Mercury Madness

摘要

Perhaps Lewis Carroll was referring to the twinkle of mercury used for hat production in the 1800s, which led to the Hatter's ultimate madness. Mercury use dates back to 4,500 BC when Egyptians and Chinese used it as a pigment to paint their tombs and preserve their dead. Since then humans have used this unique form of liquid metal for a variety of applications, including warding off evil spirits, healing, processing precious metals, and more recently, conducting electricity. The toxic effects of mercury also date back to its early applications when workers in mercury mines were almost guaranteed death or insanity. More recent cases of direct mercury poisoning have occurred in Minamata, Japan (1956), Iraq (1971), and northwestern Ontario (1969). The first two incidents led to thousands of deaths and highly elevated mercury levels in survivors.