Interaction of Mercury with Human and Bovine Milk Proteins

The interaction of inorganic mercury with human and bovine milk proteins was studied. Gel filtration chromatography of skimmed milk and whey incubated with mercury showed that, in human milk, mercury was mainly bound to caseins, while a low proportion was bound to albumin. In bovine milk, mercury was associated with two protein fractions, caseins and beta-lactoglobulin. Furthermore, it was shown by electrophoresis that mercury induced the formation of dimers of beta-lactoglobulin. Thus, in both human and bovine milk, mercury possessed greater ability to interact with milk proteins than to the low-molecular-weight substances. However, the pattern of mercury distribution was different between the milk of these two species.