Rats pretreated with diethyl maleate (DEM, 3.37 mmol/kg, ip) and buthionine sulfoximine (BSO, 0.45 mmol/kg, ip) and subsequently given mercuric chloride (HgCl2, 0.014 mmol/kg, sc) had a significantly greater mortality rate over the 24 hr after injection than rats given only HgCl2 or HgCl2 following either DEM or BSO alone. Depletion of nonprotein sulfhydryls (NPSH) in the kidney significantly decreased mercury uptake in that organ. A similar effect was not seen in the liver despite marked depletion of NPSH. Similarly, there was a tendency for less in vitro mercury accumulation in renal cortical slices from rats made glutathione deficient by DEM + BSO compared to control, or rats made glutathione deficient by DEM or BSO alone. Depletion of nonprotein sulfhydryls by the combination of the depleting agents diethyl maleate plus buthionine sulfoximine (DEM + BSO) had a greater effect to alter organic ion accumulation in renal cortical slices than the agents alone. The higher mortality produced by mercuric chloride after DEM + BSO pretreatment may have been due to an increased availability of mercury in lethal concentrations at other organ sites. These data suggest the possible importance of NPSH in renal mercuric ion accumulation, but not in the liver.