The effect of ethanol on the fate of mercury vapor inhaled by man.

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.