Betreff:
mercury again |
Von: Dorothee Krien |
Datum: Sat, 7 Jul 2007 22:22:36 +0100 |
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Here's another item on mercury, found on
Talkinternational by Boyd Haley, US researcher and mercury expert, in case you
don't already have that. It gives information on the synergistic toxicity
effects of mercury and other metals.
Regards,
Dorothee
http://www.talkinternational.com/haley-congress.html
Report on Mercury Toxicity from Dental Amalgams and Thimerosal
Presented to Congressional Hearing - May 8, 2003
Presented By Boyd E. Haley, Ph.D.
Professor and Chairman of the Department of Chemistry
University of Kentucky
Lexington, KY 50606-005
In developing an opinion on mercury toxicity from exposures to dental
amalgam and thimerosal I have reviewed toxicologic data relevant to animal and
human studies to environmental mercury, methylmercury, thimerosal and exposure
to mercury from amalgam fillings. I have reviewed literature searches conducted
on various computerized databases; evaluated published literature on primary
studies as referenced in part herein. I have reviewed relevant unpublished
reports, consulted review articles, where appropriate, and held working
meetings with experts in the field. I have also conducted experiments in my
laboratory at the University of Kentucky with regards to the enzyme and
cellular toxicity of both dental amalgams and thimerosal, including vaccine
with and without thimerosal added as a preservative. In addition, I have
reviewed evaluations and conclusions of various governmental agencies,
including the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the World
Health Organization (WHO), the National Institute of Health (NIH), the United
States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and other groups regarding this
issue. I have come to the following conclusions.
1. Mercury is the most toxic, non-redioactive
elements known to man. Virtually every industry has either reduced or banned
the use of mercury with the exception of dentistry. Dental amalgam is
approximately 50% mercury by weight. Each amalgam typically has between
half of a gram to a gram of mercury. A typical person having between 5 and 15
amalgams, would have several grams of mercury implanted in his or her mouth. This
amount is colossal using any standard. I am aware of no other situation today
where grams of mercury are implanted in any human being. In fact, in the
healthcare industry, mercury has been all but banned.
2. The concentration of thimerosal in vaccines that
contain this agent as a preservative is approximately 125,000 nanomolar. In our
studies pure thimerosal shows toxicity to neurons in culture at 10 to 20
nanomolar, a 12,500 to 6,250 dilution factor. Calculations, using a
conservative approach, demonstrate that vaccinations of infants exposed them to
concentrations of thimerosal that could biologically injure them, especially if
they were exceptionally susceptible to mercury toxicity due to genetic
predisposition, other concurrent toxic exposures (e.g. to lead, elemental
mercury, cadmium, etc.) further, our research has shown that thimerosal, which
releases the toxic agent ethylmercury, inhibits the same brain enzymes as does
Hg2+. Therefore, multiple exposures from dental amalgams, food, and
vaccines are all capable of adding to the toxic load of these infants.
3. Further, we need to emphasize that humans are not
rats in a pristine cage, being fed chow that is tested to be free of other
toxic agents. Humans are exposed to numerous toxic agents that may act in a
synergistic fashion to enhance the toxicity of other toxicants. That is, and
this is well established, low levels of lead will greatly enhance the toxicity
of mercury. It is well known that levels of lead previously thought to be
non-toxic are now associated with decreased mental abilities in children. Could
it be that this lead is enhancing the toxicity of mercury exposures from dental
amalgams and vaccines?
