Mercury: Useful Metal or Toxic Chemical?

Throughout history, mercury has had many useful purposes, including:

• Industrial and household uses: Especially in thermostats, manometers (pressure measuring devices), and electric switches.
• Blending with silver and gold: Amalgam of mercury and silver makes up the most common dental filling. Mercury is used to extract gold from the ore in which it occurs.
• Medicinal uses: In the past, mercury tinctures and solutions were used as antiseptics on the skin. Physicians prescribed mercury compounds as antibiotics and diuretics. It was one of the most common treatments for syphilis until the advent of modern antibiotics.
• Cosmetics: Many hair and skin products contained mercury compounds for their bleaching and preservative properties.
• Use in ritual ceremonies: In many urban areas in the United States, religious supply stores known as botanicas sell a variety of herbal remedies and religious items used in certain Latino and Afro-Caribbean traditions. Some of these contain mercury which is used to attract luck, love or money; to protect against evil; or to speed the action of spells. It may be worn as amulets, sprinkled on the floor, or added to a candle or oil lamp. Occasionally it is taken internally to treat gastrointestinal disorders; it may be added to detergent or cosmetic products.

But mercury has also had many toxic effects on human health and the environment.

In historic Fort Vancouver, mercury was commonly used by doctors to treat diseases and by others to felt (or mat) the beaver pelts for making hats.

Throughout the American West, mercury’s property of blending with gold led to its extensive use in separating gold from ore. This process has resulted in environmental contamination in the remaining mine tailings (pulverized rock piles left near the mine after the gold is removed).

Mercury, the metallic element, is named for the planet Mercury. Mercury is also the name of the Roman god who sported wings on his feet to carry him on his work as a messenger of the gods.