Mees Lines
Definition
Transverse white bands across the fingernails that follow acute or repeated chronic exposure to arsenic, thallium or selenium. Appear 4 to 8 weeks after exposure as the nail grows. Width and position date the exposure within the 6-month nail growth window.
Related terms
- Bhasma
- Calcined heavy-metal preparation in classical ayurvedic and siddha pharmacopoeia. Includes naga bhasma (lead), parad bhasma (mercury), tamra bhasma (copper). Heavy metals are...
- Chelation Therapy
- Administration of a polydentate ligand that forms a stable water-soluble complex with the metal cation and increases urinary excretion. BAL (dimercaprol) is...
- Marsh Test
- Sensitive 1836 method for arsenic in which the acidified sample is added to zinc and dilute sulphuric acid. The evolved arsine gas...
- Reinsch Test
- Classical screen for arsenic, antimony, mercury and bismuth. A clean copper strip is immersed in the acidified sample (concentrated HCl, near-boiling) for...
- Speciation
- Determining the chemical form of a metal in a sample, not just the total. Critical for arsenic because As(III) trivalent arsenite is...
Explained in
- Toxic Metals and Anions: Arsenic, Lead, Mercury, Thallium and BeyondTransverse white bands across the fingernails that follow acute or repeated chronic exposure to arsenic, thallium or selenium. Appear 4 to 8 weeks after exposu...