New Studies Indicate Florida Has a Major Mercury Problem, with high levels of mercury in:
saltwater fish and shellfish, freshwater fish, rain, all sewer plants and sewer
sludge, crops where sludge is spread, many adults and children, and widespread
adverse health effects
B. Windham (Ed.)
1.
Studies document that
Florida Saltwater fish, shellfish, and freshwater fish have high levels of
mercury in large parts of the state.
2. There
are fish consumption warnings/limits for king mackerel and shark in all parts
of the state and consumption warnings on jack crevalle, spotted sea trout,
Spanish mackerel, gafftopsail catfish, and lady fish in some areas. A study found that spotted sea trout in Eastern
Florida Bay commonly exceed the 1.5 ppm no consumption mercury level.
3. Five Gulf saltwater species have average mercury levels
on tested samples higher than the FDA action level for fish; 27 species have
average mercury test levels above the FDA warning level for mercury in fish
with some above the action level, and 16 species of fish as well as crabs,
oysters and shrimp have average test levels near the warning level or some
tested above the FDA action level. All
of these have levels about the EPA health criterion for methylmercury in fish
and shellfish tissue.
4.
Studies have found that people who eat
Gulf Coast fish at least once per week usually have dangerous levels of
mercury. 29% of a coastal sample ate fish at least once per week. Studies have found adverse health
effects for those who eat fish at below the FDA warning level.
5. Studies have found that fish and shellfish that feed
near offshore oil and gas platforms have higher levels of mercury than other
areas.
6. Studies have found that freshwater predator fish
such as bass, pickerel, and bowfin have high levels of mercury in most of the
state, with fish consumption warnings issued. 8 other species have average test
levels near the warning level or some tested above the FDA action level.
7. Studies have found that predator species such as wading
birds, alligators, and Florida Panthers whose diet depends on fish have high
levels of mercury, and adverse health and reproductive effects. Livers of cormorants in Florida Bay were
found to have mercury levels as high as 250 ppm, higher than any previously
tested in Florida.
8. Studies by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory(ORNL) have
found high levels of dangerous forms of mercury in landfill gas being emitted
from Florida landfills and from lands where sewer sludge is spread, due to
methylation of mercury to methyl and dimethyl mercury by soil bacteria.
9. All
sewer plants and sewer sludge in Florida have dangerous levels of mercury , which is a major source of mercury in fish and
source of mercury in crops and rain where sewer sludge is spread. High levels
of mercury are being found in rain throughout Florida and the U.S., including
methyl mercury from landfills and land spreading. The most common source of
these high mercury levels was found to be human excretion into home and
business sewers from those with amalgam dental fillings.
10. The largest source
of mercury in most adults is amalgam dental fillings, but food is a significant source in those who
eat fish or shellfish frequently.
11. The 3 main sources of mercury in Florida infants are
mercury thimerosal in vaccinations; mercury from mother's amalgam dental
fillings transferred across the placenta to the fetus or through mother's milk
to the infant; and mercury from fish. These are all significant sources in
Florida.
12. The
National Academy of Sciences found that 50% of U.S. pregnancies result in birth
defects or infants who have significant developmental effects such as ADD,
dyslexia, mood or anxiety disorders, learning disabilities, eczema, asthma, or
other chronic allergies or health problems. Studies document that the majority
of these are due to toxic exposures, with the most common and significant being
mercury.
13. The U.S. CDC and National Academy of Sciences found
that at least 10% of U.S. womenhave mercury levels high enough to cause
developmental neurological conditions inprenatally exposed infants; this may be
higher in Florida due to higher than averagemercury levels in fish and high
levels of fish consumption. The
tests used mainly measured methyl mercury, and did not significantly assess
exposure levels from dental amalgam which is the largest source of mercury in
many adults or infant vaccinations which are the largest sources in infants.
14.
Mercury exposure is cumulative from the
various sources and bioaccumulates over time, with different sources more
significant in different individuals. Health effects are synergistic between
the different forms of mercury exposure and other toxic exposures, and depend
also on individual susceptibility which varies widely‑ due to immune
reactivity and systemic detoxification differences of individuals.
