Guest guest Posted January 18, 2001 Report Share Posted January 18, 2001 > Dental Amalgam Mercury Syndrome > DAMS, Inc. P.O. Box 7249 > Minneapolis, MN 55407-0249 > FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 17, 2001 > > New Studies Find Dental Amalgam Fillings to be the Number One > Source of Mercury in Most People and Daily Exposure Exceeds Government > Health Standards for Inorganic Mercury(vapor). Studies also > found > adverse health effects in adults and that mercury from amalgam is passed > > on > to infants through mother's blood and milk , and that developmental > effects > on infants occur at low levels of mercury exposure. > > A large National Institute of Dental Research Study has > confirmed > other previous study results that found that the current type of amalgam > > dental fillings being used in the U.S. leak significant amounts of the > extremely toxic substance mercury into the body and are the number one > source of mercury in people. The study measured mercury levels in the > blood and urine of over 1000 military personnel and found a high > significant > correlation to the number of amalgam filling surfaces in the mouth. > Like > several other recent studies, the study found that amalgam fillings are > not > stable because of mercury's low vapor pressure and galvanic electric > currents between the different metals in the mouth. > For this large military population that had a range of from > > 0 > to 66 amalgam filling surfaces and an average of 20 surfaces, each 10 > surfaces added approximately 1 microgram of mercury per liter of urine > excreted, meaning total mercury excreted in urine averaged about 4.5 > micrograms per day, with soldiers levels with over 49 amalgam surfaces > averaging over 8.7 micrograms. The average level for those with > fillings > was 4.5 times that of the controls without amalgam, and those with over > 49 > surfaces averaged over 8 times controls. Together with the considerably > larger amount of mercury excreted daily through the digestive tract and > sweat, the daily mercury excretion would amount to well over 10 > micrograms > per day on average and much more for some individuals. Over 90 % of > the > mercury in the urine was inorganic mercury, the kind that comes from > fillings, as opposed to organic mercury which comes from fish. > For this population, it was determined that the exposure from > amalgam > fillings was the primary source of mercury exposure, and on average > exceeded > the levels that would be consistent with U.S. Government Standards(MRL) > for > daily mercury exposure. The study's findings were consistent with the > findings of many other recent such studies, including a similar study > testing 20,000 people at a University Health Clinic in Germany, as well > as > the findings of the World Health Organization Scientific Panel on > mercury. > (see references) > The U.S.EPA mercury health guideline for elemental mercury > exposure(vapor) is 0.3 micrograms per cubic meter of air(0.3 ug/M3). > For > the average adult breathing 20 M3 of air per day, this amounts to an > exposure of 6 micrograms(ug) per day. > The U.S. Department of Health, Agency for Toxic Substances and > Disease > Registry (ASTDR) standard (MRL) -for acute inhalation exposure to > mercury > vapor is 0.2 micrograms Hg/M3, which translates to approx. 4 ug/day for > the average adult(5). > The corresponding tolerable daily exposure developed in a report > for > the Canadian Health Agency, Health Canada, is .014 ug/kg body weight or > 1 > ug/day for average adult(6). The permissible level for a child would be > > less. But the levels of the average daily exposures found in the study > were > above all of these health guidelines for mercury exposure. > > Other studies that the Government Health Standards were based on > have > found adverse health effects at very low levels and developmental > effects on > infants and children at very low levels of exposure, along with finding > that > mercury vapor from a mother's fillings is readily transferred through > the > mother's blood across the placenta to a fetus and also through mother's > milk. > These findings increase the urgency to advise the public of the > clear > danger in the use of mercury in fillings and to reconsider the policy of > > using mercury in dental fillings. Based on such studies, several other > > countries, such as Sweden, Australia, Norway, Japan, and Canada along > with > the state of California have already adopted restrictions or warnings on > > the > use of mercury in fillings, such as for children, pregnant women, women > of > child bearing age, people with damaged kidneys or immune systems, and in > > the > mouth adjacent to other metals. Amalgam manufacturers have also warned > against some of the uses currently made of amalgam in dentistry in the > U.S. > > Studies are also available that confirm adverse health effects > from > amalgam fillings and clinically document that many thousands of people > have > recovered or had