Mercury Disposition in Suckling Rats: Comparative Assessment Following Parenteral Exposure to Thiomersal and Mercuric Chloride

Table 2

Descriptive characteristics and Pearson’s correlation coefficient between two experimental groups of suckling rats exposed to HgCl₂ (mercuric chloride) or thiomersal (ethylmercury). Total mercury was measured in whole blood, urine, and tissues (liver, kidneys, small intestine, large intestine, and brain). Values are presented as μg/L in whole blood and urine, and as μg/g w.w. in the liver, kidneys, small intestine, large intestine, and brain.

Study group	Samples	Mean	Std. dev.	N	𝑃 value	Pearson’s r
HgCl2	Whole blood	33.2	11.0	18	0.000	0.899
Thiomersal		831	257	18
HgCl2	Urine	15.9	9.10	18	0.742	0.089
Thiomersal		2.06	0.95	18
HgCl2	Liver	1546	172	18	0.77	0.079
Thiomersal		1251	158	18
HgCl2	Kidneys	6958	589.6	18	0.746	−0.088
Thiomersal		1818	253.5	18
HgCl2	Small intestine	369.9	70.76	18	0.51	0.178
Thiomersal		276.9	42.43	18
HgCl2	Large intestine	471.7	134.4	18	0.026	0.554
Thiomersal		284.5	48.72	18
HgCl2	Brain	42.7	5.69	18	0.444	0.206
Thiomersal		72.0	5.48	18

𝑁 = Number of rats.