15.
Levels of mercury in South Florida Everglades fish and wildlife declined at least 80% after
mercury emissions from South Florida incinerators were required to control
emissions.
Documentation:
High
levels of mercury have been found in the rain throughout Florida
and the U.S.(34,16,24), resulting in accumulation of
mercury in the
environment, water bodies, fish, wildlife, and
people of Florida. Mercury in Florida rainfall measured more than five times
the federal health standard for lakes(34). The largest
sources of emissions have been found to be coal power plants, incinerators, kilns(16). The level
of mercury in rain ranged from 1.3 to 81.2 nanograms per
liter depending on location and weather conditions, with an average of 12.6. This resulted in depostition of and average
annual depostion of about 17.6 micrograms of mercury per square meter, much
higher than the U.S. EPA health criteria to prevent harm to wildlife and humans(33). The
Electric Power Research Institute(2) and other studies have found that only ½
gram of mercury is required to contaminate all predator fish in a 10 acre lake
to the extent that fish consumption warnings are required, and enough mercury
is being released into the environment of Florida to raise levels in all fish
to such a level.
Mercury
has been found to be the most toxic substance commonly come in contact with, so
toxic that the drinking water standard for mercury is 2 parts per
billion(ppb). But U.S. EPA have found
that because mercury bioaccumulates in the environment and fish, to protect
from accumulation in fish and wildlife and thus human health even lower
standards appear to be needed and lower standards have been proposed or adopted
in many areas(13e). The Great Lakes
Initiative Wildlife Criteria calculated needed to prevent accumulation in fish
and wildlife is 1.3 nanagrams per Liter(ng/L) while
the GLI Hunan Health Criteria is 3.1 ng/L(parts per trillion). The EPA Fish
Tissue Methyl Mercury-based Criteria for lakes is 7.8 ng/L
and for rivers is 18 ng/L. The California Toxics Rule Saltwater Criteria is 25
ng/L(13e,33,34).
According
to Government agencies due to its extreme toxicity and common exposures,
mercury causes adverse health effects in large numbers of people in the
U.S.[1,14-16,21,28]. Based on widespread
tests, the U.S. CDC estimates that approx. 16 % of women of childbearing age, 6
million women, have current mercury levels that would put fetuses at risk of
developmental neurological problems(14), without
considering other common sources of mercury in infants. The level affected is
likely highly understated due to the fact that blood is known to
not be a reliable indicator of mercury body burden and is not a good
indicator of mercury vapor exposure from dental amalgams or dental office
occupational exposure, which is higher in many
people than mercury from fish.
Studies
by EPA have found that the fetus on average has mercury levels 70% higher than
the mother’s blood, putting large numbers of infants over the EPA health safety
guideline of 5.8 parts per billion(14c).
Studies by the National Academy of Sciences have found that 50 % of U.S.
children have significant developmental conditions such as ADD, dyslexia,
autism, learning disabilities, mood or anxiety disorders, eczema, asthma,
chronic allergies, etc.(8), and studies have also
documented that the majority of these
are caused by toxics exposures, with mercury exposures being one of the
most common and significant of these(8,14,15,20,21b,27,28).
The
extreme toxicity of mercury can be seen from documented effects on wildlife by
very low levels of mercury exposure. The amount of mercury in the marine
environment is increasing 4.8% per year, doubling every 16 years(6).
A major factor in the extreme decline of wading birds in Florida is mercury
exposure from eating fish and other fish predators are affected as well(7). However levels of mercury in
wading birds and fish in the Everglades area have declined some since controls
were mandated on incinerators a few years ago. Livers of cormorants in Florida Bay were found
to have mercury levels as high as 250 ppm, higher than any previously tested in
Florida(4b). Some
Florida panthers that eat birds and animals that eat fish containing very low
levels of mercury(about 1 part per million) have died
from chronic mercury poisoning(7). Since mercury is an estrogenic chemical and
reproductive toxin, many of the rest cannot reproduce. The average male Florida
panther has higher estrogen levels than females, due to the estrogenic
properties of mercury(7). Similar is true of some
other animals at the top of the food chain like polar bears, beluga and orca
whales, and alligators, which are affected by mercury and other hormone
disrupting chemicals.