4. The position of organized dentistry, primarily
the American Dental Association (ADA), that "no valid scientific evidence
exists that dental amalgam poses any health risk-other than rare, localized
allergic reactions," is, in my opinion, indefensible in the light of huge
amounts of published science. The major basis I have heard for the ADA stand is
the finding of "expert committees" within the dental branch of the
FDA and WHO. I looked up the members of these committees and have serious
concerns about who the ADA classifies as "expert" that served on
these committees. In my opinion, there was a severe paucity of relevant
research publications on mercury toxicity by members of these committees. The
ADA stand is especially weak if one considers the recent National Academy of
Sciences and EPA reports implying that 8 to 10% of American women of child
bearing age have blood levels of mercury that put any child they give birth to
at risk for having neurological problems. Also, a plethora of peer reviewed,
published, scientific studies and articles completely refute the evaluation of
the ADA regarding amalgam safety. Frankly, outside of the Journal of the
American Dental Association or JADA, the ADA's trade journal, which is not
a refereed scientific journal, but solely a trade journal, scientific
consensus is completely contrary to the ADA's position (note that the ADA
escapes adjudication by claiming to be a trade organization with no
responsibility to public health.) The fact is that there are no solid, refereed
publications showing that mercury is not significantly emitted from dental
amalgams. On the contrary, there are several showing significant emissions of
mercury from dental amalgams. In the one JADA article (Saxe, et al. JADA
Alzheimer's Disease, Dental Amalgam and Mercury, V130, p191, 1999) it is
claimed that amalgams are not related to brain Hg levels. I have several design
and scientific criticism of this paper, which I will not go into here. However,
in this same paper there is a histogram that shows that about 6% of the
subjects had mercury brain levels above 1 micromolar levels and about 15% had
brain levels above 0.5 micromolar levels. Therefore, roughly 6 to 15% of
Americans, on the day they die, have what any competent neurologist or
neurochemists or toxicologist would call severely toxic levels of
mercury. These levels are about 1,000 times that needed to cause neurons to die
in culture. Therefore, one needs to ask the questions "where does this
mercury come from and why does it exist in brain tissues at such high
levels." I seriously doubt that the major cause is eating seafood for 85
year old AD subjects. The cause is obvious exposures from known sources
(amalgams, food and vaccines) and the reason it collects in certain individuals
is because they cannot effectively excrete mercury due to genetic
susceptibilities or presence of other toxicants (lead, pesticides, etc.) or
loss of cellular protection due to advanced age or disease. Perhaps this same
phenomena accounts for the 22,000 times normal level of mercury in the heart
tissues of children who die with Idiopathic Dilated Cardiomyopathy (Frustaci et
al., J. American College of Cardiology, v33#6, p1578, 1000.) This latter issue
alone should make Congress consider a ban on mercury in dentistry and medicine.
5. Dental amalgam emits dangerous levels of mercury.
In fact, according to a 1991 WHO report, dental amalgam constitutes the major
human exposure to mercury.1 Grams of mercury are in the mouth
of individuals with several amalgam fillings. Also, the level of blood and
urine mercury positively correlates with the number of amalgam fillings.2
It would be quite informative to require that the American Medical Association
(AMA) be required to evaluate the state of mercury toxicity caused by dental
amalgams and make a report regarding this issue. The lack of AMA support for
the ADA contention on amalgam safety says something.
6. Careful evaluation of the amount of mercury
emitted from a commonly used dental amalgam in a test tube with 10 ml of water
was presented in an article entitled "Long-term Dissolution of Mercury
from a Non-Mercury-Releasing Amalgam."3 This study showed that
"the overall mean release of mercury was 43.5 ± 3.2 micrograms per cm2
/day, and the amount remained fairly constant during the duration of the
experiments (2 years.)" This was without pressure, heat or galvanism as
would have occurred if the amalgams were in a human mouth. To be fair, this
amalgam contained about 66% mercury compared to about 50% in most amalgams in
use. The importance of this publication is that the discovery of the tremendous
amount of mercury released from this amalgam material was not discovered by
NIDCR, FDA, ADA, CDC or any other American research group. It came from the
University of Singapore. Why hasn't the ADA or FDA or DCD done similar studies
on every amalgam preparation used in the USA today? In my laboratory we have
done this on several aged amalgams made from one conventional, widely used
amalgam company. The results indicated that about 4.5 micrograms Hg/cm2/
day was released without abrasion, but this increased to about 47 micrograms/cm2/day
with two 30 second brushings with a toothbrush. Therefore, the question
remains, who is protecting the American public from adverse exposures to
mercury? It appears as if those who should be doing this job are failing to do
so. Having an unbiased research group repeat the study above on all ADA
approved amalgam materials would be very informative and I strongly recommend
that this be done even though doing this is was not supported by the ADA
spokesperson at a past Congressional hearing on this issue.
