC): Mercury Contamination in Fish guide – NRDC
  • NLM Hazardous Substances Databank – Mercury
  • BBC – Earth News – Mercury "turns" wetland birds such as ibises homosexual
  • Changing Patterns in the Use, Recycling, and Material Substitution of Mercury in the United States United States Geological Survey
  • Thermodynamical data on liquid mercury.
  • "Mercury (element)" . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911.

January 29, 2023
mercury, element, mercury, chemical, element, with, symbol, atomic, number, also, known, quicksilver, formerly, named, hydrargyrum, ɑːr, drar, jər, from, greek, words, hydor, code, promoted, code, water, argyros, code, promoted, code, silver, heavy, silvery, b. Mercury is a chemical element with the symbol Hg and atomic number 80 It is also known as quicksilver and was formerly named hydrargyrum h aɪ ˈ d r ɑːr dʒ er e m hy DRAR jer em from the Greek words hydor code ell promoted to code el water and argyros code ell promoted to code el silver 4 A heavy silvery d block element mercury is the only metallic element that is known to be liquid at standard temperature and pressure the only other element that is liquid under these conditions is the halogen bromine though metals such as caesium gallium and rubidium melt just above room temperature Mercury 80HgMercuryAppearanceshiny silvery liquidStandard atomic weight Ar Hg 200 592 0 003200 59 0 01 abridged 1 Mercury in the periodic tableHydrogen HeliumLithium Beryllium Boron Carbon Nitrogen Oxygen Fluorine NeonSodium Magnesium Aluminium Silicon Phosphorus Sulfur Chlorine ArgonPotassium Calcium Scandium Titanium Vanadium Chromium Manganese Iron Cobalt Nickel Copper Zinc Gallium Germanium Arsenic Selenium Bromine KryptonRubidium Strontium Yttrium Zirconium Niobium Molybdenum Technetium Ruthenium Rhodium Palladium Silver Cadmium Indium Tin Antimony Tellurium Iodine XenonCaesium Barium Lanthanum Cerium Praseodymium Neodymium Promethium Samarium Europium Gadolinium Terbium Dysprosium Holmium Erbium Thulium Ytterbium Lutetium Hafnium Tantalum Tungsten Rhenium Osmium Iridium Platinum Gold Mercury element Thallium Lead Bismuth Polonium Astatine RadonFrancium Radium Actinium Thorium Protactinium Uranium Neptunium Plutonium Americium Curium Berkelium Californium Einsteinium Fermium Mendelevium Nobelium Lawrencium Rutherfordium Dubnium Seaborgium Bohrium Hassium Meitnerium Darmstadtium Roentgenium Copernicium Nihonium Flerovium Moscovium Livermorium Tennessine Oganesson Cd Hg Cngold mercury thalliumAtomic number Z 80Groupgroup 12Periodperiod 6Block d blockElectron configuration Xe 4f14 5d10 6s2Electrons per shell2 8 18 32 18 2Physical propertiesPhase at STPliquidMelting point234 3210 K 38 8290 C 37 8922 F Boiling point629 88 K 356 73 C 674 11 F Density near r t 13 534 g cm3Triple point234 3156 K 1 65 10 7 kPaCritical point1750 K 172 00 MPaHeat of fusion2 29 kJ molHeat of vaporization59 11 kJ molMolar heat capacity27 983 J mol K Vapor pressureP Pa 1 10 100 1 k 10 k 100 kat T K 315 350 393 449 523 629Atomic propertiesOxidation states 2 1 2 a mildly basic oxide ElectronegativityPauling scale 2 00Ionization energies1st 1007 1 kJ mol2nd 1810 kJ mol3rd 3300 kJ molAtomic radiusempirical 151 pmCovalent radius132 5 pmVan der Waals radius155 pmSpectral lines of mercuryOther propertiesNatural occurrenceprimordialCrystal structure rhombohedralSpeed of soundliquid 1451 4 m s at 20 C Thermal expansion60 4 µm m K at 25 C Thermal conductivity8 30 W m K Electrical resistivity961 nW m at 25 C Magnetic orderingdiamagnetic 2 Molar magnetic susceptibility 33 44 10 6 cm3 mol 293 K 3 CAS Number7439 97 6HistoryDiscoveryAncient Egyptians before 1500 BCE Symbol Hg from its Latin name hydrargyrum itself from Greek hydrargyros water silver Main isotopes of mercuryveIso tope Decayabun dance half life t1 2 mode pro duct194Hg syn 444 y e 194Au195Hg syn 9 9 h e 195Au196Hg 0 15 stable197Hg syn 64 14 h e 197Au198Hg 10 04 stable199Hg 16 94 stable200Hg 23 14 stable201Hg 13 17 stable202Hg 29 74 stable203Hg syn 46 612 d b 203Tl204Hg 6 82 stable Category Mercury element viewtalkedit referencesMercury occurs in deposits throughout the world mostly as cinnabar mercuric sulfide The red pigment vermilion is obtained by grinding natural cinnabar or synthetic mercuric sulfide Mercury is used in thermometers barometers manometers sphygmomanometers float valves mercury switches mercury relays fluorescent lamps and other devices though concerns about the element s toxicity have led to mercury thermometers and sphygmomanometers being largely phased out in clinical environments in favor of alternatives such as alcohol or galinstan filled glass thermometers and thermistor or infrared based electronic instruments Likewise mechanical pressure gauges and electronic strain gauge sensors have replaced mercury sphygmomanometers Mercury and mercury compounds remain in use in scientific research applications and in amalgam for dental restoration in some locales and in some food manufacturing operations In food manufacturing mercuric chloride is used in the starch extraction process during rice corn and wheat refining to inhibit starch degrading enzymes 5 6 It is also used in fluorescent lighting Electricity passed through mercury vapor in a fluorescent lamp produces short wave ultraviolet light which then causes the phosphor in the tube to fluoresce making visible light Mercury poisoning can result from exposure to water soluble forms of mercury such as mercuric chloride or methylmercury by inhalation of mercury vapor or by ingesting any form of mercury Mercury poisoning is intensified with lead co exposures Concurrent mercury and lead exposures are considered one risk factor for autism 7 8 9 Contents 1 Properties 1 1 Physical properties 1 2 Chemical properties 1 2 1 Amalgams 1 3 Isotopes 2 Etymology 3 History 4 Occurrence 5 Chemistry 5 1 Compounds of mercury I 5 2 Compounds of mercury II 5 3 Organomercury compounds 6 Applications 6 1 Medicine 6 2 Production of chlorine and caustic soda 6 3 Laboratory uses 6 4 Niche uses 6 4 1 Cosmetics 6 4 2 Skin whitening 6 5 Firearms 6 6 Historic uses 6 6 1 Historic medicinal uses 7 Toxicity and safety 7 1 Dietary exposures to mercury 7 2 Releases in the environment 7 3 Sediment contamination 7 4 Occupational exposure 7 5 Fish 7 6 Cosmetics 7 7 Effects and symptoms of mercury poisoning 7 8 Treatment 8 Regulations 8 1 International 8 2 United States 8 3 European Union 8 4 Norway 8 5 Sweden 8 6 Denmark 9 See also 10 References 11 Further reading 12 External linksPropertiesPhysical properties An old 10 pound coin density 7 6 g cm3 floats on mercury due to the combination of the buoyant force and surface tension Mercury is a heavy silvery white metal that is liquid at room temperature Compared to other metals it is a poor conductor of heat but a fair conductor of electricity 11 It has a freezing point of 38 83 C and a boiling point of 356 73 C 12 13 14 both the lowest of any stable metal although preliminary experiments on copernicium and flerovium have indicated that they have even lower boiling points 15 This effect is due to lanthanide contraction and relativistic contraction reducing the radius of the outermost electrons and thus weakening the metallic bonding in mercury 13 Upon freezing the