Dissolution of Mercury from Amalgam into Saline Solution

Abstract

Dissolution of mercury from amalgams and some intermetallic compounds found in the amalgam structure, such as γ₁, γ₂, and β₁, was examined during one week of aging in 0.9% NaCl solution at 37°C. The amount of mercury released from γ₁(30.2 μg/cm²) was at least 13 times that released from amalgam (0.5 - 2.2 μg/cm²) and five times that released from β₁(5.7 μg/cm²). γ ₂ released the least amount of mercury (0.46 μg/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.