Health advisers reject mercury report

[Guest guest]

Health advisers reject mercury report

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060907/ap_on_he_me/

dental_mercury & printer=1;_ylt=AmLfdra_KGFiHIJ0FLotiUJa24cA;_ylu=X3oDMTA3MXN1bHE

0BHNlYwN0bWE-

By ANDREW BRIDGES, Associated Press Writer

Thu Sep 7, 7:12 PM ET

Government health advisers rejected a federal report that concluded dental

fillings used by

millions of patients are safe, saying further study of the mercury-laden amalgam

is

needed.

A joint panel of Food and Drug Administration advisers did not declare the

so-called

" silver fillings " unsafe. But in a 13-7 vote Thursday, the advisers said the

federal report

didn't objectively and clearly present the current state of knowledge about the

fillings.

In a second 13-7 vote, the panelists said the report's conclusions about safety

weren't

reasonable, given the quantity and quality of information available.

The FDA had asked the panel of outside advisers to weigh the report, a review of

34 recent

research studies.

The report had found " no significant new information " that would change the

FDA's earlier

determination that mercury-based fillings don't harm patients, except in rare

cases where

they have allergic reactions.

" For the general population, amalgams are safe. There is evidence of that, " said

Dr. Karl

Kieburtz, a University of Rochester professor and chairman of one of the two

panels. Still,

Kieburtz and other panelists said remaining uncertainties about the risk the

fillings may

pose to some groups demanded further study.

In particular, research is needed on the effect of dental mercury on children,

the fetuses of

pregnant women with fillings and others whose bodies may absorb, distribute,

process

and eliminate mercury differently, they said.

" There are too many things we don't know, too many things that were excluded, "

said

Aschner, a professor of pediatrics and pharmacology at Vanderbilt

University and

a panel consultant. He cast two " no " votes.

Panelists also said more study was needed on whether mercury fillings give off

more

vapors when they're being placed or removed.

Dr. Ralph Sacco, of Columbia University, said consumers shouldn't panic and that

there

was no need to have their amalgam fillings removed.

The votes were a " start " to sparking greater dialogue and awareness of the

issue, said

consumer activist Sara -Hines, 57.

" If we don't want it in our fish, we don't want it in our thermometers, what is

it doing in

our heads? " said -Hines, a Pennsylvania counselor.

She and other activists had pressed the panel to recommend the FDA ban mercury

fillings.

" Do the right, decent, honorable and God-loving thing: There needs to be an

immediate

embargo on mercury fillings for everyone, or at least pregnant women and

children,

because they are our future, " said Burke, who blamed mercury fillings

for the early

onset Alzheimer's disease diagnosed in his wife, Phyllis, in 2004.

Dr. Fleming, a Durham, N.C., dentist and the consumer representative on

the

panel, asked the FDA to consider restricting the use of amalgam in children

younger than

6 and in pregnant women. The activists — dozens attended the two-day meeting —

met

his proposal with applause.

" We are going to take the recommendations, your comments, and we will start

evaluating

the next steps, with the white paper and this whole issue of dental amalgam, "

Dr. Norris

Alderson, the FDA's associate commissioner for science, told the panel.

Amalgam fillings by weight are about 50 percent mercury, joined with silver,

copper and

tin. Dentists have used amalgam to fill cavities — and have argued about their

safety —

since the 1800s. Today, tens of millions of Americans receive mercury fillings

each year.

Amalgam use has begun to taper off, though, with many doctors switching to resin

composite fillings that blend better with the natural coloring of teeth.

With amalgam fillings, mercury vapor is released when patients chew and when

they brush

their teeth. Significant levels of mercury exposure can cause permanent damage

to the

brain and kidneys. Fetuses and children are especially sensitive.

Scientists have found that mercury levels in the blood, urine and body tissues

rise in

conjunction with mercury fillings. However, even among people with numerous

fillings,

exposure levels are well below those known to be harmful, the FDA report said.

___

On the Net:

Food and Drug Administration: http://www.fda.gov

Copyright © 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information

contained in

the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed

without

the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

Copyright © 2006 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.

Questions or Comments

Privacy Policy -Terms of Service - Copyright/IP Policy - Ad Feedback