Public health department response to mercury poisoning: the importance of biomarkers and risks and benefits analysis for chelation therapy.

Chelation therapy is often used to treat mercury poisoning. Public health personnel are often asked about mercury toxicity and its treatment. This paper provides a public health department response to use of a mercury-containing cosmetic in Minnesota, a perspective on two unpublished cases of chelation treatment for postulated mercury toxicity, and comments on the use of a nonsystemic treatment for removal of mercury following the Iraqi seed coat poisoning incident. Physicians should evaluate sources of exposure, biomarkers, and risks and benefits before recommending chelation therapy for their patients. Potential risks to chelation therapy and its little understood subtle or latent effects are areas of public health concern.