[Study on the normal mercury concentrations of human organs (author's transl)].

Organ samples of the right kidney the right and left lobe of liver, the cerebellum, and the left cerebrum (cortex and marrow separately) from 51 autopsies were analysed on their mercury content. A special high pressure-digestion was used for the sample preparation. The quantitative determination of the mercury concentrations was performed by the so-called cold vapour technique. In the organs the following median mercury concentrations were found: a) left lobe of liver: 58 microgram/kg b) right lobe of liver: 54 microgram/kg c) right kidney: 96 microgram/kg d) cerebellum: less than 5 microgram/kg e) cerebrum cortex: less than 5 microgram/kg f) cerebrum marrow: less than 5 microgram/kg. All values were below the internationally discussed range. No sex differences were detectable in the median mercury concentrations of the analysed organs. The positive correlation between age and the mercury concentration in the cerebellum could reflect an accumulation over the life. But most likely the concentrations still stay considerably below the critical limits. The negative correlations between age and the mercury concentrations of the liver lobes as well as of the kidneys indicates a change in the distribution of mercury in the body with increasing age.