volume of mercury decreases by 3 59 and its density changes from 13 69 g cm3 when liquid to 14 184 g cm3 when solid The coefficient of volume expansion is 181 59 10 6 at 0 C 181 71 10 6 at 20 C and 182 50 10 6 at 100 C per C Solid mercury is malleable and ductile and can be cut with a knife 16 Table of thermal and physical properties of liquid mercury 17 18 Temperature C Density kg m 3 Specific heat kJ kg K Kinematic viscosity m 2 s Conductivity W m K Thermal diffusivity m 2 s Prandtl Number Bulk modulus K 1 0 13628 22 0 1403 1 24E 07 8 2 4 30E 06 0 0288 0 00018120 13579 04 0 1394 1 14E 07 8 69 4 61E 06 0 0249 0 00018150 13505 84 0 1386 1 04E 07 9 4 5 02E 06 0 0207 0 000181100 13384 58 0 1373 9 28E 08 10 51 5 72E 06 0 0162 0 000181150 13264 28 0 1365 8 53E 08 11 49 6 35E 06 0 0134 0 000181200 13144 94 0 157 8 02E 08 12 34 6 91E 06 0 0116 0 000181250 13025 6 0 1357 7 65E 08 13 07 7 41E 06 0 0103 0 000183315 5 12847 0 134 6 73E 08 14 02 8 15E 06 0 0083 0 000186Chemical properties Mercury does not react with most acids such as dilute sulfuric acid although oxidizing acids such as concentrated sulfuric acid and nitric acid or aqua regia dissolve it to give sulfate nitrate and chloride Like silver mercury reacts with atmospheric hydrogen sulfide Mercury reacts with solid sulfur flakes which are used in mercury spill kits to absorb mercury spill kits also use activated carbon and powdered zinc 19 Amalgams Mercury discharge spectral calibration lamp Mercury dissolves many metals such as gold and silver to form amalgams Iron is an exception and iron flasks have traditionally been used to trade mercury Several other first row transition metals with the exception of manganese copper and zinc are also resistant in forming amalgams Other elements that do not readily form amalgams with mercury include platinum 20 21 Sodium amalgam is a common reducing agent in organic synthesis and is also used in high pressure sodium lamps Mercury readily combines with aluminium to form a mercury aluminium amalgam when the two pure metals come into contact Since the amalgam destroys the aluminium oxide layer which protects metallic aluminium from oxidizing in depth as in iron rusting even small amounts of mercury can seriously corrode aluminium For this reason mercury is not allowed aboard an aircraft under most circumstances because of the risk of it forming an amalgam with exposed aluminium parts in the aircraft 22 Mercury embrittlement is the most common type of liquid metal embrittlement Isotopes Main article Isotopes of mercury There are seven stable isotopes of mercury with 202 Hg being the most abundant 29 86 The longest lived radioisotopes are 194 Hg with a half life of 444 years and 203 Hg with a half life of 46 612 days Most of the remaining radioisotopes have half lives that are less than a day 199 Hg and 201 Hg are the most often studied NMR active nuclei having spins of 1 2 and 3 2 respectively 11 For the synthesis of precious metals two stable mercury isotopes are of potential interest the trace isotope 196 Hg and the more abundant 198 Hg Both are one neutron removed from 197 Hg a radioisotope which decays to 197 Au the only known stable isotope of gold However the rarity of 196 Hg and the high energy requirements of nuclear reactions knocking out a neutron from 198 Hg either via photodisintegration or via a n 2n reaction involving fast neutrons have thus far ruled out practical application of this real philosopher s stone Etymology The symbol for the planet Mercury has been used since ancient times to represent the element Hg is the modern chemical symbol for mercury It is an abbreviation of hydrargyrum a romanized form of the ancient Greek name for mercury ὑdrargyros hydrargyros Hydrargyros is a Greek compound word meaning water silver from ὑdr hydr the root of ὕdwr hydor water and ἄrgyros argyros silver Like the English name quicksilver living silver this name was due to mercury s liquid and shiny properties The modern English name mercury comes from the planet Mercury In medieval alchemy the seven known metals quicksilver gold silver copper iron lead and tin were associated with the seven planets Quicksilver was associated with the fastest planet which had been named after the Roman god Mercury who was associated with speed and mobility The astrological symbol for the planet became one of the alchemical symbols for the metal and Mercury became an alternative name for the metal Mercury is the only metal for which the alchemical planetary name survives as it was decided it was preferable to quicksilver as a chemical name 23 24 HistoryThe mercury compound known as cinnabar was recorded as a component of the red pigments in Paleolithic cave paintings of 30 000 years ago in Spain and France 25 Mercury was found in Egyptian tombs that date from 1500 BC 26 In China and Tibet mercury use was thought to prolong life heal fractures and maintain generally good health although it is now known that exposure to mercury vapor leads to serious adverse health effects 27 The first emperor of a unified China Qin Shǐ Huang Di allegedly buried in a tomb that contained rivers of flowing mercury on a model of the land he ruled representative of the rivers of China was reportedly killed by drinking a mercury and powdered jade mixture formulated by Qin alchemists intended as an elixir of immortality 28 29 Khumarawayh ibn Ahmad ibn Tulun the second Tulunid ruler of Egypt r 884 896 known for his extravagance and profligacy reportedly built a basin filled with mercury on which he would lie on top of air filled cushions and be rocked to sleep 30 In November 2014 large quantities of mercury were discovered in a chamber 60 feet below the 1800 year old pyramid known as the Temple of the Feathered Serpent the third largest pyramid of Teotihuacan Mexico along with jade statues jaguar remains a box filled with carved shells and rubber balls 31 Aristotle recounts that Daedalus made a wooden statue of Venus move by pouring quicksilver in its interior 32 In Greek mythology Daedalus gave the appearance of voice in his statues using quicksilver The ancient Greeks used cinnabar mercury sulfide in ointments the ancient Egyptians and the Romans used it in cosmetics In Lamanai once a major city of the Maya civilization a pool of mercury was found under a marker in a Mesoamerican ballcourt 33 34 By 500 BC mercury was used to make amalgams Medieval Latin amalgama alloy of mercury with other metals 35 Alchemists thought of mercury as the First Matter from which all metals were formed They believed that different metals could be produced by varying the quality and quantity of sulfur contained within the mercury The purest of these was gold and mercury was called for in attempts at the transmutation of base or impure metals into gold which was the goal of many alchemists 23 The mines in Almaden Spain Monte Amiata Italy and Idrija now Slovenia dominated mercury production from the opening of the mine in Almaden 2500 years ago until new deposits were found at the end of the 19th century 36 OccurrenceSee also Category Mercury minerals and Category Mercury mines Mercury is an extremely rare element in Earth s crust having an average crustal abundance by mass of only 0 08 parts per million ppm 37 Because it