the mercury was used as a treatment of the venereal disease at the time. she died a few days later at the american hospital in neuilly. an early scientific study of mercury poisoning was in 1923–1926 by the german inorganic chemist, alfred stock, who himself became poisoned, together with his colleagues, by breathing mercury vapor that was being released by his laboratory equipment—diffusion pumps, float valves, and manometers—all of which contained mercury, and also from mercury that had been accidentally spilt and remained in cracks in the linoleum floor covering. he published a number of papers on mercury poisoning, founded a committee in berlin to study cases of possible mercury poisoning, and introduced the term micromercurialism. the term hunter-russell syndrome derives from a study of mercury poisoning among workers in a seed-packaging factory in norwich, england in the late 1930s who breathed methylmercury that was being used as a seed disinfectant and pesticide. outbreaks of methylmercury poisoning occurred in several places in japan during the 1950s due to industrial discharges of mercury into rivers and coastal waters. the best-known instances were in minamata and niigata. in minamata alone, more than 600 people died due to what became known as minamata disease. more than 21,000 people filed claims with the japanese government, of which almost 3000 became certified as having the disease. in 22 documented cases, pregnant women who consumed contaminated fish showed mild or no symptoms but gave birth to infants with severe developmental disabilities. mercury poisoning of generations of grassy narrows and whitedog native people in ontario, canada who were exposed to high levels of mercury by consuming mercury-contaminated fish when dryden chemical company discharged over 9,000 kilograms (20,000 lb) of mercury directly into the wabigoon–english river system and continued with mercury air pollution until 1975. widespread mercury poisoning occurred in rural iraq in 1971–1972, when grain treated with a methylmercury-based fungicide that was intended for planting only was used by the rural population to make bread, causing at least 6530 cases of mercury poisoning and at least 459 deaths (see basra poison grain disaster). on august 14, 1996, karen wetterhahn, a chemistry professor working at dartmouth college, spilled a small amount of dimethylmercury on her latex glove. she began experiencing the symptoms of mercury poisoning five months later and, despite aggressive chelation therapy, died a few months later from a mercury induced neurodegenerative disease in april 2000, alan chmurny attempted to kill a former employee, marta bradley, by pouring mercury into the ventilation system of her car. on march 19, 2008, tony winnett, 55, inhaled mercury vapors while trying to extract gold from computer parts (by using liquid mercury to separate gold from the rest of the alloy), and died ten days later. his oklahoma residence became so contaminated that it had to be gutted. in december 2008, actor jeremy piven was diagnosed with mercury poisoning possibly resulting from eating sushi twice a day for twenty years or from taking herbal remedies. in india, a study by centre for science and environment and indian institute of toxicology research has found that in the country's energy capital singrauli, mercury is slowly entering people's homes, food, water and even blood. the minamata convention on mercury in 2016 announced that the signing of the "international treaty designed to protect human health and the environment from anthropogenic releases and emission of mercury and mercury compounds" on april 22, 2016—earth day. it was the sixtieth anniversary of the discovery of the disease. infantile acrodynia further information: acrodynia infantile acrodynia (also known as "calomel disease", "erythredemic polyneuropathy", and "pink disease") is a type of mercury poisoning in children characterized by pain and pink discoloration of the hands and feet. the word is derived from the greek, where άκρο means end or extremity, and οδυνη means pain. acrodynia resulted primarily from calomel in teething powders and decreased greatly after calomel was excluded from most teething powders in 1954. acrodynia is difficult to diagnose; "it is most often postulated that the etiology of this syndrome is an idiosyncratic hypersensitivity reaction to mercury because of the lack of correlation with mercury levels, many of the symptoms resemble recognized mercury poisoning." medicine mercury was once prescribed as a purgative. many mercury-containing compounds were once used in medicines. these include calomel (mercurous chloride), and mercuric chloride. thiomersal further information: thiomersal controversy in 1999, the centers for disease control (cdc) and the american academy of pediatrics (aap) asked vaccine makers to remove the organomercury compound thiomersal (spelled "thimerosal" in the us) from vaccines as quickly as possible, and thiomersal has been phased out of us and european vaccines, except for some preparations of influenza vaccine. the cdc and the aap followed the precautionary principle, which assumes that there is no harm in exercising caution even if it later turns out to be unwarranted, but their 1999 action sparked confusion and controversy that thiomersal was a cause of autism. since 2000, the thiomersal in child vaccines has been alleged to contribute to autism, and thousands of parents in the united states have pursued legal compensation from a federal fund. a 2004 institute of medicine (iom) committee favored rejecting any causal relationship between thiomersal-containing vaccines and autism. autism incidence rates increased steadily even after thiomersal was removed from childhood vaccines. currently there is no accepted scientific evidence that exposure to thiomersal is a factor in causing autism. dental amalgam toxicity further information: dental amalgam toxicity dental amalgam is a possible cause of low-level mercury poisoning due to its use in dental fillings. discussion on the topic includes debates on whether amalgam should be used, with critics arguing that its toxic effects make it unsafe. cosmetics some skin whitening products contain the toxic mercury(ii) chloride as the active ingredient. when applied, the chemical readily absorbs through the skin into the bloodstream. the use of mercury in cosmetics is illegal in the united states. however, cosmetics containing mercury are often illegally imported. following a certified case of mercury poisoning resulting from the use of an imported skin whitening product, the united states food and drug administration warned against the use of such products. symptoms of mercury poisoning have resulted from the use of various mercury-containing cosmetic products. the use of skin whitening products is especially popular amongst asian women. in hong kong in 2002, two products were discovered to contain between 9,000 and 60,000 times the recommended dose. fluorescent lamps fluorescent lamps contain mercury, which is released when bulbs break. mercury in bulbs is typically present as either elemental mercury liquid, vapor, or both, since the liquid evaporates at ambient temperature. when broken indoors, bulbs may emit sufficient mercury vapor to present health concerns, and the u.s. environmental protection agency recommends evacuating and airing out a room for at least 15 minutes after breaking a fluorescent light bulb. breakage of multiple bulbs presents a greater concern. a 1987 report described a 23-month-old toddler who had anorexia, weight loss, irritability, profuse sweating, and peeling and redness of fingers and toes. this case of acrodynia was traced to exposure of mercury from a carton of 8-foot fluorescent light bulbs that had broken in a potting shed adjacent to the main nursery. the glass was cleaned up and discarded, but the child often used the area to play in. assassination attempts mercury has, allegedly, been used at various times to assassinate people. in 2008, russian lawyer karinna moskalenko claimed to have been poisoned by mercury left in her car, while in 2010 journalists viktor kalashnikov and marina kalashnikova accused russia's fsb of trying to poison them.