significant improvement in many health conditions > including > very serious conditions after replacement of amalgam fillings. Fact > sheets > are available from DAMS with medical study references covering the > statements and issues in this press release. > > DAMS is currently working with very many people in the U.S. dealing > with > serious health effects caused by exposure to mercury from amalgam and > urges > everyone to find out more about this major problem and to get involved > in > resolving these health safety issues. DAMS can provide information and > help > to anyone who is interested or who thinks they might have health > problems > related to their amalgam fillings. > Available fact sheets with medical study references include: > 1. Common Exposure Levels from Amalgam Fillings and Government Health > Standards (attached) > 2. Transfer of Mercury from Mother's Amalgams and Breast Milk to the > Fetus > and developmental effects of mercury on infants. > 3. Documentation of recovery from 60,000 clinical cases of serious > adverse > health effects after replacement of amalgam fillings. > > 4. Adverse oral health problems related to amalgam fillings. > 5. Effect of mercury and other toxic metal exposure on cognitive and > behavioral problems of children- including ADD, dyslexia, > juvenile > delinquency, and crime(over 100 medical study references) > 6, Autoimmune conditions: the connection to mercury immune reactivity > and > amalgam fillings. > 7. The battery in your mouth: oral galvanic currents and metals in the > mouth, and interactions with EMF > 8. Health Effects of amalgam fillings and results of replacement of > amalgam > filings. Over 600 medical study references(most in > Medline) > and approx. 60,000 clinical cases of amalgam replacement followed by > doctors. > > National Technical contact person: Bernie Windham > berniew1@... ph: 850-878-9024 > Local Contact Person: > All backup technical papers with references available free by email; > $5 for copying/mailing cost of hard copy of #3 or #5. $3 > for > copying/mailing cost of any other hard copy > %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% > Abstract: > Kingman A, Albertini T, Brown LJ > J Dent Res 1998 Mar;77(3):461-71 > Mercury concentrations in urine and whole blood associated with amalgam > exposure in a US military population. > Oral Health Promotion, Risk Factors and Molecular Epidemiology Branch, > National Institute of Dental Research, Bethesda, land 20892, USA. > Minute amounts of mercury vapor are released from dental amalgams. Since > > mercury vapor is known to be associated with adverse health effects from > > occupationally exposed persons, questions regarding the margin of safety > > for > exposure to mercury vapor in the general population continue to be > raised. > To address this issue, one needs information regarding exposure to > mercury > vapor from dental amalgam fillings and its possible consequences for > health > in the general population. The NIDR Amalgam Study is designed to obtain > precise information on amalgam exposure and health outcomes for a > non-occupationally-exposed population of US adults. One hypothesis was > that > in a generally healthy population a significant association between > amalgam > exposure and Hg levels in urine and/or whole blood could be detected. > The > cohort investigated was an adult military population of 1127 healthy > males. > Their average age was 52.8 years, and their ages varied from 40 to 78 > years. > Ninety-five percent of the study participants were white males, and > slightly > over 50% had some college education. Five percent were edentulous. The > dentate participants, on average, had 25 natural teeth, 36.9 decayed or > filled surfaces (DFS), and 19.9 surfaces exposed to amalgam, with > amalgam > exposure varying from 0 to 66 surfaces. Their average total and > inorganic > urinary mercury concentrations were 3.09 microg/L and 2.88 microg/L. The > > average whole-blood total and inorganic mercury concentrations were 2.55 > > microg/L and 0.54 microg/L. Significant correlations were detected > between > amalgam exposure and the total (r = 0.34, p < 0.001) and inorganic 0.34 > (r = > 0.34, p < 0.001) urinary mercury concentrations on the original scale. > Stronger correlations were found for total (r = 0.44, p < 0.001) and > inorganic (r = 0.41, p < 0.001) urinary Hg on the log scale, as well as > for > creatinine-corrected total (r = 0.43, p < 0.001) and inorganic (r = > 0.43, p > < 0.001) urine concentrations. In whole blood, statistically > significant, > but biologically weak, correlations were detected for total (r = 0.09, p > > = > 0.005) and inorganic (r = 0.15, p < 0.001) Hg concentrations, > respectively. > Based on these cross-sectional data, it is estimated that, on average, > each > ten-surface increase in amalgam exposure is associated with an increase > of 1 > microg/L mercury in urine concentration. > PMID: 9496919, UI: 98156633 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.