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The Toxicity of Mercury and Its Chemical Compounds: Molecular Mechanisms and Environmental and Human Health Implications: A Comprehensive Review

Wu YS 1 , Osman AI 2 , Hosny M 3 , Elgarahy AM 4 , Eltaweil AS 5 , Rooney DW 2 Show all authors , Chen Z 6 , Rahim NS 7 , Sekar M 8 , Gopinath SCB 9 , Mat Rani NNI 10 , Batumalaie K 11 , Yap PS 6

Affiliations 

  • 1 Sunway Microbiome Centre and Department of Medical Education, School of Medical and Life Sciences, Sunway University, 47500 Selangor Malaysia
  • 2 School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast BT9 5AG, Northern Ireland, U.K
  • 3 Green Technology Group, Environmental Sciences Department, Faculty of Science, Alexandria University, 21511 Alexandria, Egypt
  • 4 Egyptian Propylene and Polypropylene Company (EPPC), Port Said 42526, Egypt
  • 5 Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Alexandria University, 21321 Alexandria, Egypt
  • 6 Department of Civil Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, Suzhou 215123, China
  • 7 Department of Biology, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Perlis Branch, Arau Campus, Arau 02600, Perlis, Malaysia
  • 8 School of Pharmacy, Monash University Malaysia, Subang Jaya, 47500 Selangor, Malaysia
  • 9 Faculty of Chemical Engineering Technology, Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), Arau, 02600 Perlis, Malaysia
  • 10 Faculty of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Royal College of Medicine Perak, Universiti Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh 30450, Perak, Malaysia
  • 11 Pre-University Programmes, Sunway College Johor Bahru, Jalan Austin Heights Utama, Taman Mount Austin, 81100 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia
ACS Omega, 2024 Feb 06;9(5):5100-5126.
PMID: 38343989 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.3c07047

Abstract

Mercury is a type of hazardous and toxic pollutant that can result in detrimental effects on the environment and human health. This review is aimed at discussing the state-of-the-art progress on the recent developments on the toxicity of mercury and its chemical compounds. More than 210 recent works of literature are covered in this review. It first delineates the types (covering elemental mercury, inorganic mercury compounds, organic mercury compounds), structures, and sources of mercury. It then discusses the pharmacokinetic profile of mercury, molecular mechanisms of mercury toxicity, and clinical manifestation of acute and chronic mercury toxicity to public health. It also elucidates the mercury toxicity to the environment and human health in detail, covering ecotoxicity, neurotoxicity diseases, neurological diseases, genotoxicity and gene regulation, immunogenicity, pregnancy and reproductive system damage, cancer promotion, cardiotoxicity, pulmonary diseases, and renal disease. In order to mitigate the adverse effects of mercury, strategies to overcome mercury toxicity are recommended. Finally, some future perspectives are provided in order to advance this field of research in the future.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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