Chemicals and Drugs

Mercury

A silver metallic element that exists as a liquid at room temperature. It has the atomic symbol Hg (from hydrargyrum, liquid silver), atomic number 80, and atomic weight 200.59. Mercury is used in many industrial applications and its salts have been employed therapeutically as purgatives, antisyphilitics, disinfectants, and astringents. It can be absorbed through the skin and mucous membranes which leads to MERCURY POISONING. Because of its toxicity, the clinical use of mercury and mercurials is diminishing.

National Library of MedicineMedical Subject Headings2026

Structured Summary

Abstract

A silver metallic element that exists as a liquid at room temperature. It has the atomic symbol Hg (from hydrargyrum, liquid silver), atomic number 80, and atomic weight 200.59. Mercury is used in many industrial applications and its salts have been employed therapeutically as purgatives, antisyphilitics, disinfectants, and astringents. It can be absorbed through the skin and mucous membranes which leads to MERCURY POISONING. Because of its toxicity, the clinical use of mercury and mercurials is diminishing.

Chemical Identity

Chemical Information

Molecular Formula
Hg
Molecular Weight
200.59 g/mol
CAS Registry No.
7439-97-6
IUPAC Name
mercury
InChIKey
QSHDDOUJBYECFT-UHFFFAOYSA-N
SMILES
[Hg]
MeSH Unique ID
D008628
Source
PubChem CID 23931

MeSH Record

Classification

Broader headings

Narrower headings

Related Concepts

Knowledge Graph

Loading graph…

Drag nodes to rearrange; hover to trace links; click a node to open its page.

MeSH Record

See Also

MeSH Record

Aspects Covered

23 allowable subheadings

Indexed with the subheadings administration & dosage, adverse effects, agonists, analysis, blood, cerebrospinal fluid, chemistry, classification, deficiency, economics, history, immunology, isolation & purification, metabolism, pharmacokinetics, pharmacology, physiology, radiation effects, standards, supply & distribution, therapeutic use, toxicity, urine.

MeSH Hierarchy

Tree Numbers

  1. D01w.268w.556w.504w
  2. D01w.268w.956w.437w
  3. D01w.552w.544w.504w

MeSH Record

NLM Classification

QV 293

AMA Style

References

  1. National Library of Medicine. Mercury. Medical Subject Headings (MeSH). 2026. Unique ID D008628. http://id.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/2026/D008628
  2. Mercury. In: Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_(element)
  3. Mercury. In: Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q925
  4. Mercury. In: PubChem Compound. CID 23931. https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/23931