Yes, historic exposure your body will excrete. Lead from decades if not years should have been released by your body's self-cleaning system. Liver and kidneys. Some can be stored in your fat, but over a long period of time I think, but do not know for a fact, it too should be greatly gone. Being exposed years ago should not be delivering you elevated results today. As an example, people in our testing program would be back to normal within months, and I don't think anyone had an appreciably higher level than you tested at before they were assigned to work in other areas. We liked to keep them very close to baseline pre-employment levels. From Mayo Clinic: "Significant exposure is indicated when the whole blood mercury is above 50 ng/mL if exposure is due to alkyl Hg, or above 200 ng/mL if exposure is due to Hg(2+)." That would be the same as 50 micrograms per liter. That would cause me to start thinking about potential exposure routes, but I don't think it's a reason to freak-out. (But I am NOT a doctor). Most likely it is from low-level chronic, not an acute exposure, unless you vacuumed all of that mercury up within a few weeks/months of being tested. If you spilled a jar's worth of the stuff in your house/heater system, that is is a bit more concerning than a thermometer worth on the bathroom floor. Probably the best thing is to find a business that uses a gaseous mercury sniffer to evaluate what is in your home. Or alternatively, since the potential damage is already done, have others who live there tested. If they find much, the cleanups can be expensive, probably with some over-reacting health department officials with no related experience whatsoever, and who knows who else, so be thoughtful on how you proceed. Also keep in mind, some people maintain higher baseline concentrations than others for reasons unknown to me. Although I don't have enough memory to remember how high could be considered within that range, I suspect you are higher than that. I also don't think you need to consider auditioning for a part in Alice-In-Wonderland. That is, unless you are imbibing in other methods of chemical ingestion. Start looking for exposure sources (working CFL's can leak). be more religious about washing hands before meals. And just start thinking about how something that you see every day can end up on your hands and in your mouth, or inhaled in your lungs. Trace metals are everywhere in nature, including your body, and always have been. Think carefully about what unnatural things around you can be giving you regular exposure. And you can try drinking more milk. You can research and consider trying oral EDTA capsules. I have no opinion on their effectiveness.
Thanks Adam...good info. I moved from that house where the exposure occurred, the repaired barometer was in my new place for a few years before I decided it needed to be exiled. If it reacts to pressure it is not sealed and open to air. But before that my wife got irritable bowel syndrome, one of my sons got Crohn's disease, the other had emotional issues....got divorced and I got the idea to put a Buick motor in a Jaguar. All possibly attributable to the mercury exposure but no one believes me and they won't get tested.
Did you ever live near or downstream from any pulp and paper mills? How about other heavy industrial facilities that may have used mercury in production, or created it as a byproduct? There's been an ongoing problem with mercury poisoning in the Grassy Narrows, Ontario First Nations community due to approximately 10 tons of mercury which was dumped into the Wabigoon/English River system by the Dryden pulp and paper mill during the 1960's and 1970's. That river system empties into the Winnipeg River, and ultimately Lake Winnipeg north of where I live. I remember reading warnings to not eat too much fish from anywhere downstream of that mill. According to the article below, there's still some problems with mercury poisoning 60 years later. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/grassy-narrows-mercury-poisoining-study-1.6387194 Children of a poisoned river. https://www.cbc.ca/news2/interactiv...ercury-poisoning-grassy-narrows-first-nation/ One more article discussing the issue. https://www.nationalobserver.com/20...oisoned-water-grassy-narrows-searches-answers Not trying to scare anyone, only to raise awareness that you ought to further investigate this. Don't take no for an answer, keep after this to get the answers you deserve. BTW, Doug's answer is flat out hilarious.
Mr T, I'm just trying to keep you amused. And Bruce, yes I won Q16 in Norwalk in 2004. I beat Stan Zerucha by .009 in the finals.
Found this link from North Carolina regarding mercury in well water suggesting regular specific testing for its presence. That's where I'd begin. https://epi.dph.ncdhhs.gov/oee/docs/Mercury_WellWaterFactSt.pdf
There were a bunch of broken fluorescent light bulbs in my barn when I got my place. Had to clean up and yes like an idiot I used shop vac. All considered hazardous waste now and need to be taken to specific disposal sites.
