ETHYLMERCURY

'Ethylmercury'
Ethylmercury
Systematic name	Ethylmercury
Chemical formula	C2H5Hg+
Molecular mass	xx.xx g/mol
Density	x.xxx g/cm³
Melting point	xx.x °C
Boiling point	xx.x °C
CAS number	[xx-xx-xx]
SMILES	xxxxx

'Ethylmercury' (sometimes 'ethyl mercury') is a cation composed of an ethyl group and a mercury atom; its chemical formula is C₂H₅Hg⁺. The term 'ethylmercury' is sometimes used as a generic term to describe organomercury compounds which include ethylmercury such as ethylmercury chloride and ethylmercury urea.
The CAS registry number for ethylmercury chloride is .
Ethylmercury is one of the metabolites of thiomersal, which is used as a preservative in some vaccines. For this application, the ethylmercury salt sodium ethylmercuric thiosalicylate is used. Thiomersal (C₉H₉HgNaO₂S) is made from the combination of ethyl mercuric chloride, thiosalicylic acid, sodium hydroxide and ethanol.
Unlike methylmercury, ethylmercury has not been found to bioaccumulate.^[1] The toxicity of ethylmercury is not well studied, but exposure standards based on methylmercury (such as those currently recommended by the EPA) are not demonstrated to be equivalent for ethylmercury.^[2]

Contents

References

See also

External links

References

1. http://www.niaid.nih.gov/factsheets/thimerosal.htm NIAID Research on Thimerosal
2. http://www.ehponline.org/press/042105.html Thimerosal, Methylmercury React Differently in the Brains of Infants, Study Says. ''Environmental Health Perspectives'' April 27, 2005.

See also

★ Salicylic acid

★ Dimethylmercury related compound

★ Methylmercury related compound

★ Thiomersal controversy for discussion of controversy over use in vaccines

External links

★ ATSDR - ToxFAQs™: Mercury

★ ATSDR - Public Health Statement: Mercury

★ ATSDR - ALERT! Patterns of Metallic Mercury Exposure, 6/26/97

★ ATSDR - MMG: Mercury

★ ATSDR - Toxicological Profile: Mercury

★ National Pollutant Inventory - Mercury and compounds Fact Sheet

★ ''Pediatrics'' article on thiomersal Full text of peer reviewed medical journal. Sarah K. Parker, MD, Benjamin Schwartz, MD{ddagger}, James Todd, MD and Larry K. Pickering, MD. ''Thimerosal-Containing Vaccines and Autistic Spectrum Disorder: A Critical Review of Published Original Data.'' PEDIATRICS Vol. 114 No. 3 September 2004, pp. 793-804

★ Anapsid.org - 'Common Sources of Ethylmercury: Products containing ethyl mercury thiosalicylic acid as a preservative', compiled by Melissa Kaplan

★ VaccineTruth.org - 'Mercury & Thimerosal'