Toxicokinetics of mercury after oral administration of cinnabar in rats

OBJECTIVE To find out the toxicokinetics and accumulation of mercury in blood after single and successive large dosage oral administration of cinnabar to rats.METHODS Each rat was given a 7.0 g·kg-1 dosage of cinnabar orally single or successive. The blood samples of rats were collected on time after dosed. Microwave digestion-atomic fluorescence spectrometry method was used to determine the concentration of mercury in blood. Time-course and toxicokinetics parameters of mercury in blood were analyzed. RESULTS Mercury showed single compartment model in rats and the main parameters of toxicokinetics were as follows: t1/2 6.64 h, tmax 1.29 h, Cmax 5.63 μg·L-1, AUC 61.40 μg·h·L-1. After successive bolus oral administration of cinnabar to rats, blood concentrations of mercury achieved a higher level at the fourth day and the tenth day, but there were no significant difference (P0.05) between the days after successive large dosage.CONCLUSION These results suggested the slow excretion of mercury in rats, and the possibility of accumulation of mercury in blood after successive large dose oral administration of cinnabar to rats.