Studies
document that Florida Saltwater fish and shellfish have high levels of mercury
in large parts of the state(4,5,9,12,3b). There are
fish consumption warnings/limits for king mackerel and shark in all parts of
the state and consumption warnings on jack crevalle, spotted sea trout, Spanish
mackerel in several estuaries, and on gafftopsail catfish, and lady fish in
Tampa Bay (4,9). Some areas such as North Florida Bay
and offshore Tampa Bay have test levels higher than most other areas(4). A study
found that spotted sea trout in Eastern Florida Bay commonly exceed the 1.5 ppm
no consumption mercury level(4b).
Based on
the tests that have been done, eight saltwater species(king mackerel, black
grouper, cobia(ling), barracuda, bonita(little tunny), florida smoothhound,
great while shark, tilefish) have average mercury levels on tested samples
higher than the FDA action level of 1 part per million(ppm) for fish(4,5,12);
24 species had average mercury test levels above the FDA warning level(0.5 ppm)
for mercury in fish(black drum, blacktip shark, bluefish, bonefish, bonnethead
shark, bull shark, snook, greater
amberjack, jack crevalle, ladyfish, lemon shark, red drum, rock bass, spanish
mackeral, spotted bass, blackfin tuna, gag grouper,
wahoo, bluefish, gafftopsail catfish, crevalle jack, ladyfish, and stone
crab) , and 15 species of fish(blacknose shark, blue crab, grouper spainish, gulf flounder, permit, red
grouper, sand trout, sheepshead, silver seatrout, southern flounder, tarpon,
tripletail, white bass, yellow bass, yellow jack), as well as crabs, oysters
and shrimp have average test levels near the warning level or some that tested
above the FDA action level(4,12). Approximately 94% of all adult red drum from
offshore waters adjacent to Tampa Bay contained mercury levels greater than or
equal to the 0.5-ppm threshold level, and 64% contained levels greater than or
equal to the DOH 1.5-ppm "no consumption" level (11a). All of these have average levels of mercury
above the U.S. EPA health criterion for methylmercury of 0.3 ppm(33).
"Coastal
residents have higher levels of mercury than people who live inland, and
anglers and their families are also at higher risk of mercury
exposure,"(5bd).
Studies
(5,37) have also found that the level in most large
predator species
on
the Gulf Coast is higher than levels found to adversely affect health (25,26)
with mercury contamination being pervasive along the whole coastal area, and
that people who eat Gulf Coast fish at least once per week usually have
dangerous levels of mercury(5a). 29% of a coastal sample from Florida, Alabama,
and Mississippi ate fish at least once per week(5a). Over 30%
of 100 environmental reporters tested at a conference in Pittsburg had elevated
levels of mercury(5c). The study found that the older
the reporters, or the more often they ate finned predator fish, the more likely
he or she harbored high mercury levels. 21%
of women of childbearing age in a large sample taken in a study sponsored by
Greenpeace had dangerous levels of mercury(over the
EPA reference level), and over 30% of those tested in Florida and 4 other
states(5d). Approximately one quarter of New York City women in this age group
have a blood mercury level at or above
5 g/L, the New York State reportable level(5e).
Mercury contamination in
fish is widespread. Mercury was detected by a U.S.G.S. study in all fish
sampled from 291 streams across the U.S. (44). Concentrations in about a quarter of the fish
sampled exceeded the criterion for the protection of humans who consume average
amounts of fish, established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Some of the highest levels of
mercury in fish are from tea-colored or “blackwater” streams in North and South
Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and Louisiana—areas associated with relatively
undeveloped forested watersheds containing abundant wetlands compared to the
rest of the country. High levels of mercury in fish also were found in
relatively undeveloped watersheds in the Northeast and Upper Midwest parts of
the United States, in areas with abundant wetlands. Elevated mercury levels in
fish also are found in streams of the western U.S. that are affected by mining
of mercury or gold.
