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Items were included on the following lists because they have been reported to contain mercury as an intentional ingredient or component, or as an unintended contaminant. The listings were compiled from multiple sources and were believed to be accurate at the time of posting on this web site. However, users should understand that this information is provided for guidance only and the mercury content of commercial products may be subject to frequent change. Consult with manufacturers and other reputable sources of information, or conduct analyses of products to confirm mercury concentrations. Users should also confirm that alternative products meet all applicable regulatory, protocol and performance requirements before being used in biomedical applications.
Test Procedure, Use or Product Name |
Mercury Containing Component or Reagent |
Albumin |
Milton's reagent |
Antinuclear antibody |
Buffer |
Antifungal/anti-infective/bacteriostatic enzyme/ ammonia |
Merthiolate Mercuric nitrate Mercurochrome (Antibiotics are alternatives) |
Ammonia Nitrogen |
Nessler's solution Channing's solution |
Arsenic-Calcium Reagent |
|
Blood Bank Saline |
Immuno-sal (Immu-sal?) |
Bun Test Enzyme Non-Protein Nitrogen |
Nessler's solution |
CA 125 |
|
Cleaning agent (Commercial Grade) |
Trace contaminant in caustic soda (sodium hydroxide) |
Chlorides |
Mercuric nitrate solution (Use ion-specific electrodes as alternative) |
Clostridium difficile EIA |
|
Colorimetric chloride analysis |
|
CPK Reagent |
|
Cytology |
Mucolex |
Denaturant in single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis of PCR products |
Methylmercury hydroxide |
Drugs of abuse |
All |
Epstein Barr virus |
Buffer |
Fixatives (mordants) |
B5 fixative Zenkers solution Hellys Ohlamacher Carnoy-Lebrun Shardin (Zinc formalin, zinc chloride may be a suitable alternatives mercury-based fixatives). |
Flame Photometer |
Mercuric sulfate (obsolete) |
FTA |
Buffer |
Ganglion cells |
Cajal's |
Gel electrophoresis |
Methylmercury hydroxide |
Giardia EIA |
|
Group A Strep ID |
|
Harris hematoxylin |
Mercuric oxide oxidizing agent (Alternative is sodium iodate) |
Hbft |
Alum hematoxylin (solution A) |
Hepatitis B core |
|
Hepatitis C |
|
Hepatitis B |
|
Hepatitis B Ag & Ab |
|
Herpes EIA |
Buffer |
Histology |
Mercuric (II) chloride |
Histology Stains |
Carbol-Fuchin Mercury chloride Carbol Gentian violet Gomori's |
HIV |
|
Identification of white cells |
Camco |
Laboratory chemicals - common mercury compounds |
Mercury (II) oxide Mercurous (I) chloride Mercury (II) chloride Mercury iodide Mercury (II) sulfate |
Lithium |
Cesium Internal Std |
Lyme |
Buffer |
"Metexchange" reagent |
|
Microbiology |
Gram iodine stain |
Nerve cells, delineation |
Golgi's |
Parasitology Trichrome stain |
Mercuric nitrate solution (Cupric sulfate alternative) |
pH |
Buffers |
Photoprocessing solutions Developers Fixers |
Low level mercury contamination |
"Precision" reagent |
|
Preservative in pharmaceuticals |
Thimerosal Phenylmercuric acetate Phenylmercuric nitrate |
Preservative in vaccines: Haemophilus, hepatitis, rabies, tetanus, influenza, diphtheria, and pertussis |
Thimerosal |
Progesterone |
|
Protein test (Containing hydroxyl phenol group) |
Millon's reagent |
Protein Precipitation |
Methylmercury hydroxide |
Sodium/Potassium |
|
Stains |
Carbol-Fuchin Gram iodine Mercury chloride Carbol Gentian Violet Gomori's Trichrome |
Sulfuric acid (commercial grade) |
Mercury (impurity) |
Takata-Ara |
Takata's reagent |
Thyroid antibodies |
Buffer |
Urinalysis |
Stabilur tablets |