Recent research has shown that the birth hair of
normal children increase in mercury content with increasing dental amalgams in
the birth mother (A. Holmes, M. Blaxill and B. Haley, Reduced Levels of Mercury
in the First Baby Haircuts of Autistic Children, in press, International J.
Toxicology v22#4, 2003.) In contrast, autistic children have much lower levels
of mercury in their birth hair, yet due to numerous reports have elevated
mercury in their bodies on mercury challenge testing. This strongly indicates
that a subset of the population does not have the ability to excrete mercury
even if it is from low chronic daily exposure from dental amalgam.
7. Furthermore, due to the substantial amounts of
mercury in amalgams, it is the number of amalgams that controls the amount of
mercury exposure and this is likely not significantly affected by the length of
time each amalgam is in the mouth.4 Put another way, since each
large amalgam (i.e. those with 0.5 and 1.0 grams of mercury) contains between
500,000 to 1,000,000 micrograms of mercury, and if mercury were estimated to be
released at a high rate of 10 micrograms a day from each amalgam, it would take
between 137 and 274 years before any individual amalgam is
completely depleted of its mercury content. A small amalgam with 0.1 grams of
mercury would take 27.4 years for depletion at this rate. Also, there is a high
variance which is influenced by the surface area of the amalgam, its copper
content, its location and the individual's eating and grinding habits, and rate
of acidity, as noted herein. However, even at very conservative estimates,
these figures equate to a substantial amount of chronic (continuous,
daily) mercury exposure over a sustained, prolonged period of time. I think it
is imperative that the ADA provide detailed research that demonstrates that
amalgams MADE OUTSIDE THE MOUTH DO NOT RELEASE MERCURY ON REASONABLE ABRASION
AS WOULD BE EXPECTED ON CHEWING FOOD OR DRINKING HOT DRINKS. The ADA and other
supporters of amalgam refuse to do these studies or fund these studies even
though several refereed journal reports list solutions in which amalgams have
been soaked as "severely cytotoxic."
8. About 80% of the mercury vapor from amalgams is
readily taken up by the human body and distributed to various organs. Very
little, if any, of the mercury vapors are exhaled; the vapors as well as
mercury particles are absorbed into the lungs and body tissues. Through the
lungs, for instance, mercury enters the bloodstream where it has access to all
of the major organs; of particular concern are the kidneys and the central
nervous system.5 For example, studies have been performed where
amalgams containing radioactive mercury were placed in sheep and monkeys,
showed the radioactivity collecting in all body tissues and especially high in
the jaw and facial bones.6 Human studies are also supportive.7
9. Even more concerning is the synergistic
toxicity effects of other elements in amalgams, which increase the toxicity
of mercury. For example, Zinc (or Zn) is a needed element for body health and
is found in very low percentages in dental amalgams when compared to mercury. However,
Zn+2 is a synergist that enhances mercury toxicity. Studies have
shown that solutions in which amalgams have been soaked were "severely
cytoxic initially when Zn release was highest."8 (see also, Lobner
& Asrari, Neurotoxicity of Dental Amalgam is Mediated by Zinc. J. Dental
Research v82#3, 243, 2003.) We have repeated similar amalgam soaking
experiments in my laboratory. Cadmium (from smoking), lead, zinc and other
heavy metals enhanced mercury toxicity as expected. This is a well know
phenomena in toxicology as it has been reported many years ago in a study on
determining the lethal dose (LD) that "the administration of an
essentially no-response level (LD-1) of a mercury salt together with a 1/20 of
the LD-1 of a lead salt killed all of the animals." If the toxicity were
additive only 1 to 2 rats of 100 should have died, instead 100% died. (J.