A 2009
study found that inorganic mercury levels in people have been increasing
rapidly in recent years(45). It used data from the
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Health Nutrition
Examination Survey (NHANES) finding that while inorganic mercury was detected
in the blood of 2 percent of women aged 18 to 49 in the 1999-2000 NHANES survey, that level rose to 30 percent of women by 2005-2006.
For
a study in Sweden, fresh water fish consumers were categorized into 3 groups
using the break points of at least once per week, at least once per month, and
less than once per month(42). Among the high
consumers, median concentrations of mercury were 8.6 microg/L in blood, 2.4
microg/g in hair, and
1.1 microg/g creatinine in urine. The relationship between freshwater fish
consumption and mercury was significant in all biological media. The
high-consumption group had much higher mercury levels in blood (9-fold), hair
(7-fold), and
urine (15-fold) than the low-consumption group.
Several studies including a large CDC study
have found those with higher levels of mercury have higher rates of
neurological problems, cardiovascular problems, infertility, and cancer(25,26,30,21). Men in the highest third of hair mercury content
(>2 microg/g) had an adjusted 1.60-fold (95% CI, 1.24 to 2.06) risk of acute
coronary event, 1.68-fold (95% CI, 1.15 to 2.44) risk of CVD, 1.56-fold (95%
CI, 0.99 to 2.46) risk of CHD, and 1.38-fold (95% CI, 1.15 to 1.66) risk of any
death compared with men in the lower two thirds(25).
High mercury content in hair also attenuated the protective effects of
high-serum docosahexaenoic acid plus docosapentaenoic acid concentration. Another study
found infertile couples were significantly more likely to have elevated mercury
levels than the infertile couples, which was the case for both men (35 percent
versus 15 percent) and women (23 percent versus 4 percent). Furthermore, patients who reported eating
high levels of seafood showed a clear trend towards elevated mercury levels(26a,f).
A
California health clinic study reports that of a California population that eats at least 2 servings of fish per
week, 89% had levels of mercury in the blood exceeding 5 micrograms per
liter(ug/L), the level considered the safety limit for mercury by U.S. EPA and
the National Academy of Sciences(26a).
Over 50% had levels over 10 ug/L and 15% had
levels over 20 ug/L. The group had
chronic health effects including depression, loss of scalp hair, metallic
taste, headaches, arthritic pain in joints,
irritability, tremors, and numbness and tingling in hands and feet. She also
described cognitive problems such as pronounced memory loss, confusion and
difficulties in talking. In some cases, those problems were so severe
they interfered with the ability to earn a living or attend school. In all cases, health effects improved after several months of avoiding eating fish. Some women in the group were found to have transferred excessive mercury to their infants solely through their breast milk. One breast-fed baby had three times the EPA's safe level for mercury by the time he was 4 months old; and another had 4 times the EPA safe level at 19 months. Some of the infants with high mercury levels suffered severe neurological problems such as autism, and improved when treated for mercury toxicity. Mercury accumulates in the major organs that receive large amounts of blood, with cumulative damage and effects that often are not fully recognized until later in life(43,21).
The Mobile Register studies(5) have
also found that fish and shellfish that feed near offshore oil and gas
platforms have significantly higher levels of mercury than other areas(5) due
to mercury used in drilling. Over 200 tons of mercury has been added to the
Gulf through drilling over the last 30 years. More fishing occurs near such
platforms since shellfish and fish tend to congregate in such areas. Other
known major sources of mercury throughout the coastal area are air emissions
and sewer outfalls, with some other large local industrial sites such as
chlor-alkali plants(16). Accumulation of atmospheric oxidants and
mercury can cause high levels of mercury deposition in coastal areas when
activated by sunlight, which can result in very high levels of mercury in fish
and wild life(32).
Bacteria in sediments and fish intestines methylate inorganic mercury to
methyl mercury(31).
