Giovanni Antonio Scopoli's De Hydrargyro Idriensi Tentamina (1761): Mercury Mining, Mercurialism, and Preventive Reasoning in Eighteenth‐Century Occupational Medicine

Giovanni Antonio Scopoli's De Hydrargyro Idriensi Tentamina (1761) offers a groundbreaking, workplace-based account of occupational diseases among mercury miners and smelter workers in 18th-century Idrija, Slovenia. The work provides detailed clinical observations linking toxic exposure to conditions such as tremor, salivation, stomatitis, and respiratory disorders, predating modern industrial toxicology by centuries. Unlike broader nosological approaches, Scopoli's study is site-specific, combining physiological, chemical, and medical insights with preventive reasoning. This reassessment highlights its significance in the history of occupational medicine, contrasting it with later reform-oriented traditions while positioning it as a distinctive 18th-century example of pre-industrial occupational-medical inquiry.

Zanatta, A., Mason, P., Bollini, S., & Magno, G. (2026). Giovanni Antonio Scopoli’s De Hydrargyro Idriensi Tentamina (1761): Mercury Mining, Mercurialism, and Preventive Reasoning in Eighteenth‐Century Occupational Medicine. American Journal of Industrial Medicine. Portico. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajim.70128