does not blend geochemically with those elements that constitute the majority of the crustal mass mercury ores can be extraordinarily concentrated considering the element s abundance in ordinary rock The richest mercury ores contain up to 2 5 mercury by mass and even the leanest concentrated deposits are at least 0 1 mercury 12 000 times average crustal abundance It is found either as a native metal rare or in cinnabar metacinnabar sphalerite corderoite livingstonite and other minerals with cinnabar HgS being the most common ore 38 39 Mercury ores often occur in hot springs or other volcanic regions 40 Beginning in 1558 with the invention of the patio process to extract silver from ore using mercury mercury became an essential resource in the economy of Spain and its American colonies Mercury was used to extract silver from the lucrative mines in New Spain and Peru Initially the Spanish Crown s mines in Almaden in Southern Spain supplied all the mercury for the colonies 41 Mercury deposits were discovered in the New World and more than 100 000 tons of mercury were mined from the region of Huancavelica Peru over the course of three centuries following the discovery of deposits there in 1563 The patio process and later pan amalgamation process continued to create great demand for mercury to treat silver ores until the late 19th century 42 Native mercury with cinnabar Socrates mine Sonoma County California Cinnabar sometimes alters to native mercury in the oxidized zone of mercury deposits Former mines in Italy the United States and Mexico which once produced a large proportion of the world supply have now been completely mined out or in the case of Slovenia Idrija and Spain Almaden shut down due to the fall of the price of mercury Nevada s McDermitt Mine the last mercury mine in the United States closed in 1992 The price of mercury has been highly volatile over the years and in 2006 was 650 per 76 pound 34 46 kg flask 43 Mercury is extracted by heating cinnabar in a current of air and condensing the vapor The equation for this extraction is HgS O2 Hg SO2In 2005 China was the top producer of mercury with almost two thirds global share followed by Kyrgyzstan 44 47 Several other countries are believed to have unrecorded production of mercury from copper electrowinning processes and by recovery from effluents Because of the high toxicity of mercury both the mining of cinnabar and refining for mercury are hazardous and historic causes of mercury poisoning 45 In China prison labor was used by a private mining company as recently as the 1950s to develop new cinnabar mines Thousands of prisoners were used by the Luo Xi mining company to establish new tunnels 46 Worker health in functioning mines is at high risk A newspaper claimed that an unidentified European Union directive calling for energy efficient lightbulbs to be made mandatory by 2012 encouraged China to re open cinnabar mines to obtain the mercury required for CFL bulb manufacture Environmental dangers have been a concern particularly in the southern cities of Foshan and Guangzhou and in Guizhou province in the southwest 46 Abandoned mercury mine processing sites often contain very hazardous waste piles of roasted cinnabar calcines Water run off from such sites is a recognized source of ecological damage Former mercury mines may be suited for constructive re use For example in 1976 Santa Clara County California purchased the historic Almaden Quicksilver Mine and created a county park on the site after conducting extensive safety and environmental analysis of the property 47 ChemistrySee also Category Mercury compounds All known mercury compounds exhibit one of two positive oxidation states I and II Experiments have failed to unequivocally demonstrate any higher oxidation states both the claimed 1976 electrosynthesis of an unstable Hg III species and 2007 cryogenic isolation of HgF4 have disputed interpretations and remain difficult if not impossible to reproduce 48 Compounds of mercury I Unlike its lighter neighbors cadmium and zinc mercury usually forms simple stable compounds with metal metal bonds Most mercury I compounds are diamagnetic and feature the dimeric cation Hg2 2 Stable derivatives include the chloride and nitrate Treatment of Hg I compounds complexation with strong ligands such as sulfide cyanide etc induces disproportionation to Hg2 and elemental mercury 49 Mercury I chloride a colorless solid also known as calomel is really the compound with the formula Hg2Cl2 with the connectivity Cl Hg Hg Cl It is a standard in electrochemistry It reacts with chlorine to give mercuric chloride which resists further oxidation Mercury I hydride a colorless gas has the formula HgH containing no Hg Hg bond Indicative of its tendency to bond to itself mercury forms mercury polycations which consist of linear chains of mercury centers capped with a positive charge One example is Hg2 3 AsF 6 2 50 Compounds of mercury II Mercury II is the most common oxidation state and is the main one in nature as well All four mercuric halides are known They form tetrahedral complexes with other ligands but the halides adopt linear coordination geometry somewhat like Ag does Best known is mercury II chloride an easily sublimating white solid HgCl2 forms coordination complexes that are typically tetrahedral e g HgCl2 4 Mercury II oxide the main oxide of mercury arises when the metal is exposed to air for long periods at elevated temperatures It reverts to the elements upon heating near 400 C as was demonstrated by Joseph Priestley in an early synthesis of pure oxygen 19 Hydroxides of mercury are poorly characterized as they are for its neighbors gold and silver Being a soft metal mercury forms very stable derivatives with the heavier chalcogens Preeminent is mercury II sulfide HgS which occurs in nature as the ore cinnabar and is the brilliant pigment vermillion Like ZnS HgS crystallizes in two forms the reddish cubic form and the black zinc blende form 11 The latter sometimes occurs naturally as metacinnabar 39 Mercury II selenide HgSe and mercury II telluride HgTe are also known these as well as various derivatives e g mercury cadmium telluride and mercury zinc telluride being semiconductors useful as infrared detector materials 51 Mercury II salts form a variety of complex derivatives with ammonia These include Millon s base Hg2N the one dimensional polymer salts of HgNH 2 n and fusible white precipitate or Hg NH3 2 Cl2 Known as Nessler s reagent potassium tetraiodomercurate II HgI2 4 is still occasionally used to test for ammonia owing to its tendency to form the deeply colored iodide salt of Millon s base Mercury fulminate is a detonator widely used in explosives 11 Organomercury compounds Main article Organomercury compound Organic mercury compounds are historically important but are of little industrial value in the western world Mercury II salts are a rare example of simple metal complexes that react directly with aromatic rings Organomercury compounds are always divalent and usually two coordinate and linear geometry Unlike organocadmium and organozinc compounds organomercury compounds do not react with water They usually have the formula HgR2 which are often volatile or HgRX which are often solids where R is