Abraham Lincoln’s Blue Pills: Did Our 16th President Suffer from Mercury Poisoning

Details

• Personal Author:
  Feldman RG ; Greaves I ; Hirschhorn N
• Description:
  It is well known that Abraham Lincoln took a medicine called "blue mass" or "blue pill," commonly prescribed in the 19th century. What is now hardly known is that the main ingredient of blue mass was finely dispersed elemental mercury. As his friends understood, mercury was often prescribed for melancholy or "hypochondriasis," a condition Lincoln famously endured. Mercury in the form of the blue pill is a potential neurotoxin, which we have demonstrated by recreating and testing the recipe. We present the testimony of many of Lincoln's contemporaries to suggest that Lincoln suffered the neurobehavioural consequences of mercury intoxication but, perhaps crucial to history, before the main years of his presidency; he was astute enough to recognize the effects and stop the medication soon after his inauguration. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Biochemistry Chemistry Environmental Monitoring Hazardous Substances Hypersensitivity Occupational Health Risk Assessment Safety
• Keywords:
  Biochemical-analysis Biological-effects Biological-function Biological-systems Chemical-hypersensitivity Chemical-properties Chemical-reactions Dose-response Exposure-assessment Exposure-levels Exposure-methods Quantitative-analysis Risk-analysis Statistical-analysis Toxic-dose Toxic-effects

  More +
• ISSN:
  0031-5982
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Minnesota ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  315-332
• Volume:
  44
• Issue:
  3
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20037530
• Citation:
  Perspect Biol Med 2001 Jun; 44(3):315-332
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2001
• Performing Organization:
  University of Minnesota Twin Cities
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Perspectives in Biology and Medicine
• End Date:
  20250630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:52499325a79dd82d42dd2f1b4f11cd22a70354cd9f34680dc8fe23e8d7c22f99daa8282b011bba36687af52de9c70f972573f5d216924402dec645e23c744b28
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/188609/cdc_188609_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 664.68 KB ]