Heavy metals

Heavy metals

The heavy metals such as mercury, silver and copper and their salts are efficient anti-microbial agents. Mercuric chloride (i.e., bichloride of mercury) at 0.1% concentration is employed as a surface sterilizing agent in laboratory. Since of its corrosive action on metals and toxicity to animals its use is restricted. Organic compounds such as mercurochrome, merthiolate are less toxic and thus employed as antiseptics on cutaneous and mucosal surfaces.

The practice of treating the eyes of new born babies with some drops of 0.1% silver nitrate to prevent the gonococcal infection of eyes is familiar. Silver nitrate at 0.1% is bactericidal to most organisms and it is broadly used. A colloidal solution comprising of a protein with metallic silver or silver oxide is also employed as antiseptic. The Bordeaux mixture, the primary known fungicide generated to combat downy mildew of grapes is a mixture of copper sulphate and lime. Even nowadays copper fungicides such as copper oxychloride are obtainable in market.

Copper sulphate is more efficient against fungi, algae, and bacteria.  It is employed at 2ppm levels to control algae in swimming pool.

The antimicrobial activity of heavy metals is due to their mixture with proteins and their inactivation. At very high concentrations they all coagulate cytoplasmic proteins resultant in damage or death of cells. Mercury reacts with sulfhydryl classes of enzymes and inactivates them. To be efficient as disinfectants they have to be utilized after cleaning the organic matter as its presence decreases their action. The copper is toxic at high concentration. It is to be noted here that copper though toxic is needed in traces for the function of some copper containing enzymes. The lethal effect by some metals at very small quantities on bacteria is termed as oligodynamic action.

 

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