Dissolution of mercury from amalgams and some intermetallic compounds found in the amalgam structure, such as γ1, γ2, and β1, was examined during one week of aging in 0.9% NaCl solution at 37°C. The amount of mercury released from γ1(30.2 μg/cm2) was at least 13 times that released from amalgam (0.5 - 2.2 μg/cm2) and five times that released from β1(5.7 μg/cm2). γ 2 released the least amount of mercury (0.46 μg/cm2). The study revealed that as high as 55% of the mercury ions liberated from the amalgams and the amalgam phases was adsorbed onto the walls of the vials in which the specimens were aged.
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