Chronic Neurological Disease Due to Methylmercury Poisoning

Abstract

Organic mercury, especially methylmercury, poisoning causes chronic neurological disease predominantly affecting the brain. There have been documented exposures from eating fish from contaminated waters in Japan and in northwestern Ontario and in Iraq from eating bread made from seed wheat treated with methylmercuric fungicide. The neurological disease is called Minamata disease in Japan. Visual field constriction due to involvement of the calcarine cortex, sensory disturbance due to involvement of the somatosensory cortex, and cerebellar ataxia due to involvement of granule cell neurons of the cerebellum are common and characteristic features due to methylmercury poisoning. Other neurological features include dysarthria, postural and action tremor, cognitive impairment, and hearing loss and dysequilibrium. In contrast, peripheral nerve disease is more characteristic of inorganic mercury intoxication. Similarly, psychosis is more typical of exposure to inorganic mercury, which has been documented in the felt hat industry (mad hatter). Laboratory tests (e.g., on blood and hair and toenail samples) are of limited value in the assessment of chronic neurological disease due to mercury poisoning because they may not reflect remote neuronal injury due to mercury. Methylmercury also causes injury to fetal brains during development. There is no effective treatment.