Shubert, E. Riley & S. Tyler. Combined Effects in Toxicology--A Rapid
Systemic Testing Procedure: Cadmium, Mercury and Lead. J.Toxicology and
Environmental Health v4, p763, 1978.) What the data from several
studies clearly shows is that no one can state what is a "safe" level
of mercury exposure without knowing the concentration of all other factors that
may synergistically exacerbate mercury toxicity.
10. Synergistic effects on ethylmercury is
demonstrated by the dramatic enhancements of thimersosal toxicity against
neurons in culture by aluminum cation (Al3+), antibiotics and
testosterone. Al3+ is another component of vaccines and dramatically
increases the killing of neurons by thimerosal. Testosterone, at low nanomolar
levels is not noticeably toxic to neurons. However, if testosterone is present
with low nanomolar levels of thimerosal the rate of neuron death is greatly
enhanced, more so than with Al3+. This likely explains the 4 to 1
ratio of boys to girls that become autistic and the fact that most of the
severe cases of autism are boys. This involvement of testosterone in autism is
further supported by the work of Dr. Baron Cohen of England who studied the
amniotic fluid of mothers who gave birth to autistic children. The only
abnormality he found was that their amniotic fluid contained elevated
testosterone. It is likely that this early elevated testosterone level rendered
these children at enhanced risk for ethylmercury neurotoxicity.
11. There are two common misconceptions fostered by
pro-amalgam supporters concerning mercury amalgam filings: (1) that the mercury
in dental amalgam is all chemically bound and not released at significant
rates; and (2) that amalgam mercury is in a form that is biologically inactive.
We have tested this in a direct fashion in my laboratory by soaking amalgams in
distilled water and then testing these solutions for toxicity in a manner
similar to our testing of solutions known to contain specific amounts of Hg2+.
The results were unequivocal, solutions in which amalgams were soaked for only
one hour gave very similar effects on inhibiting the activity of tubulin and
creatine kinase, two enzymes previously reported to be greatly inhibited in
Alzheimer's diseased brain as compared to age-matched normal brain (B.
Haley, The Relationship of the Toxic Effects of Mercury to Exacerbation of the
Medical Conditions Classified as Alzheimer's Disease, Nordisk Tidsskrift for
Biologisk Medisin, 2003.) Therefore, amalgams likely created a
cytotoxic environment in situ as report by others also.
12. By definition, an amalgam is a mixture of
uncharged metal powders in elemental form that is mixed with liquid mercury to
form an emulsion that hardens with time. Amalgams are not an alloy similar to
steel or bronze. Furthermore, in the case of dental amalgam, all of the
elements that are used to form amalgam have totally filled electron shells and
form what is known as metallic bonds. Mercury is a liquid because it makes very
weak metallic bonds, even with other metals, and this bonding is reversible
allowing bound mercury to become unbound and escape as a vaporous atom, Hg0,
at a rate that is significant. As such, there does not exist an irreversible
covalent bond between mercury and the other metals that is caused by two
elements binding to fill in shells with missing electrons. This means that,
unlike most chemically bound molecules, the elements that are mixed in an
amalgam do not lose their individual elemental properties on release from the
amalgam, unless this release is caused by electro-galvanism. Simply put,
mercury vapor emitting from amalgams does not lose any of its toxicity because
it was at one time inside of a dental amalgam. As shown in study after study,
mercury vapor is emitted from amalgams at substantial and toxic amounts, and is
then distributed within the human body. The claims made by ADA spokesperson,
even by one past director for the NIDCR, that mercury in amalgams is like
sodium in table salt, or like hydrogen in water, represent what would be
considered as preposterous by anyone knowledgeable in freshman level general
chemistry.
