Mercury means a lot of things to us. Mercury can be the god in Roman
religion who was responsible for merchandise, merchants, commerce,
travel, and thievery. Mercury has a winged hat and staff and was
introduced early for worship. He had a temple on the Aventine Hill
in Rome which was dedicated in 485 BC and his festival falls on May
15 together with the goddess Maia.
Mercury can also be a planet. Mercury is the closest planet to the
sun in our solar system. It is slightly smaller in diameter than the
moons Titan and Ganymede. Since the third millennium BC or the time
of the Sumerian, Mercury has already been known. It was even given
two separate names since it was believed to be a morning and an
evening star.
Then mercury can also be an element; a metal that at room
temperatures is at liquid form. The surface of mercury is known as
quicksilver and is used as the stuff of mirrors. It is also used for
thermometers, barometers, electrical device and many more. Though
used in a lot of things today mercury remains to be toxic and very
poisonous. In its pure metal form it is relatively safe but in
compounds such as mercuric chloride, it is very dangerous. That is
why when you experience mercury poisoning, you need to have
chelation therapy and EDTA (ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, a
natural amino acid).
Chelation therapy is the process of administering chelating agents
to remove heavy metals intoxications such as lead, arsenic or
mercury from our body. Chelation therapy can also be used as
treatment for other toxic metal poisoning such as uranium, plutonium
and iron. Chelation therapy can be done intravenously,
intramuscularly or orally depending on the type of poisoning agent
and chelating agent.
Chelation therapy was first used during the First World War by the
British to treat soldiers that were exposed to arsenic-based poison
gas which was used indiscriminately during that war. Then it was
also used during the second world war on navy personnel which were
exposed to lead poisoning from the paint on navy vessels. EDTA was
the chelating agent used.
Now, chelation therapy is United States Drug Administration approved
and EDTA is the chelating agent mostly used by the American medical
industry.
So even if we use mercury today, remember that we must be careful in
handling it as mercury remains toxic to our bodies. Have a safe day!
