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Four Big Causes of Mercury Toxicity
One of the major sources of mercury poisoning is toxic waste dumping in the environment. We have learned to be less and less surprised at the ill effects of pollution, but ironically, some of the things we do to care for our health are also among the greatest sources of mercury toxicity. This is certainly the case with three other major sources of mercury toxicity -- the consumption of fish, the use of amalgam dental fillings, and vaccinations.
Once in the body, mercury bonds to structures in the central nervous system and is challenging to eliminate. Unless mercury removal is actively pursued, it has a half-life of between 15 and 30 years in the central nervous system.
What can mercury toxicity mean to you? Scroll down to the list of its effects at the end of this file.
The First Cause: TOXIC WASTE IN THE ENVIRONMENT
In the United States alone, forty tons of mercury are dumped into the air every year. Sources of airborne mercury include incinerators, coal- and oil-fired power plants, and industries manufacturing chlorine and caustic soda, with the coal-fired power plants ranking as the largest man-made source of environmental mercury. If inhaled at high levels, mercury can cripple or kill humans.
Additional mercury may also be released into the air when such commonly used fuels as coal, oil and wood are burned, or when mercury-containing wastes are incinerated. While in these latter cases, the dissipation of mercury into the air may reduce its immediate harm, rainfall brings airborne mercury from a variety of sources into water systems. Mining operations also contribute to mercury in the environment.
Once on the ground and in natural water systems, mercury is taken up by tiny animals and plants called plankton. Minnows and juvenile fish eat the plankton, and are in turn eaten by larger fish, such as rainbow trout. Mercury is carried up the food chain when the larger fish are consumed by other animals, including waterfowl and humans. Therefore mercury ultimately accumulates in our tissues as a result of polluted water resources.
The Second Cause: THE FISH WE EAT
It is through fish in particular that mercury enters the human food chain. Considering how rich in nutrients fish is for people of all ages, including developing infants, this is truly unfortunate.
And, because mercury is tightly bound to proteins in fish tissues, including muscles, there is no way of cooking or cleaning fish that reduces its mercury content. From the mid-1950s to the 1970s, several mass incidents involving methylmercury poisoning from fish taken in contaminated waters occurred in Canada and Japan. Given mercury's tenacity in our systems, there is considerable and growing concern about the health impacts of chronic exposures even to low levels of mercury.
Much of this concern over methylmercury is focused on women who frequently eat fish during pregnancy - and even those who consume as little as a single serving of highly contaminated fish. Methylmercury is a toxic metal that can cross the placenta and harm the rapidly developing nervous system, including the brain. It can cause learning deficits and developmental delays to children who are exposed to it in the womb.
Periodically the FDA, the EPA, and other government health officials issue advisories listing fish with dangerous levels of mercury, but the fact is that fish with no significant mercury pollution are extremely rare. Many health practitioners feel government lists of highly contaminated species need to be expanded, and the monitoring of methylmercury improved.
The Third Cause: DENTAL FILLINGS
Though disappointing to many, it is easy enough to restrict our intake of fish. However, toxic vapors are released from amalgam dental fillings 24 hours a day, 365 days per year. This mercury vapor is released into our blood stream and carried to every cell in our body - including those of the brain. It is no accident that amalgam fillings are banned in some European countries, and restricted in Germany, Sweden and Denmark. (AANT, Seattle WA)
A "silver" filling, or dental amalgam, is actually composed of 50% mercury. At the turn of the 21st century 90% of dentists were still using amalgams for restoring posterior teeth -- yet people who have amalgam fillings exceed the allowances for occupational exposure to mercury for all European and North American countries. Adults with four or more amalgams run significant risk from the fillings, while as few as two amalgams may contribute to problems in children.
Following the Coors study of 762 Patient Adverse Reaction Reports submitted to the FDA by patients, and another 807 patient reports from Sweden, Denmark, Canada, and the United States, notable improvement was found in many areas of health and well-being following removal of mercury-containing dental fillings. For example, there was marked improvement in individuals who had coped with allergies, anxiety, bad temper, bloating, blood pressure problems, chest pains, depression, dizziness, fatigue, intestinal problems, gum problems, headaches, insomnia, irregular heartbeat, irritability, lack of concentration, lack of energy, memory loss, metallic taste, multiple sclerosis and muscle tremor.
It is simply not wise to use metal in your mouth, including gold, which is the third most toxic metal to the body. Do not use porcelain or ceramic material, which contain aluminum, either.
Filling material should be strong enough to holdup during biting and chewing, and weak enough to be removed if further dental work is needed. There are many new strong plastic or glass composites, among others that work well for people and this new materials technology is advancing quickly. Currently safe filling materials include the plastic composites Heliomolar, Charisma, and Dentalite. Targis Vectris is the best so far for crowns, but new or improved materials are just around the corner.
For more dental care information, see our "Principles of Holistic Dentistry" file.
The Fourth Cause: VACCINATIONS
Perhaps the most chilling source of mercury contamination in recent years has been that from the preservative thimerosal, which has been used in more than two dozen childhood vaccines. What's more, thimerosal has been used for more than eighty years without its effects being adequately monitored (refer to Tim O'Shea, in The Sanctity of Human Blood: Vaccination is not Immunization, 7th ed., 2003, p. 114).
Further, consider that the EPA is quoted as setting .1mcg per kilogram per day as a maximum safe level of mercury exposure -- but that children receive far more than that directly into the bloodstream when vaccinated at birth, at 4 months, and at 6 months. The hepatitis B shot given a child at birth contains 12mcg of mercury and is 30x the EPA safe level. The DPT (diphtheria, pertussus and tetanus) and hiB (Haemophilus influenza type B for bacterial meningitis) shots given at 4 months contain 50 mcg of mercury and are 60x the EPA safe level. The hepatitis B and polio shots given at 6 months contain 62.5 mcg of mercury and are 78x the EPA safe level. And this mercury is even more bindable to human tissues, including brain tissue, than mercury from fish and broken thermometers (ibid., p. 114-15).
Not only are vaccinations with thimerosal a source of mercury, such vaccinations are highly suspect in many cases of autism. Autism is a syndrome characterized by serious difficulties in social relatedness and communication, abnormal movements, and repetitive behaviors. Researchers suggest it affects 1 out of every 150 US children. Findings from medical and government research suggest that many cases of idiopathic autism were induced by early mercury exposure via thimerosal, with both genetic and non-genetic factors limiting thimerosal's adverse effects to only some children. Though mercury is not believed to cause all forms of autism, the following associations makes it highly suspect in many cases: 1) symptom onset shortly after immunization, 2) the increase of autism paralleling the increase of vaccinations, 3) a genetic predisposition to mercury sensitivity is a factor in the likelihood of someone becoming autistic, and 4) parental reports of autistic children with elevated mercury.
Though thimerosal has been removed from some vaccines, it remains in many others. It is important to check whether any given vaccine you or a family member is scheduled for contains thimerosal.
Unfortunately, concern with thimerosal and nervous system disorders, and concern with vaccines in general, extends far beyond the areas sketched here.
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