MERCURY

Mercury is a chemical element with the symbol Hg and atomic number 80. In ancient literature
it was affected as liquid silver and also as quicksilver or hydrargyrus.1 An element with a silver
appearance, heavy metal belonging to block D of the periodic table, mercury it is the only
liquid metallic element under standard laboratory conditions; the only other element that is
liquid under these conditions is bromine, although other metals such as cesium, gallium, and
rubidium melt at thermally higher temperatures.

Mercury appears in deposits throughout the world, mainly as cinnabar (mercury sulfide). The
known vermilion red pigment is obtained by grinding natural cinnabar or mercury sulfide
obtained by synthesis.

Mercury is used in thermometers, barometers, manometers, sphygmomanometers, some

types of valves such as vacuum pumps, mercury switches, fluorescent lamps, and other
devices, a weight of which concern about the toxicity of the item such as thermometers and
sphygmomanometers. of mercury to be largely eliminated in clinical settings in favor of other
alternatives, such as glass thermometers that use alcohol or galinstane, thermistors or
electronic instruments in the measurement of infrared radiation. Similarly, mechanical
pressure gauges and electronic strain gauge sensors have replaced mercury
sphygmomanometers. Mercury remains in use in scientific research applications and in dental
amalgams, still used in some countries. It is also used in fluorescent lights, where electricity
passes through a lamp containing low-pressure mercury vapor to produce short-wave
ultraviolet radiation, which in turn causes the phosphor that lines the tube to fluoresce,
producing visible light.

Mercury poisoning can result from exposure to the water-soluble forms of mercury (such as
mercuric chloride or methylmercury), from inhalation of mercury vapor, or from ingestion of
any of its forms.