. "Chemistry, Exposure, Toxicokinetics, and Toxicodynamics." Toxicological Effects of Methylmercury. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2000.
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Toxicological Effects of Methylmercury
TABLE 2-1 Physical and Chemical Properties of Some Toxicologically Relevant Mercury Compounds
cMethylmercuric chloride is used experimentally to investigate the effects of methylmercury.
tion on some toxicologically relevant Hg compounds discussed later in this chapter.
At 25° C, elemental Hg has a water solubility of 5.6×10-5 g/L. Mercuric chloride is considerably more soluble, having a solubility of 69 g/L at 20° C. In comparison, an organic Hg compound, such as methylmercury chloride, is much less water soluble, having a solubility of 0.100 g/L at 21° C. Dimethylmercury, a very toxic by-product of the chemical synthesis of MeHg (Nierenberg et al. 1998), also has a relatively low water solubility (1.0 g/L at 21° C). Due to its low water solubility, MeHg chloride is considered to be relatively lipid soluble. As discussed later in this chapter, the solubility of the different forms of Hg might play a role in their differential toxicity.
