Dissolution of Mercury from Amalgam into Saline Solution

Dissolution of mercury from amalgams and some intermetallic compounds found in the amalgam structure, such as gamma 1, gamma 2, and beta 1, was examined during one week of aging in 0.9% NaCl solution at 37 degrees C. The amount of mercury released from gamma 1 (30.2 micrograms/cm2) was at least 13 times that released from amalgam (0.5-2.2 micrograms/cm2) and five times that released from beta 1(5.7 micrograms/cm2). Gamma 2 released the least amount of mercury (0.46 micrograms/cm2). The study revealed that as high as 55% of the mercury ions liberated from the amalgams and the amalgam phases was adsorbed onto the walls of the vials in which the specimens were aged.