13. As to the second misconception, all of the metal
elements in amalgam, including mercury, are not biologically inactive. As
noted in numerous studies, some of which are cited herein, mercury emits from
amalgams on a 24 hour a day basis.9 The emissions are increased
based on the introduction of hot substances, such as beverages (coffee and the
sort), with chewing (such as chewing gum or food) and with galvanism as Hg (the
simple electrical current set up between different metals in the mouth and
ionic saliva.) Additionally, numerous interactions cause the scratching of the
amalgams, again causing an increase in mercury vapor emissions. This includes
the grinding of teeth. Once the mercury vapor is emitted it enters the body and
is converted to toxic Hg2+ inside of cells by a specific enzyme
(catalyase). In the blood it is carried to various organs, including, but not
limited to, the brain as supported by various studies, some of which are cited
herein. Based on this, mercury vapor from dental amalgams cannot be said to be
biologically inactive as it is rapidly converted to a toxic form once inside a
cell.
14. Equally unsupportable, scientifically, is any
"estimate" that amalgams emit mercury at minute amounts under a tenth
of a microgram per day as suggested by an ADA pro-amalgam spokesperson at the
last congressional Hearing. Applying simple math to this "estimate"
of 0.1 micrograms/day/amalgam confirms this inaccuracy. If one would divide the
0.1 microgram/day amount by 8, 640 (24 hours/day X 60 minutes/hour X 6 ten
second intervals/minute) to calculate the amount of mercury in micrograms
available for a ten second mercury vapor analysis. This equals 1.16 X 10-5
micrograms total. Assume the oral cavity is somewhere between 10cm3
to 100 cm3 volume (note that 1 milliliter equals 1 cm3 )
then 1.16 X 10-6 micrograms/cm3 or 1.16 X 10-7micrograms/cm3
would be obtained from a single amalgam. Note that the conventional vapor
sniffer reads at its lowest setting about 10 micrograms/meter3 or 10
micrograms/ 1,000,000 cm3 or 0.000001 or 10-6 micrograms/cm3.
Therefore, the readings from 0.1 microgram mercury released/day/amalgam in a 10
second reading would give values in a 10 cm 3 oral volume that are
barely if at all detectable. In a 100 cm3 oral volume it would take
about 8-9 fillings to get a minimal reading on a vapor sniffer. This indicates
that it would almost be impossible to detect mercury emitting from one amalgam
or several if the "estimate" of the ADA spokesperson were accurate.
However, the mercury vapor sniffer has been used by
numerous individuals to detect mercury vapor in a human mouth or oral volume,
and in my opinion the levels reported would underestimate the amount of mercury
emitting from a single amalgam because of the following. Consider that
somewhere between one-half to five-sixths of the mercury released would enter
the body through the tooth (that area of the amalgam that exists below the
visibly exposed amalgam surface) and not into the oral air. While the margins
between a tooth and an amalgam filling are small they are large compared to an
atom of mercury vapor. So mercury does enter readily through this route. In
addition, some mercury in the oral air would be rapidly absorbed from the air
into the saliva and oral mucosa since mercury is a lipophilic (or hydrophobic)
vapor. This mercury would not be measured by the mercury analyzer and yet would
enter the body. Further, as the mercury analyzer pulls mercury containing oral
air into the analysis chamber, mercury free ambient air rushes into the oral
cavity decreasing the mercury concentration.
Taking all of this into account one can calculate
that most mercury analyzers could not detect this "estimated" 0.10
micrograms/day level of mercury even if the test subject had several amalgams. However,
it is quite easy to detect mercury emitting from one amalgam using these
analyzers. Therefore, it is impossible for daily emissions from amalgam to be
anything less than the detection limits of an analyzer in a 10 second test. Separately,
if amalgam is gently rubbed with a toothbrush the amount of mercury emitted, as
measured by a commercial mercury vapor sniffer, increases dramatically. As I
have cited herein, mercury emissions from amalgams increase substantially when
hot liquids are introduced or when the individual is chewing.10
15. Additionally, it is also important to note that
measurement of mercury emissions by a mercury vapor analyzer in the human mouth
tends to greatly underestimatethe amount of mercury exiting the
amalgam as it does not measure much of the mercury that is rapidly absorbed in
saliva and oral mucosa. Also, as the analyzer pulls mercury contaminated air
out of the mouth, mercury concentrations are also decreased as mercury free
ambient air rushes in the oral cavity.