aryl or alkyl and X is usually halide or acetate Methylmercury a generic term for compounds with the formula CH3HgX is a dangerous family of compounds that are often found in polluted water 52 They arise by a process known as biomethylation Applications The bulb of a mercury in glass thermometer Mercury is used primarily for the manufacture of industrial chemicals or for electrical and electronic applications It is used in some liquid in glass thermometers especially those used to measure high temperatures A still increasing amount is used as gaseous mercury in fluorescent lamps while most of the other applications are slowly being phased out due to health and safety regulations In some applications mercury is replaced with less toxic but considerably more expensive Galinstan alloy 53 Medicine See also Amalgam dentistry Amalgam filling Mercury and its compounds have been used in medicine although they are much less common today than they once were now that the toxic effects of mercury and its compounds are more widely understood An example of the early therapeutic application of mercury of was published in 1787 by James Lind 54 The first edition of the Merck s Manual 1899 featured many mercuric compounds 55 such as Mercauro Mercuro iodo hemol Mercury ammonium chloride Mercury Benzoate Mercuric Mercury Bichloride Corrosive Mercuric Chloride U S P Mercury Chloride Mild Mercury Cyanide Mercury Succinimide Mercury Iodide Red Mercury Biniodide Mercury Iodide Yellow Mercury Proto iodide Black Hahnemann Soluble Mercury Oxide Red Mercury Oxide Yellow Mercury Oxide Mercury Salicylate Mercury Succinimide Mercury Imido succinate Mercury Sulphate Basic Mercury Subsulphate Turpeth Mineral Mercury Tannate Mercury Ammonium Chloride Mercury is an ingredient in dental amalgams Thiomersal called Thimerosal in the United States is an organic compound used as a preservative in vaccines though this use is in decline 56 Thiomersal is metabolized to ethyl mercury Although it was widely speculated that this mercury based preservative could cause or trigger autism in children scientific studies showed no evidence supporting any such link 57 Nevertheless thiomersal has been removed from or reduced to trace amounts in all U S vaccines recommended for children 6 years of age and under with the exception of inactivated influenza vaccine 58 Another mercury compound merbromin Mercurochrome is a topical antiseptic used for minor cuts and scrapes that is still in use in some countries Mercury in the form of one of its common ores cinnabar is used in various traditional medicines especially in traditional Chinese medicine Review of its safety has found that cinnabar can lead to significant mercury intoxication when heated consumed in overdose or taken long term and can have adverse effects at therapeutic doses though effects from therapeutic doses are typically reversible Although this form of mercury appears to be less toxic than other forms its use in traditional Chinese medicine has not yet been justified as the therapeutic basis for the use of cinnabar is not clear 59 Today the use of mercury in medicine has greatly declined in all respects especially in developed countries Thermometers and sphygmomanometers containing mercury were invented in the early 18th and late 19th centuries respectively In the early 21st century their use is declining and has been banned in some countries states and medical institutions In 2002 the U S Senate passed legislation to phase out the sale of non prescription mercury thermometers In 2003 Washington and Maine became the first states to ban mercury blood pressure devices 60 Mercury compounds are found in some over the counter drugs including topical antiseptics stimulant laxatives diaper rash ointment eye drops and nasal sprays The FDA has inadequate data to establish general recognition of the safety and effectiveness of the mercury ingredients in these products 61 Mercury is still used in some diuretics although substitutes now exist for most therapeutic uses Production of chlorine and caustic soda Chlorine is produced from sodium chloride common salt NaCl using electrolysis to separate the metallic sodium from the chlorine gas Usually the salt is dissolved in water to produce a brine By products of any such chloralkali process are hydrogen H2 and sodium hydroxide NaOH which is commonly called caustic soda or lye By far the largest use of mercury 62 63 in the late 20th century was in the mercury cell process also called the Castner Kellner process where metallic sodium is formed as an amalgam at a cathode made from mercury this sodium is then reacted with water to produce sodium hydroxide 64 Many of the industrial mercury releases of the 20th century came from this process although modern plants claimed to be safe in this regard 63 After about 1985 all new chloralkali production facilities that were built in the United States used membrane cell or diaphragm cell technologies to produce chlorine Laboratory uses Some medical thermometers especially those for high temperatures are filled with mercury they are gradually disappearing In the United States non prescription sale of mercury fever thermometers has been banned since 2003 65 Some transit telescopes use a basin of mercury to form a flat and absolutely horizontal mirror useful in determining an absolute vertical or perpendicular reference Concave horizontal parabolic mirrors may be formed by rotating liquid mercury on a disk the parabolic form of the liquid thus formed reflecting and focusing incident light Such liquid mirror telescopes are cheaper than conventional large mirror telescopes by up to a factor of 100 but the mirror cannot be tilted and always points straight up 66 67 68 Liquid mercury is a part of popular secondary reference electrode called the calomel electrode in electrochemistry as an alternative to the standard hydrogen electrode The calomel electrode is used to work out the electrode potential of half cells 69 Last but not least the triple point of mercury 38 8344 C is a fixed point used as a temperature standard for the International Temperature Scale ITS 90 11 In polarography both the dropping mercury electrode 70 and the hanging mercury drop electrode 71 use elemental mercury This use allows a new uncontaminated electrode to be available for each measurement or each new experiment Mercury containing compounds are also of use in the field of structural biology Mercuric compounds such as mercury II chloride or potassium tetraiodomercurate II can be added to protein crystals in an effort to create heavy atom derivatives that can be used to solve the phase problem in X ray crystallography via isomorphous replacement or anomalous scattering methods Niche uses Gaseous mercury is used in mercury vapor lamps and some neon sign type advertising signs and fluorescent lamps Those low pressure lamps emit very spectrally narrow lines which are traditionally used in optical spectroscopy for calibration of spectral position Commercial calibration lamps are sold for this purpose reflecting a fluorescent ceiling light into a spectrometer is a common calibration practice 72 Gaseous mercury is also found in some electron tubes including ignitrons thyratrons and mercury arc rectifiers 