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Abstract:  Treatment of mercury toxicity is controversial and has not been well studied. Several methods of chelation for removal of mercury from the body have been proposed, including dimercaptopropanesulfonate (DMPS), dimercaptosuccinic acid, intravenous vitamin C, and edetate. Although many of these methods are not approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, they are being used with modest success. Because of the lack of information regarding treatment outcomes, the authors retrospectively analyzed 28 randomly selected patients for whom they had supplied DMPS in the previous 6 months. DMPS is used to treat mercury toxicity and as provocation to perform mercury testing. Two of the 28 patients who received the prescription decided against treatment. Of the remaining 26 patients, eight were using DMPS for treatment with varying success. Overall, this retrospective study shows that DMPS is a safe and effective agent to use for initial mercury level testing.

Related Keywords: Barry Smith, PharmD, Patrick Golden, MD, Carrie Pingree, mercury toxicity, dimercaptopropanesulfonate, DMPS, chelation, chelator, mercury testing

Related Categories: ENVIRONMENTAL

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