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http://dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/health/story.html?s=z/reuters/980603/health/stories/merc15_1.html June 3, 1998 Researcher's death highlights mercury danger NEW YORK (Reuters) -- The mercury-poisoning death of a Dartmouth College researcher one year ago is a stark reminder for scientists of the need for adequate protection when working with hazardous materials, according to a report in the June 4th issue of The New England Journal of Medicine. The 48-year-old chemistry professor was admitted to a hospital on January 20, 1997, "...with a 5-day history of progressive deterioration in balance, gait, and speech." Her condition continued to worsen despite several courses of chelation therapy (to remove mercury from the blood), resulting in death on June 8, 1997. The delayed neurologic disease in this case was linked to skin absorption of dimethylmercury, which the professor worked with regularly as part of a research project ironically focusing "...on the biologic toxicity of heavy metals," Dr. David W. Nierenberg of Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire, and a multicenter team report in the journal. <snip>... -- Judith Richards, London, Ontario, Canada [log in to unmask]