73 It is also used in specialist medical care lamps for skin tanning and disinfection 74 Gaseous mercury is added to cold cathode argon filled lamps to increase the ionization and electrical conductivity An argon filled lamp without mercury will have dull spots and will fail to light correctly Lighting containing mercury can be bombarded oven pumped only once When added to neon filled tubes the light produced will be inconsistent red blue spots until the initial burning in process is completed eventually it will light a consistent dull off blue color 75 The deep violet glow of a mercury vapor discharge in a germicidal lamp whose spectrum is rich in invisible ultraviolet radiation Skin tanner containing a low pressure mercury vapor lamp and two infrared lamps which act both as light source and electrical ballast Assorted types of fluorescent lamps The miniaturized Deep Space Atomic Clock is a linear ion trap based mercury ion clock designed for precise and real time radio navigation in deep space The Deep Space Atomic Clock DSAC under development by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory utilises mercury in a linear ion trap based clock The novel use of mercury allows very compact atomic clocks with low energy requirements and is therefore ideal for space probes and Mars missions 76 Cosmetics Mercury as thiomersal is widely used in the manufacture of mascara In 2008 Minnesota became the first state in the United States to ban intentionally added mercury in cosmetics giving it a tougher standard than the federal government 77 A study in geometric mean urine mercury concentration identified a previously unrecognized source of exposure skin care products to inorganic mercury among New York City residents Population based biomonitoring also showed that mercury concentration levels are higher in consumers of seafood and fish meals 78 Skin whitening Mercury is effective as an active ingredient in skin whitening compounds used to depigment skin 79 The Minamata Convention on Mercury limits the concentration of mercury in such whiteners to 1 part per million However as of 2022 many commercially sold whitener products continue to exceed that limit and are considered toxic 80 Firearms Mercury II fulminate is a primary explosive which is mainly used as a primer of a cartridge in firearms Historic uses A single pole single throw SPST mercury switch Mercury manometer to measure pressure Many historic applications made use of the peculiar physical properties of mercury especially as a dense liquid and a liquid metal Quantities of liquid mercury ranging from 90 to 600 grams 3 2 to 21 2 oz have been recovered from elite Maya tombs 100 700 AD 31 or ritual caches at six sites This mercury may have been used in bowls as mirrors for divinatory purposes Five of these date to the Classic Period of Maya civilization c 250 900 but one example predated this 81 In Islamic Spain it was used for filling decorative pools Later the American artist Alexander Calder built a mercury fountain for the Spanish Pavilion at the 1937 World Exhibition in Paris The fountain is now on display at the Fundacio Joan Miro in Barcelona 82 Mercury was used inside wobbler lures Its heavy liquid form made it useful since the lures made an attractive irregular movement when the mercury moved inside the plug Such use was stopped due to environmental concerns but illegal preparation of modern fishing plugs has occurred The Fresnel lenses of old lighthouses used to float and rotate in a bath of mercury which acted like a bearing 83 Mercury sphygmomanometers blood pressure meter barometers diffusion pumps coulometers and many other laboratory instruments took advantage of mercury s properties as a very dense opaque liquid with a nearly linear thermal expansion 84 As an electrically conductive liquid it was used in mercury switches including home mercury light switches installed prior to 1970 tilt switches used in old fire detectors and tilt switches in some home thermostats 85 Owing to its acoustic properties mercury was used as the propagation medium in delay line memory devices used in early digital computers of the mid 20th century Experimental mercury vapor turbines were installed to increase the efficiency of fossil fuel electrical power plants 86 The South Meadow power plant in Hartford CT employed mercury as its working fluid in a binary configuration with a secondary water circuit for a number of years starting in the late 1920s in a drive to improve plant efficiency Several other plants were built including the Schiller Station in Portsmouth NH which went online in 1950 The idea did not catch on industry wide due to the weight and toxicity of mercury as well as the advent of supercritical steam plants in later years 87 88 Similarly liquid mercury was used as a coolant for some nuclear reactors however sodium is proposed for reactors cooled with liquid metal because the high density of mercury requires much more energy to circulate as coolant 89 Mercury was a propellant for early ion engines in electric space propulsion systems Advantages were mercury s high molecular weight low ionization energy low dual ionization energy high liquid density and liquid storability at room temperature Disadvantages were concerns regarding environmental impact associated with ground testing and concerns about eventual cooling and condensation of some of the propellant on the spacecraft in long duration operations The first spaceflight to use electric propulsion was a mercury fueled ion thruster developed at NASA Glenn Research Center and flown on the Space Electric Rocket Test SERT 1 spacecraft launched by NASA at its Wallops Flight Facility in 1964 The SERT 1 flight was followed up by the SERT 2 flight in 1970 Mercury and caesium were preferred propellants for ion engines until Hughes Research Laboratory performed studies finding xenon gas to be a suitable replacement Xenon is now the preferred propellant for ion engines as it has a high molecular weight little or no reactivity due to its noble gas nature and has a high liquid density under mild cryogenic storage 90 91 Other applications made use of the chemical properties of mercury The mercury battery is a non rechargeable electrochemical battery a primary cell that was common in the middle of the 20th century It was used in a wide variety of applications and was available in various sizes particularly button sizes Its constant voltage output and long shelf life gave it a niche use for camera light meters and hearing aids The mercury cell was effectively banned in most countries in the 1990s due to concerns about the mercury contaminating landfills 92 Mercury was used for preserving wood developing daguerreotypes silvering mirrors anti fouling paints discontinued in 1990 herbicides discontinued in 1995 interior latex paint handheld maze games cleaning and road leveling devices in cars Mercury compounds have been used in antiseptics laxatives antidepressants and in antisyphilitics It was allegedly used by allied spies to sabotage Luftwaffe planes a mercury paste was applied to bare aluminium causing the metal to rapidly corrode this would cause structural failures 93 Chloralkali process The largest industrial use of mercury during the 20th century