The quicksilver prize: Mercury vapor poisoning aboard HMS Triumph and HMS Phipps.
case_series · Level IV
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- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 15037700.
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Abstract
In 1810, two British ships, HMS Triumph and HMS Phipps, salvaged a large load of elemental mercury from a wrecked Spanish vessel near Cadiz, Spain. The bladders containing the mercury soon ruptured. The element spread about the ships in liquid and vapor forms. The sailors presented with neurologic compromises: tremor, paralysis, and excessive salivation as well as tooth loss, skin problems, and pulmonary complaints. The events are reviewed in the context of what was known about mercury vapor inhalation.
Medical subject headings
- Mercury Poisoning
- Naval Medicine