Mercury, Urine

WSLH Department: Chemical Emergency Response - Clinical Metals
WSLH Test Code: CR1013
Availability: Monday-Friday
Turn-around Time: 5 working days
Recommended Uses: The urine mercury test evaluates potential mercury toxicity from exposure to metallic and inorganic mercury.
Contraindications:
Additional Tests Performed:
Patient Preparations: No specific patient preparation is required
Specimen Requirements: Mid-stream clean catch, catheter, or an aliquot of a 24-hour urine collection are acceptable. A volume of >4 mL is requested. Label with patient name and date of birth.

Standard sterile urine collection cups (no kit available)
Specimen Handling & Transport: Urine will be preserved by WSLH lab staff upon receipt; this should occur as soon as possible after initial collection. Do not delay transport of specimens for this test.

Specimens should be stored frozen prior to transport. Same day or next day drop off of specimens is preferred. Specimens being shipped should be supplied with enough dry ice to maintain the frozen state during transport and until arrival at the laboratory.
Collection Kit/Container:
Collection Instructions: Sterile collection procedures are preferred, but not required.
Unacceptable Conditions: Urine is the only acceptable matrix for this test
Requisition Form: Clinical Metals Submission Form
Required Information: Laboratory regulations require the following minimum information to be provided on the Clinical Metals Submission Form for a specimen to be accepted for testing: Patient name or unique identifier; date of collection, patient date of birth and sex, specimen type/site of collection (clean catch, catheter, etc), test request(s), clinician name and NPI, and address for reporting results. Please be certain that name/identifier on the form matches that on the specimen label.
Results Include: Normal range: 0-1.64 mcg/L
Limitations: A blood mercury test is needed to assess organic mercury exposure.
Additional Tests Recommended:
Additional Comments: Preservation on receipt, along with freezing of urine, is completed to prevent the potential loss of mercury from the urine. This process is more important for the measurement of biomonitoring concentrations (which are usually lower) and is not as critical for occupational or other higher-level exposure situations.
Methodology: Urine mercury samples are diluted and the mercury is measured by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS)
Includes: Evaluation of potential mercury toxicity
CPT Code: 83825
Price: $35.36
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