was in electrolysis for separating chlorine and sodium from brine mercury being the anode of the Castner Kellner process The chlorine was used for bleaching paper hence the location of many of these plants near paper mills while the sodium was used to make sodium hydroxide for soaps and other cleaning products 94 Although this usage has largely been discontinued and replaced with other technologies that utilize membrane cells 94 the World Chlorine Council Report indicates there were still eleven manufacturing plants operating in North and South America in 2020 95 As electrodes in some types of electrolysis batteries mercury cells sodium hydroxide and chlorine production handheld games catalysts insecticides Mercury was once used as a gun barrel bore cleaner 96 97 From the mid 18th to the mid 19th centuries a process called carroting was used in the making of felt hats Animal skins were rinsed in an orange solution the term carroting arose from this color of the mercury compound mercuric nitrate Hg NO3 2 2H2O 98 This process separated the fur from the pelt and matted it together This solution and the vapors it produced were highly toxic The United States Public Health Service banned the use of mercury in the felt industry in December 1941 The psychological symptoms associated with mercury poisoning inspired the phrase mad as a hatter Lewis Carroll s Mad Hatter in his book Alice s Adventures in Wonderland was a play on words based on the older phrase but the character himself does not exhibit symptoms of mercury poisoning 99 Gold and silver mining Historically mercury was used extensively in hydraulic gold mining in order to help the gold to sink through the flowing water gravel mixture Thin gold particles may form mercury gold amalgam and therefore increase the gold recovery rates 11 Large scale use of mercury stopped in the 1960s However mercury is still used in small scale often clandestine gold prospecting It is estimated that 45 000 metric tons of mercury used in California for placer mining have not been recovered 100 Mercury was also used in silver mining 101 Historic medicinal uses Mercury I chloride also known as calomel or mercurous chloride has been used in traditional medicine as a diuretic topical disinfectant and laxative Mercury II chloride also known as mercuric chloride or corrosive sublimate was once used to treat syphilis along with other mercury compounds although it is so toxic that sometimes the symptoms of its toxicity were confused with those of the syphilis it was believed to treat 102 It is also used as a disinfectant Blue mass a pill or syrup in which mercury is the main ingredient was prescribed throughout the 19th century for numerous conditions including constipation depression child bearing and toothaches 103 In the early 20th century mercury was administered to children yearly as a laxative and dewormer and it was used in teething powders for infants The mercury containing organohalide merbromin sometimes sold as Mercurochrome is still widely used but has been banned in some countries such as the U S 104 Toxicity and safetySee also Mercury poisoning and Mercury cycle Mercury HazardsGHS labelling Pictograms Signal word DangerHazard statements H330 H360D H372 H410Precautionary statements P201 P233 P260 P273 P280 P304 P308 P310 P313 P340 P391 P403 105 NFPA 704 fire diamond 200 Mercury and most of its compounds are extremely toxic and must be handled with care in cases of spills involving mercury such as from certain thermometers or fluorescent light bulbs specific cleaning procedures are used to avoid exposure and contain the spill 106 Protocols call for physically merging smaller droplets on hard surfaces combining them into a single larger pool for easier removal with an eyedropper or for gently pushing the spill into a disposable container Vacuum cleaners and brooms cause greater dispersal of the mercury and should not be used Afterwards fine sulfur zinc or some other powder that readily forms an amalgam alloy with mercury at ordinary temperatures is sprinkled over the area before itself being collected and properly disposed of Cleaning porous surfaces and clothing is not effective at removing all traces of mercury and it is therefore advised to discard these kinds of items should they be exposed to a mercury spill Mercury can be absorbed through the skin and mucous membranes and mercury vapors can be inhaled so containers of mercury are securely sealed to avoid spills and evaporation Heating of mercury or of compounds of mercury that may decompose when heated should be carried out with adequate ventilation in order to minimize exposure to mercury vapor The most toxic forms of mercury are its organic compounds such as dimethylmercury and methylmercury Inorganic mercury by itself however is especially toxic with co exposures to lead during child development 107 108 109 Exposures to inorganic mercury are linked to the development of type 2 diabetes in the human population 110 111 Mercury can cause both chronic and acute poisoning Dietary exposures to mercury In 2021 the United States Congress released a report on the problem of heavy metals in baby foods including mercury and lead 112 113 114 115 Scholars have studied the effects of dietary inorganic mercury exposure from processed food consumption 116 Releases in the environment Amount of atmospheric mercury deposited at Wyoming s Upper Fremont Glacier over the last 270 years Preindustrial deposition rates of mercury from the atmosphere may be about 4 ng 1 L of ice deposit Although that can be considered a natural level of exposure regional or global sources have significant effects Volcanic eruptions can increase the atmospheric source by 4 6 times 117 Natural sources such as volcanoes are responsible for approximately half of atmospheric mercury emissions The human generated half can be divided into the following estimated percentages 118 119 120 65 from stationary combustion of which coal fired power plants are the largest aggregate source 40 of U S mercury emissions in 1999 This includes power plants fueled with gas where the mercury has not been removed Emissions from coal combustion are between one and two orders of magnitude higher than emissions from oil combustion depending on the country 118 11 from gold production The three largest point sources for mercury emissions in the U S are the three largest gold mines Hydrogeochemical release of mercury from gold mine tailings has been accounted as a significant source of atmospheric mercury in eastern Canada 121 6 8 from non ferrous metal production typically smelters 6 4 from cement production 3 0 from waste disposal including municipal and hazardous waste crematoria and sewage sludge incineration 3 0 from caustic soda production 1 4 from pig iron and steel production 1 1 from mercury production mainly for batteries 2 0 from other sources The above percentages are estimates of the global human caused mercury emissions in 2000 excluding biomass burning an important source in some regions 118 Recent atmospheric mercury contamination in outdoor urban air was measured at 0 01 0 02 mg m3 A 2001 study measured mercury levels in 12 indoor sites chosen to represent a cross section of building types locations and ages