title: The effect of ethanol on the fate of mercury vapor inhaled by man.
abstract: Three human subjects ingested 1065 ml of beer equivalent to 65 ml of ethanol 30 min before exposure (12-20 min) to mercury vapor. An additional two subjects were exposed to mercury vapor without ethanol pretreatment. The results show that alcohol brings about: 1) reduced mercury retention, 2) an increase in the rapid phase of vapor loss by expiration, 3) an increased mercury storage in the liver, 4) a marked reduction in mercury uptake by the red blood cells and 5) the abolition of vapor exposure experiments were performed by using control and ethanol-pretreated mice and rats. Sacrifice occurred at 1 hr and 3 days. The results support and extend the human data.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001944:Breath Tests; D004347:Drug Interactions; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000378:metabolism; D000431:Ethanol / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005740:Gases; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008628:Mercury / Q000378:metabolism*; D008657:Metabolic Clearance Rate / Q000187:drug effects; D051381:Rats; D014018:Tissue Distribution / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D005740:Gases; D000431:Ethanol; D008628:Mercury