Abstract
In the previous paper the author reported the present status of mercury contamination in our life, such as in air, water, soil and foodstuffs.
The grade of the contamination was revealed to have been significantly increased as compared with the report by Stock in Germany in 1934.
It was reported that the absorbed mercury was readily excreted in urine and the over-dose portion of it would be retained in organs, particularly in kidneys and liver.
Hence, the knowledge of the amount of mercury excreted in normal urine and of the deposit in normal corpses will be useful to us as the good criteria for discussing the present situation in Japan. This is the purpose and the extent of the present study.
The results obtained were as follows:
1. The mercury concentration in urine in 98 non-exposed persons was 61.8μg/l in average, ranging 9 to 130μg/l. No large differences were found between the figures according to age, sex, and the locality of residence.
2. Ten persons were observed for five days for the daily variation of murcury excretion in urine. The average figures were 47.8μg/day and 41.5μg/l. The individual variations were large but the daily variations in a definite person were relatively small.
3. The significant correlation was found between the amount of 24-hour urine and its mercury content.
4. In ten corpses struck by sudden death in Tokyo, the kidneys contained 0.6ppm of mercury, while the liver and pancreas contained 0.4 and 0.16ppm respectively.
The individual variations were large but there was no indication that the aged contained more mercury than the younger persons.