16. It is also important to note that when it comes
to amalgam fillings, the concern is chronic, not acute, exposures. Basically,
in the case of an acute exposure, one would be exposed to a large amount of
mercury in a single dosage that, in and of itself, may or may not be toxic. In
the case of chronic exposures, while an individual exposure may not be toxic,
the concern is the sum of the exposures. With amalgams, the exposure is
constant, 24 hours a day (chronic), and increases with the introduction
of various elements, such as chewing and the like, and also the introduction of
other chemicals which may act synergistically with mercury. Furthermore,
mercury accumulates within the human body in various organs and remains there
for prolonged periods of time as a "retention toxicity." A
"retention toxicity" from mercury differs from most conventional
toxicities as the toxin is not removed, but remains and builds up. For example,
getting drunk or alcohol toxic one night, the toxicity is cleared by the body
as it metabolizes the alcohol to other compounds. Mercury, being an element
cannot be metabolically changed and, most importantly, forms a long-term
attachment (or covalent bond) with proteins inside of cells and organelles,
causing what is called retention toxicity as the level of mercury can build up
with continuous chronic exposure.
In fact, mercury has been shown to remain in human
organs for years after initial exposure accumulating in the brain, kidney, and
lung.11 Specific to amalgam and the central nervous system, low
doses of mercury vapor enter and remain within motor neurons for prolonged
periods of time. According to various studies, these are levels well within the
WHO guidelines for occupational exposure.12 Simply put, these
published studies show that amounts of mercury that are considered within safe
limits reaches the central nervous system, and accumulates to toxic levels via
"retention toxicity." Mercury can be lodged in various organs causing
toxicity for a prolonged period of time. This is of particular concern with
amalgams, as mercury continuously accumulates in a given subject for years,
adding up to potentially toxic levels in many individuals, including, as noted
below, the developing fetus.
17. Any claim on the part of the ADA or established
dental organizations that a zinc oxide layer is formed on the amalgams that
decreases mercury release can only be true if an individual is not using his or
her teeth. Note that zinc is listed at "trace levels" in amalgams. How
can trace levels cover the 50% mercury? However, in the real world, any zinc
oxide layer is easily removed by slight abrasion such as chewing food or
brushing the teeth. Further, my laboratory has confirmed that solutions in
which amalgams have been soaked can cause the inhibition of brain proteins that
are inhibited by adding mercury chloride, and these are the same enzymes
inhibited in AD brain samples.
18. Even more concerning is that at least some of
the inorganic mercury that is emitted from amalgams is converted to
methylmercury, a more toxic, organic form of mercury.13 This
strongly indicates that "organo mercury species" are indeed capable
of being made in the human body and likely explains the appearance of
methylmercury in the blood and urine of individuals who do not eat seafood, but
do have amalgam fillings.
19. The bottom line is that amalgams emit
significant levels of neurotoxic mercury that are injurious to human health and
would exacerbate the medical condition of those individuals with neurological
diseases such as Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis ("ALS" or "Lou
Gehrig's Disease") 14 , Multiple Sclerosis ("MS"),
Parkinson's, autism and Alzheimer's Disease ("AD"). For example,
mercury inhibits the same enzymes in normal brain tissues as are inhibited in
Alzheimer's Disease.15 AD is pathologically confirmed post-mortem by
the appearance of neuro-fibillary tangles (NFTs) and amyloid plaques in brain
tissue. Published research, within the past year, has shown that exposure of
neurons in culture to sub-lethal doses of mercury (much less than is observed in
human brain tissue) causes the formations of NFTs,16 the increased
secretion of beta-amyloid protein and the hyper-phosphorylation of a protein
called Tau.17All three of these mercury-induced aberrancies are
regularly identified by world class scholars as the major diagnostic markers
for AD. Yet the ADA states there is no scientific data published to indicate
that mercury from amalgams could contribute to these diseases.