in the New York area This study found mercury concentrations significantly elevated over outdoor concentrations at a range of 0 0065 0 523 mg m3 The average was 0 069 mg m3 122 Artificial lakes or reservoirs may be contaminated with mercury due to the absorption by the water of mercury from submerged trees and soil For example Williston Lake in northern British Columbia created by the damming of the Peace River in 1968 is still sufficiently contaminated with mercury that it is inadvisable to consume fish from the lake 123 124 Permafrost soils have accumulated mercury through atmospheric deposition 125 and permafrost thaw in cryospheric regions is also a mechanism of mercury release into lakes rivers and wetlands 126 127 Mercury also enters into the environment through the improper disposal e g land filling incineration of certain products Products containing mercury include auto parts batteries fluorescent bulbs medical products thermometers and thermostats 128 Due to health concerns see below toxics use reduction efforts are cutting back or eliminating mercury in such products For example the amount of mercury sold in thermostats in the United States decreased from 14 5 tons in 2004 to 3 9 tons in 2007 129 Most thermometers now use pigmented alcohol instead of mercury Mercury thermometers are still occasionally used in the medical field because they are more accurate than alcohol thermometers though both are commonly being replaced by electronic thermometers and less commonly by galinstan thermometers Mercury thermometers are still widely used for certain scientific applications because of their greater accuracy and working range Historically one of the largest releases was from the Colex plant a lithium isotope separation plant at Oak Ridge Tennessee The plant operated in the 1950s and 1960s Records are incomplete and unclear but government commissions have estimated that some two million pounds of mercury are unaccounted for 130 A serious industrial disaster was the dumping of waste mercury compounds into Minamata Bay Japan between 1932 and 1968 It is estimated that over 3 000 people suffered various deformities severe mercury poisoning symptoms or death from what became known as Minamata disease 131 132 The tobacco plant readily absorbs and accumulates heavy metals such as mercury from the surrounding soil into its leaves These are subsequently inhaled during tobacco smoking 133 While mercury is a constituent of tobacco smoke 134 studies have largely failed to discover a significant correlation between smoking and Hg uptake by humans compared to sources such as occupational exposure fish consumption and amalgam tooth fillings 135 Sediment contamination Sediments within large urban industrial estuaries act as an important sink for point source and diffuse mercury pollution within catchments 136 A 2015 study of foreshore sediments from the Thames estuary measured total mercury at 0 01 to 12 07 mg kg with mean of 2 10 mg kg and median of 0 85 mg kg n 351 136 The highest mercury concentrations were shown to occur in and around the city of London in association with fine grain muds and high total organic carbon content 136 The strong affinity of mercury for carbon rich sediments has also been observed in salt marsh sediments of the River Mersey mean of 2 mg kg up to 5 mg kg 137 These concentrations are far higher than those shown in salt marsh river creek sediments of New Jersey and mangroves of Southern China which exhibit low mercury concentrations of about 0 2 mg kg 138 139 Occupational exposure EPA workers clean up residential mercury spill in 2004 Due to the health effects of mercury exposure industrial and commercial uses are regulated in many countries The World Health Organization OSHA and NIOSH all treat mercury as an occupational hazard and have established specific occupational exposure limits Environmental releases and disposal of mercury are regulated in the U S primarily by the United States Environmental Protection Agency Fish Main article Mercury in fish Fish and shellfish have a natural tendency to concentrate mercury in their bodies often in the form of methylmercury a highly toxic organic compound of mercury Species of fish that are high on the food chain such as shark swordfish king mackerel bluefin tuna albacore tuna and tilefish contain higher concentrations of mercury than others Because mercury and methylmercury are fat soluble they primarily accumulate in the viscera although they are also found throughout the muscle tissue 140 Mercury presence in fish muscles can be studied using non lethal muscle biopsies 141 Mercury present in prey fish accumulates in the predator that consumes them Since fish are less efficient at depurating than accumulating methylmercury methylmercury concentrations in the fish tissue increase over time Thus species that are high on the food chain amass body burdens of mercury that can be ten times higher than the species they consume This process is called biomagnification Mercury poisoning happened this way in Minamata Japan now called Minamata disease Cosmetics Some facial creams contain dangerous levels of mercury Most contain comparatively non toxic inorganic mercury but products containing highly toxic organic mercury have been encountered 142 143 Effects and symptoms of mercury poisoning Main article Mercury poisoning Toxic effects include damage to the brain kidneys and lungs Mercury poisoning can result in several diseases including acrodynia pink disease Hunter Russell syndrome and Minamata disease Symptoms typically include sensory impairment vision hearing speech disturbed sensation and a lack of coordination The type and degree of symptoms exhibited depend upon the individual toxin the dose and the method and duration of exposure Case control studies have shown effects such as tremors impaired cognitive skills and sleep disturbance in workers with chronic exposure to mercury vapor even at low concentrations in the range 0 7 42 mg m3 144 145 A study has shown that acute exposure 4 8 hours to calculated elemental mercury levels of 1 1 to 44 mg m3 resulted in chest pain dyspnea cough hemoptysis impairment of pulmonary function and evidence of interstitial pneumonitis 146 Acute exposure to mercury vapor has been shown to result in profound central nervous system effects including psychotic reactions characterized by delirium hallucinations and suicidal tendency Occupational exposure has resulted in broad ranging functional disturbance including erethism irritability excitability excessive shyness and insomnia With continuing exposure a fine tremor develops and may escalate to violent muscular spasms Tremor initially involves the hands and later spreads to the eyelids lips and tongue Long term low level exposure has been associated with more subtle symptoms of erethism including fatigue irritability loss of memory vivid dreams and depression 147 148 Treatment Research on the treatment of mercury poisoning is limited Currently available drugs for acute mercurial poisoning include chelators N acetyl D L penicillamine NAP British Anti Lewisite BAL 2 3 dimercapto 1 propanesulfonic acid DMPS and dimercaptosuccinic acid DMSA In one small study including 11 construction workers exposed to elemental