“All in one mercury removal” & “Mercury Pills linked to Abe Lincoln’s Fits of Rage?”
March 25th, 2010
All in one mercury removal (25 March 2010, link to Highlights in Chemical Technology)
Finding and removing mercury from environmental waters could soon be accomplished with an ‘all-in-one’ magnetic microsphere developed by Chinese scientists. Shengyang Tao, from the Dalian University of Technology, and colleagues have created a nanocomposite microsphere that can detect, adsorb and remove mercury from water. Wang et al (2010)
The little blue pills that sent Abraham Lincoln into a rage (22 March 2010, link to Royal Society of Chemistry press release)
The Blue Mass pills taken as antidepressants by Abraham Lincoln contained dangerously high levels of mercury likely to have caused his notoriously wild temper, scientists have found. Researchers who analysed a recently unearthed sample of the medicine discovered it contained up to 120 times the acceptable daily intake of mercury .
Known as “blue mass,” the little blue pills were a 19th-century staple. They were prescribed for a host of ailments, including apoplexy, worms, child-bearing, tuberculosis, toothaches, and constipation. Ian A. Greaves, an associate dean at the University of Minnesota’s School of Public Health, reformulated “blue mass” using a 19th-century recipe, which included mercury, liquorice root, rosewater, honey, sugar, and dead rose petals. The ingredients were combined using a traditional mortar and pestle, and then shaped into the early pill’s typical size. The reconstructed “blue pill” was a round gray pellet the size of a peppercorn. If taken at the normally prescribed dose of the time—one pill two or three times a day—it would deliver nearly 9,000 times the amount of mercury that is deemed safe for people by current health standards. Hirschhorn et al 2001
The Royal Society of Chemistry is the first organisation to unearth an actual sample of the notorious blue pills. The pills were discovered in a Devon museum four weeks ago after the RSC’s call in September for authentic Blue Mass pills to have them analysed to mark this year’s anniversary of Lincoln becoming President of the United States.
A British specialist laboratory, P S Analytical, has measured the mercury content in the anti-depression pills, discovered in a mid-Victorian medicine chest from the Park Pharmacy Trust’s collection. The findings confirm suspicions that the legendary ‘Blue Mass’ pills contained a dangerous level of mercury, leading to the President ingesting between 80-120 times the World Health Organisation acceptable daily intake. (see also 23 March 2010 Daily Telegraph, July 17 2001, National geographic news)
