Here we outline the dangers of these toxic heavy metals, the risks of exposure to them, and the current data supporting their relation to various diseases.
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.
More...Cadmium
Cadmium is normally found combined with other minerals in compounds and is extracted or released during the purification of another metal. Its entrance into the environment is accelerated by mining, burning of fossil fuels, and leaks or spills from treatment or chemical sites. Cadmium is a well-known carcinogen.
Cadmium can be absorbed through the air/lungs (smoke), through drinking water, and through food sources such as leafy vegetables and shellfish.
More...Lead
Outline of a study from Dartmouth University in 1999
Although the dangers of lead poisoning have been known for years, substantial numbers of children continue to suffer from blood lead above danger level of 10µg/dL. The problem is especially serious because lead poisoning is associated with higher rates of learning disabilities, hyperactivity, substance abuse and crime.
Newly published research at Dartmouth College has uncovered an unsuspected factor that increases vulnerability to environmental lead exposure. Analyzing a major survey of over 280,000 Massachusetts children, a team headed by Prof. Roger D. Masters has identified chemicals widely used in treating public water supplies [nofluoride.com Editor: WATER FLUORIDATION] that apparently increase children's absorption of lead. (Poisoning the Well: Neurotoxic Metals, Water Treatment, and Human Behavior)
More...
Summary
Obviously, the level of environmental industrial pollution and the risk to humans of heavy metal exposure are just recently coming to light. Is it just a coincidence that this is happening at the same time there is a rise in the incidences of neurological and other diseases with "no known causes"?
To read about these diseases and their relationship to the heavy metals mercury, cadmium and lead, please continue on to the Disease section.
| Heavy Metal Summary Table | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Sources | Effects | Toxicity IDLH (Immediately Dangerous to Life or Health [CDC]) | Associated Diseases |
| Mercury | Dental Amalgam (Silver Fillings), Thimerosal (Vaccines), Fish from industrial pollution (high tech manufacturing, medical device, incinerators, power plants) | Personality change, loss of memory, depression, anxiety, rage | 2 mg Hg/m3 | AD, PD, ASD, ALS, MS, Dementia, Skin, Liver, Kidney, Cardio Myopathy |
| Cadmium | Soil, leafy vegatables (produce, tobacco), water, fertilizers manufactured from industrial pollution | No easily recognizable signs of long term, low dose exposure. A known carcinogen | 9 mg Cd/m3 | Breast cancer, prostate cancer, lung cancer, bone damage, kidney disease |
| Lead | Soil, water from mining and smelting industries | Hyperirritability, lowered IQ, aggression, constipation, insomnia, abdominal cramping | 100 mg Pb/m3 | Neurological and developmental disorders |
| Arsenic | - | - | 5 mg As/m3 | - |