Terrifying cases of mercury poisoning in history

Thousands of years ago, people knew mercury. At that time, the Chinese and Indians believed that mercury was a kind of medicine that helped people to live immortality, heal wounds and maintain health. Romans use this sparkling liquid to make cosmetics. Therefore, mercury had an ' opportunity ' to become the culprit of serious cases.

' Silver water ' in ancient times

With liquid and iridescence, mercury was given the name ' silver water ' by a Greek physician. In Latin, this metal is called hydrargyrum . In Europe, it was named after a Roman god - Mercury.

Mercury - Hg

In many ancient documents, people have mentioned the healing effects of mercury. Ancient physicians described how they treated patients with intestinal twists by pouring more than 200g of mercury into the patient's stomach. They argue that heavy and flexible 'silver water' will wriggle inside the intestine to correct twisted intestines. As a result of how this treatment works, we know.

Centuries later, mercury was still ' used ' for healing. Mercury is used to treat syphilis in the 16th century, before antibiotics were introduced. During the nineteenth century, the type of medicine called ' Blue mass ' was a form of mercury-based pill, used by doctors to treat diseases such as constipation, depression, toothache and even Only used in childbirth. Until the beginning of the 20th century, mercury was given to children every year as a laxative and deworming.

Terrifying cases

The use of false mercury in the past has led to incalculable consequences. The first victims were probably alchemists .

Since ancient times, alchemists have known to use mercury to make some other metals, especially gold. In the meager ' laboratories ', Chinese, Egyptian and Arab alchemists ' live together ' day and night with strange liquids hoping to find the ' secret ' to make gold. They did not know that mercury vapor penetrated the respiratory tract, penetrating the skin . into their bodies. In the end, they all suffer from strange diseases such as hallucinations, obsessions, debilitating bodies and mysterious deaths.

In ancient documents, physicians used mercury to treat patients with intestinal distortion . Accordingly, physicians gave an amount of mercury about 200 grams to the patient's stomach. They thought that heavy and flexible mercury would wriggle inside the intestine to " straighten " twisted intestinal sections. However, these documents do not specify how effective this treatment is.

Qin Shihuang is said to use mercury to immortality.

Mercury is used not only for healing but also as an immortal remedy of the ancient kings. In it, the most famous case is Emperor Qin Shihuang . A legend has it that, with longevity hopes, Qin Shihuang might have drunk a " flexible " type containing mercury every day. This longevity remedy prepared by the Magi. This caused Qin Shihuang to die slowly due to mercury poisoning .

After Qin Shihuang died in 210, China's powerful emperor was buried in a magnificent grave underground. When excavating the tomb of Qin Shihuang, the experts found about 8,000 warriors, concubines and servants who were burned with clay and many valuable artifacts. In particular, the strangest thing is the result of testing soil samples around the area of ​​the tomb of Qin Shihuang showing that the soil in that area has very high mercury concentration.

According to the ancient works, Qin Shihuang has the surrounding liquid mercury rivers . According to the Chinese conception, the river of mercury can give someone an immortal life. According to some experts, perhaps due to blind faith in immortality, Qin Shihuang swallowed mercury to be eternal. However, in the end, the emperor died at the age of 49.

The work of plating the dome of the Isaac church in Petecbua (Russia) has robbed dozens of workers' lives. Because mercury is capable of dissolving many metals, forming ' amalgam ', people have brought more than 100kg of pure gold, dissolved in mercury into amalgam, then coated on copper plates. dozens of meters in diameter. Then bring these plates to heat on special ovens until the mercury evaporates and leaves a very thin layer of gold on the copper plate.

The church vault builders at that time were equipped with protective clothing and covered their faces with a glass to prevent toxic vapors and heat. However, those things did not stop the pale green poison from entering their bodies. All over 10 workers have died from mysterious diseases that no one knows the culprit. At that time, people had woven devil- related stories in this case.

Tsar Ivan IV Vasilyevich (1530 - 1564) - (Photo: Wikimedia)

The madness and death of Tsar Ivan IV Vasilyevich (1530 - 1564) is a mystery that has only recently been deciphered. The documents recorded that the king had a normal health, but then suffered from a strange illness, occasionally going mad. In such a rage, he killed his own son. He is often obsessed with illusions, always suspicious around and always tremble because he thinks that disasters are lurking around. At that time, it was assumed that he was possessed by demons. But the excavation of his remains by scientists later showed that the main culprit was mercury. The reason is that he suffered from bone pain, he was prescribed by the physicians to use a variety of mercury ointments for a long time. He was poisoned by a large amount of mercury infiltrating the body. Tests show that the content of mercury in the king's bones is very high.

Historians who studied the archives of the seventeenth century claimed that mercury poisoning also caused the death of King Carl (Charles) II of the Stuart dynasty in England . Because he was so enamored with alchemy ideas, the king equipped a laboratory in the royal court; there, he used all his free time to burn mercury. Scientists have found documents, which describe Carl II's symptoms of illness such as irritability, convulsions, toxic urinary tract (chronic urinary tract disease). These diseases are caused by the long-term effects of mercury vapor. Although the yogis tried to use all the most effective remedies of medicine at that time: smoking blood, drinking quinine but still could not save the king.

Until the 20th century, mercury still caused horrific cases in many places. In Japan - a country with a developed industry has also been shaken by the mercury disaster, which is often called the Minamata disaster .

The victim was poisoned by mercury in the Minamata area in the early 1950s(Photo: W. Eugene Smith)

In the early 1950s, many people in the Minamata area - an area specializing in fishing in southern Japan suffered from strange illnesses such as limb tremors, paralysis, dementia, some schools. case of death. Chisso's authorities discovered mercury-containing industrial waste, causing these marine species to be contaminated with mercury. People here catch and use those seafood and have mercury poisoning. About 3,000 people had certain disabilities or symptoms of severe mercury poisoning or died of poisoning.

In 1965, a large-scale poisoning in Nigata was similar to that of Minamata and the culprit was the mercury-containing waste of a local mining company. In 2001, about 1,700 out of 2,200 people died from the toxic effects of a chemical plant in southern Japan, caused by poisoning by eating fish locally.

A Japanese official said whale and dolphin meat provided for lunches at schools across the country had been contaminated with mercury far beyond the allowed standards of the Ministry of Health.

Today, with the growth of modern industries, people are more concerned with the risk of mercury poisoning . However, it must be evaluated fairly. Mercury is the "friend " of the oldest form of humanity and offers many benefits if used properly.

Mercury is the main agent in many physical instruments : technical manometer, barometer, vacuum pump. Mercury thermometer is one of the most popular devices in the world. Mercury-quartz lamps produce very strong ultraviolet radiation which is widely used in medicine and in the chemical industry .