Inorganic mercury, in the form of mercurous chloride, or calomel, is intentionally added to some cosmetic products sold through informal channels in Mexico and the US for skin lightening and acne treatment. These products have led to multiple cases of mercury poisoning but few investigations have addressed the contamination of cream users’ homes. We report on several cases of mercury poisoning among three Mexican-American families in California from use of mercury-containing skin creams. Each case resulted in widespread household contamination and secondary contamination of family members. Urine mercury levels in cream users ranged from 37 to 482 µg/g creatinine and in non-users from non-detectable to 107 µg/g creatinine. Air concentrations of up to 8 µg/m3 of mercury within homes exceeded the USEPA/ATSDR health-based guidance and action level of <1.0 μg/m3. Mercury contamination of cream users’ homes presented a multi-pathway exposure environment to residents. Homes required extensive decontamination, including disposal of most household items, to achieve acceptable air levels. The acceptable air levels used were not designed to consider multi-pathway exposure scenarios. These findings support that the calomel is able to change valence form to elemental mercury and volatilize once exposed to the skin or surfaces in the indoor environment.
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机译:有意将氯化汞或甘汞形式的无机汞添加到通过墨西哥和美国的非正式渠道出售的一些化妆品中,以美白皮肤和治疗痤疮。这些产品导致了多起汞中毒事件,但很少有研究针对奶油使用者的房屋造成污染。我们报告了加利福尼亚州三个墨西哥裔美国人家庭中因使用含汞的护肤霜引起的数例汞中毒事件。每种情况都导致广泛的家庭污染和家庭成员的二次污染。奶油使用者的尿中汞含量范围为37至482 µg / g肌酐,非使用者中的尿汞含量从不可检测到107 µg / g肌酐。房屋中空气中汞的最高浓度为8 µg / m 3 sup>,超过了USEPA / ATSDR基于健康的指导和行动水平,<1.0μg/ m 3 sup>。奶油使用者家中的汞污染为居民带来了多途径的暴露环境。房屋需要进行广泛的净化处理,包括处置大多数家居用品,以达到可接受的空气水平。所使用的可接受空气水平并非旨在考虑多路径暴露情况。这些发现支持甘汞能够将化合价形式转变为元素汞,并且一旦暴露于室内环境中的皮肤或表面即可挥发。
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