20. Furthermore, mercury from amalgams is
transferred from a pregnant mother to the developing fetus, causing increased
mercury body burden in children solely based on the presence of amalgams in the
mother.18 Mercury exposure is even more devastating to the
developing brain than to an adult brain. This has been shown in study after study
culminating with the recent publication by Dr. Lorscheider, et al., showing
brain neuron degeneration from small amounts of mercury and conclusively
proving that such degeneration does not occur with the introduction of any
other element, including lead.19 The research mentioned above
on the levels of mercury in the birth-hair of children increasing with the
mother's amalgam clearly demonstrates that mercury from dental amalgams enters
the child in utero as has been previously reported.
21. Also, low level exposures like those associated
with amalgam fillings and the resultant increase in the mercury body burden are
toxic to the central nervous system.20 These can cause from severe
to subtle neuropsychological functions such as depression of performance,
intellectual functioning, impairments of attention, impairment of short-term
memory function, visual judgment of angles and directions, psychomotor
retardation and personality changes. As further proof that these are mercury
related, scientists have shown that in some cases, the effects can be reversed
simply by removal of the source of mercury intoxication, together with proper
medical treatment. 21 Mercury from fillings also leads to
"considerable concentrations of [mercury] in the olfactory bulbs."22
This may also explain the phenomena of Alzheimer's patients losing their
sense of smell in the early stages of the disease. (Kovacs, T., Cairns,
N.J., Lantos, P.L. Olfactory Centres in Alzheimer's disease: Olfactory bulb is
Involved in Early Braak's Stages. Neuroreport 12(2): 285-288, 2001 and Gray,
A.J., Staples, V., Murren, K., Dahariwal, A. and Benthan, P. Olfactory
Identification is Impaired in Clinic-Based Patients with Vascular Dementia and
Senile Dementia of Alzheimer's type. Int.
J. Geriatr. Psychiatry 16 (5): 513-517, 2001.)
22. Mercury from dental fillings has also been
associated with adverse effects in the cardiovascular system, including high
blood pressure, low heart rate, low hemoglobin, and low hematocrit. 23
23. Many of the experiments that show mercury
emission and exposure from dental amalgams are so simple and inexpensive to do
that they could have should have been completed many years ago, in the 1950's
and 60's. Yet, they have not been done, or at least not reported on, despite
numerous requests by concerned citizens by the agencies and bureaucracies that
today testify that amalgams are safe. This includes the ADA and dental branch
of the FDA. It is important to note that I do not hold the entire FDA
responsible for the actions of the dental branch of the FDA. Other researchers
also doing these tests do not find amalgams safe based on the continuous,
chronic release of mercury. The fact that both the national Academy of sciences
and the EPA warn the government of the dangers of the level of mercury found in
Americans and the NIH and WHO studies that amalgams are the major contributor
to the mercury body burden of humans. Couple this with the certain fact that
mercury, and only mercury of the toxic metals, can mimic the aberrant
biochemistry and produce the components of the widely accepted diagnostic
hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease and it should be obvious that all exposures to
mercury should be held to the lowest levels.
24. Finally, science has produced compelling
evidence at the biological level that mercury can cause the aberrancies found
in Alzheimer's disease. Recent research has shown both strong biological
plausibility and epidemiological studies regarding ethylmercury exposure from
thimerosal in vaccinations being the cause of the devastating disease of autism
and related disorder. Yet, our organizations and bureaucracies formed to
protect us deny even the possibility that mercury or organic mercury is
involved in the causation or exacerbation of these diseases. One only needs to
know the history of Pink disease (acyrodynia) to understand that proving
mercury involvement in disease is quite difficult due to genetic
susceptibility. However, all of the scientific and biomedical facts together
emphasizes the need for congressional action to stop the exposure of Americans
to mercury and organic mercury compounds.