HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED why the Mad Hatter in Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was mad?

 

It’s because chronic mercury poisoning was common among traditional hat-makers, whose felting work involved prolonged exposure to mercury vapors.

 

Mad hatters may be a thing of the past, but mercury is still a big issue, especially when it comes to fish and shellfish.

 

In humans, symptoms of methylmercury poisoning may include peripheral vision impairment, sensory disturbances (“pins and needles”), lack of coordination, muscle weakness, and problems with speech, hearing and walking.

 

Pets show no such signs, but that doesn’t mean they’re immune to the toxic effects of mercury. A human would get some sort of signal that she was getting ill from exposure to this heavy metal – but they wouldn’t exhibit any signs of sickness unless the exposure was much, much higher.

 

Chronic exposure to mercury causes two major problems:

Severe neurological damage in humans

 

Kidney damage in both pets  and humans.

 

In fact, the kidneys are the primary organ in which inorganic mercury is taken up and accumulated.