Mercury exposure, pink disease and Young's syndrome: a forgotten public health disaster (2025)

Type of publication:

Journal article

Author(s):

Brown, Megan; Hendley, Victoria; *Ahmad, Nawaid.

Citation:

BMJ Case Reports. 18(4), 2025 Apr 26.

Abstract:

Pink disease was once a widespread phenomenon, known to physicians throughout the Western world. Its prevalence declined massively once the source, mercury, was identified in several products. In modern medicine, pink disease rarely forms a differential and is known only to few physicians, despite the long-term effects of this illness. This report details a case of a man who suffered from pink disease as a child following his mother applying teething powder containing inorganic mercury to his gums for 12 weeks, from the age of 6 months. He received no treatment at the time. Throughout his lifetime, however, the man (in his 70s) has been diagnosed as infertile, and with bronchiectasis, despite a lack of convincing history to suggest an aetiology. The cause of these pathologies remains elusive, either organically occurring or components of Young's syndrome.

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