Mercury poisoning occurs when a significant amount of mercury enters an individual's bloodstream.
What is considered significant varies by person, because different people have different tolerances.
As such, what poisons one person may not poison another.
Usually, individuals will suffer poisoning when another individual fails to properly clean up a mercury spill.
This spill may come from broken thermometers and fluorescent light bulbs, or from other objects that use mercury.
When an individual suffers poisoning, he or she may experience trouble speaking, hearing, and seeing.
He or she may also suffer from a lack of coordination, jolts of pain, and skin discoloration, which usually means the individual's skin will become pink.
These direct effects of mercury poisoning may eventually lead to further ailments if not promptly treated.
These further ailments may include permanent damage to the brain, lungs, and kidneys.
Some of these ailments may not be treatable, meaning that they may significantly decrease an individual's lifespan.
Treatment for mercury poisoning may include detoxification and a full body scrub.
Mercury is hard, but not impossible, to remove, so treatment may be invasive.
Even still, the discomfort of treatment is nothing compared to the pain of living with mercury poisoning.
When individuals suffer poisoning because others fail in their obligations to clean up mercury spills from broken objects, the poisoning victims may be entitled to financial compensation for their injuries.
Often, these lawsuits will be in the form of a premises liability lawsuit, though a product liability suit may also be a possibility.
For assistance determining the correct course of action, individuals should discuss their cases with experienced personal injury lawyers.