Heavy Metal Therapy(TM) -- Mercury Dangers.

Mercury

Mercury (Hg) is a heavy metal with physical properties that make it ideal for use in the industrial manufacturing, chemical, mining and medical industries.

Elemental mercury tends to get absorbed, inhaled and/or ingested into the body where it is converted to methyl mercury. In this form it flows freely throughout the blood stream, crosses cell membranes and barriers (blood-brain) and becomes permanently attached to proteins and molecules, disrupting or altering their function, and causing serious damage.

Mercury "Bio accumulates" in filtering organs like the liver and kidneys as well as in the cells of the central nervous system including the brain.

Effects of Exposure...

Government Regulations...

Tests for elevated mercury levels...

Effects of Exposure

Acute effects include: Headaches, chills, fevers, tremors, diarrhea, nausea
Chronic (Long-term) effects:
- CNS damage/Brain - mercury crosses the blood-brain barrier and is retained in the brain tissue, elimination is slow.
- Kidney Failure
- Birth Defects - neurological damage resulting in delayed development, depressed intelligence (autism?)
- Gastrointestinal damage
Biochemical effects:

DNA/RNA damage
Alteration of protein structure
Induction of free-radical formation
Depletion of cellular glutathione

(http://www.mercurysafety.co.uk)

The following is a list of "psychological disturbances" attributed to mercury poisoning (http://www.talkinternational.com/):	The following is a list of symptoms of Alzheimer's Disease AD (http://www.psych.org/)
Irritability Fits of Anger Memory Loss Depression Low Self Confidence Anxiety Low Self Control	Personality changes Memory loss Susceptible to depression Emotional problems Long crying spells Become increasingly agitated, anxious, suspicious Loss of physical coordination

Mercury is believed to infiltrate neurons and cause brain lesions called neurofibrillary tangles and amyloid plaques, identical to those seen in 80% of people diagnosed with AD.

Click here to view a high resolution video produced by the University of Calgary, showing mercury attacking brain cells.

Government Regulations

The FDA permits 480 micrograms of methylmercury per one pound of fish and recommends pregnant women limit their intake to 12oz a week. (http://www.mercola.com/, http://www.ewg.org/)

The EPA recommends a much lower limit on mercury levels. They have set a maximum concentration of 2 micrograms / L of drinking water, and .10 micrograms / kilogram of body weight. They classify mercury as a "toxic pollutant" that is extremely harmful to the environment.

Why are dentists permitted to fix a substance referred to as a Toxic Pollutant by the EPA, into the mouths of millions of Americans?

Sources -- Dental Amalgam

Dental Amalgam or "Silver Fillings" have been used by dentists for the past 150 years. They are 50% mercury by weight. The FDA has never officially approved of their use in oral dentistry.

Some statistics of dental amalgam:

The amount of mercury in one filling is enough to contaminate a 10-acre pond and render all the fish in there too dangerous for human consumption, according to EPA standards (http://my.webmd.com/)
100 million Americans have amalgam fillings, and 100 million new amalgam fillings are attached every year (http://www.cda.org/)
If you have amalgam fillings, around 10 micrograms per filling (a day) of mercury vapor are absorbed directly into your bloodstream through your mouth and lungs, a large portion of which gets into your brain. (http://www.amalgam.org/#anchor48028)
Mercury poisoning from dental amalgam has been strongly linked to cases of Alzheimer's Disease (AD) (http://www.testfoundation.org/alzheimers.htm)

The American Dental Association has provided a rebuttal to the dangers of mercury fillings, and they give results of studies to prove their case.
Click Here to see Bioprobe.com's editorial of the ADA studies.

Click Here to search for mercury-free dentists in your area.

Click Here to see pending lawsuits against the ADA and manufacturers of dental amalgam:

Click Here to see the text of a bill called "Mercury in Dental Filling Disclosure and Prohibition Act" being pushed by Congresswoman Diane Watson (D-Los Angeles)

Is breathing mercury vapor as bad for you as being injected with mercury?

Sources -- Thimerosal

Thimerosal is an anti-biotic/preservative used in vaccines, including diphtheria, hepatitis, and influenza, to prevent the growth of bacteria and fungi.

Thimerosal is also 50% mercury in the ethyl mercury form. It has received a green light from the FDA for the concentrations used, although they realized in 1999, that the average American child who underwent vaccinations by multi-dose vials was exposed to more than 100 times the EPA allowable limit of mercury. (http://www.vaccinationnews.com)

On the new FDA FAQ sheet for thimerosal, they state that new preservatives in vaccines will reduce the maximum mercury exposure in infants from 187.5 micrograms to less than 3 micrograms. So what about the kids who received the 187.5 micrograms?

There are studies that reveal a link between the thimerosal in vaccines to the development of autism in children. (http://www.909shot.com/Diseases/autismsp.htm)

Another study shows that health and behavior improves in autistic children following removal of mercury from the body.
(http://www.healing-arts.org/children/holmes.htm)

The incidence of autism and other chronic diseases have drastically risen in the developed countries with large scale vaccination programs.

The FDA stands by their claim that thimerosal is safe for use in vaccines for infants and toddlers. If this is true, then...

Why did a U.S. congress person slip a rider into the Homeland Security Bill at the last minute, which shields pharmaceutical companies from any liabilities resulting from injuries or diseases caused by the vaccines?

In fact, the current administration has set a cap on judgments and awards due to medical malpractice suits related to autism. With the strong possibility of "forced vaccination" in the near future, it may be wise to get all the facts about thimerosal.

When getting children vaccinated (required by law), one should request preservative-free vaccines from the physician. Click here for a chart of thimerosal concentration in vaccines.

Click here to see pending lawsuits against thimerosal manufacturers

Click here to see additional information on the thimerosal liability rider

Sources -- Seafood (environmental pollution)

A majority of environmental mercury pollution comes from power plants, incinerators and smoke stacks. Mercury vapor and dust is expelled into the atmosphere where it falls back to the earth dissolved in rain. There are no provisions in the much-heralded 'Clean Air Act' that regulate the mercury emissions of power plants.

Experts say that some 40 tons of mercury are released into the US environment every year. (http://www.mercola.com/) This is even more troubling in a time when the present administration is proposing to loosen emission controls on power plants.

Mercury was also widely used in the late 19th century. It is estimated that 26 million pounds of elemental mercury used in the mining industry in NV and CA, remains in soil and water today. (http://www.examiner.com/)

Natural run-off and erosion carry the mercury deposits into rivers and eventually to the sea, where it gets absorbed by filtering shellfish, algae and phytoplankton and moves up the food chain to the top predatory fish. The 9 most contaminated fish which, according to Dr. Joseph Mercola, MD. should be avoided if possible, especially by pregnant women are:

Tuna steaks
Sea bass
Oysters (Gulf of Mexico)
Marlin
Halibut
Pike
Walleye
White croaker
Large mouth bass

Tests for Elevated Mercury Levels

A common sign of mercury poisoning is a lowered body temperature. The simplist test for possible mercury poisoning is to measure your basal body temperature, preferably with a digital thermometer, first thing in the morning for 4 straight days. Do this by placing the thermometer under your left armpit.

The standard human body temperature is 98.6^o, and a temperature that is consistently below 97.6^o F, (Broda Barnes basal temperature test for hypothyroidism) *may* be an indication of elevated level of mercury or other toxic heavy metals.

Unless the source of mercury contamination was recent, urine and hair levels are not effective indicators of mercury poisoning. Approximately 50-90 days after contamination, the mercury would be solidly bound to tissues and organs.

Here are some clinical and laboratory tests for mercury detection.
(http://www.healing-arts.org/)