mercury patients were treated with DMSA and NAP 149 Chelation therapy with both drugs resulted in the mobilization of a small fraction of the total estimated body mercury DMSA was able to increase the excretion of mercury to a greater extent than NAP 150 RegulationsInternational 140 countries agreed in the Minamata Convention on Mercury by the United Nations Environment Programme UNEP to prevent emissions 151 The convention was signed on 10 October 2013 152 United States In the United States the Environmental Protection Agency is charged with regulating and managing mercury contamination Several laws give the EPA this authority including the Clean Air Act the Clean Water Act the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act Additionally the Mercury Containing and Rechargeable Battery Management Act passed in 1996 phases out the use of mercury in batteries and provides for the efficient and cost effective disposal of many types of used batteries 153 North America contributed approximately 11 of the total global anthropogenic mercury emissions in 1995 154 The United States Clean Air Act passed in 1990 put mercury on a list of toxic pollutants that need to be controlled to the greatest possible extent Thus industries that release high concentrations of mercury into the environment agreed to install maximum achievable control technologies MACT In March 2005 the EPA promulgated a regulation 155 that added power plants to the list of sources that should be controlled and instituted a national cap and trade system States were given until November 2006 to impose stricter controls but after a legal challenge from several states the regulations were struck down by a federal appeals court on 8 February 2008 The rule was deemed not sufficient to protect the health of persons living near coal fired power plants given the negative effects documented in the EPA Study Report to Congress of 1998 156 However newer data published in 2015 showed that after introduction of the stricter controls mercury declined sharply indicating that the Clean Air Act had its intended impact 157 The EPA announced new rules for coal fired power plants on 22 December 2011 158 Cement kilns that burn hazardous waste are held to a looser standard than are standard hazardous waste incinerators in the United States and as a result are a disproportionate source of mercury pollution 159 European Union In the European Union the directive on the Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment see RoHS bans mercury from certain electrical and electronic products and limits the amount of mercury in other products to less than 1000 ppm 160 There are restrictions for mercury concentration in packaging the limit is 100 ppm for sum of mercury lead hexavalent chromium and cadmium and batteries the limit is 5 ppm 161 In July 2007 the European Union also banned mercury in non electrical measuring devices such as thermometers and barometers The ban applies to new devices only and contains exemptions for the health care sector and a two year grace period for manufacturers of barometers 162 Norway Norway enacted a total ban on the use of mercury in the manufacturing and import export of mercury products effective 1 January 2008 163 In 2002 several lakes in Norway were found to have a poor state of mercury pollution with an excess of 1 mg g of mercury in their sediment 164 In 2008 Norway s Minister of Environment Development Erik Solheim said Mercury is among the most dangerous environmental toxins Satisfactory alternatives to Hg in products are available and it is therefore fitting to induce a ban 165 Sweden Products containing mercury were banned in Sweden in 2009 166 167 Denmark In 2008 Denmark also banned dental mercury amalgam 165 except for molar masticating surface fillings in permanent adult teeth See alsoMercury pollution in the ocean Red mercury COLEX process isotopic separation References Standard Atomic Weights Mercury CIAAW 2011 Magnetic Susceptibility of the Elements And Inorganic Compounds PDF www d0 fnal gov Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory DO Experiment lagacy document Archived from the original PDF on 24 March 2004 Retrieved 18 February 2015 Weast Robert 1984 CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics Boca Raton Florida Chemical Rubber Company Publishing pp E110 ISBN 0 8493 0464 4 Definition of hydrargyrum Dictionary com Archived from the original on 12 August 2014 Retrieved 22 December 2022 Random House Webster s Unabridged Dictionary Guzman Maldonado H Paredes Lopez O September 1995 Amylolytic enzymes and products derived from 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compounds in European Union EIA Track 2007 Archived from the original on 28 April 2008 Retrieved 30 May 2008 Jones H 10 July 2007 EU bans mercury in barometers thermometers Reuters Archived from the original on 3 January 2009 Retrieved 12 September 2017 Norway to ban mercury EU Business 21 December 2007 Archived from the original on 21 January 2008 Retrieved 30 May 2008 Berg T Fjeld E Steinnes E 2006 Atmospheric mercury in Norway contributions from different sources The Science of the Total Environment 368 1 3 9 Bibcode 2006ScTEn 368 3B doi 10 1016 j scitotenv 2005 09 059 PMID 16310836 a b Edlich Richard F Rhoads Samantha K Cantrell Holly S Azavedo Sabrina M Newkirk Anthony T Banning Mercury Amalgam in the United States PDF USA Food and Drug Administration Archived from the original PDF on 1 November 2013 Sweden to ban mercury The Local 14 January 2009 Archived from the original on 28 August 2016 Retrieved 22 November 2016 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint bot original URL status unknown link Sweden may be forced to lift ban on mercury The Local 21 April 2012 Archived from the original on 28 August 2016 Retrieved 22 November 2016 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint bot original URL status unknown link Further readingJohnston Andrew Scott 15 September 2013 Mercury and the Making of California Mining Landscape and Race 1840 1890 TotalBoox TBX University Press of Colorado ISBN 9781457183997 OCLC 969039240 External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mercury element Wikiquote has quotations related to Mercury element Look up mercury in Wiktionary the free dictionary Chemistry in its element podcast MP3 from the Royal Society of Chemistry s Chemistry World Mercury Mercury at The Periodic Table of Videos University of Nottingham Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Mercury Topic EPA fish consumption guidelines Hg 80 Mercury Material Safety Data Sheet Mercury Stopping Pollution Mercury Oceana Natural Resources Defense Council NRDC Mercury Contamination in Fish guide NRDC NLM Hazardous Substances Databank Mercury BBC Earth News Mercury turns wetland birds such as ibises homosexual Changing Patterns in the Use Recycling and Material Substitution of Mercury in the United States United States Geological Survey Thermodynamical data on liquid mercury Mercury element Encyclopaedia Britannica 11th ed 1911 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Mercury element amp oldid 1136152559, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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