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.