Studies have found that large pelagic Gulf fish species
such as marlins, swordfish, and shark have levels of mercury 20 to 30 times
that of most Gulf fish species(37). The U.S. FDA
recommends that pregnant women entirely avoid eating shark, swordfish, king
mackerel and tilefish(10a), because a significant
portion of these types of fish have mercury levels above the FDA action level
of 1 ppm. However other studies(25,26) including one by the National Academy of
Sciences(14) have found the old FDA action level of 1 ppm is obsolete and not
adequate to protect the public, as adverse effects have been found for those
eating fish at least once per week at average mercury levels below the FDA
warning level of ½ ppm(25). The Health
Canada limit for mercury in marine and freshwater fish is 0.5 ppm(12b) and the U.S. EPA reference level for children and
pregnant women is 0.3 ppm.
Based on this a coalition of organizations using the name
Environmental Working Group(EWG) did a large study to more fully assess mercury
exposure effects and safety limits(12). In addition to the FDA limits, EWG
advises pregnant women, nursing mothers and all women of childbearing age,
should not eat tuna steaks, sea bass, oysters from the Gulf Coast, marlin,
halibut, pike, walleye, white croaker, and largemouth bass(12).
And that these women should eat no more than one meal per month combined of
canned tuna, mahi-mahi, blue mussel, Eastern oyster, cod, pollock, salmon from
the Great Lakes, blue crab from the Gulf of Mexico, wild channel catfish and lake whitefish. The EWG analysis was based on 56,000 test
results on mercury in fish from 7 different government agencies, and toxicity
studies by U.S. CDC and National Academy of Sciences. A large FDA study found that the average
level of mercury in white canned tuna is 0.358, high enough to require
stringent limits to prevent exceeding EPA’s reference dose(36), since the safe
levels are commonly exceeded.
In a 2010 study, 55% of samples from
the 3 top brands of tuna sold in
the U.S. had mercury levels higher than
the EPA standard of 0.5 parts per
million and 5% had levels over the FDA 1.0
ppm limit for commercially sold
fish(36b).
However EWG recognizes that fish is an important health
food with nutrients and essential fatty acids hard to substitute from other
sources. The following fish are safer choices for avoiding mercury exposure:
farmed trout or catfish, shrimp, fish sticks, wild Pacific salmon, croaker,
haddock, some varieties of flounder, and blue crab from the mid-Atlantic. (12)
Studies
have found that total mercury in
maternal hair is highly
correlated with methyl mercury in cord blood of the fetus. Both hair T-Hg and cord blood methylmercury(MeHg) increased with increasing consumption of
seafood or number of dental fillings(38,39,21), but hair mercury is primarily
methylmercury and not highly correlated with number of dental fillings.
Inorganic mercury(I-Hg) in cord blood increases
significantly with increasing number of maternal dental amalgam
fillings(38,39,21). Since dental amalgam
is the largest source of mercury exposure in most people who have several
amalgams and other forms of mercury are methylated by mouth bacteria and
bacteria, yeasts, etc. in the intestines; dental amalgam has been found to be a
large source of methyl mercury in some people. Nutritional factors have been
found to partially offset the neurotoxic effects of mercury(21).
Selenium is commonly found in many species of fish and partially protects from
mercury and methyl mercury neurotoxicity by preventing damage from free
radicals or by forming inactive selenium mercury complexes(40,41).
Studies have found that freshwater predator fish such as
bass, pickerel, and bowfin have high levels of mercury in most of Florida, with
fish consumption warnings issued(3,4,20). Eight other species (alligator gar,
black crappie, white crappie, blue catfish, flathead catfish, brook trout,
drum, striped bass) have average test levels near the FDA warning level or some
tested above the FDA action level(4). Studies have found that predator species
such as wading birds, alligators, and Florida Panthers whose diet depends on
fish have high levels of mercury, and adverse health and reproductive
effects(7). In recent U.S. EPA tests of fish caught in Florida lakes, every fish
sample tested was contaminated with mercury, and sixty-three percent contained
mercury levels that exceed EPA’s “safe” limit for women of childbearing age(11b). Nationally, 55 percent of the fish samples
exceeded EPA’s safe mercury limit for women of childbearing age. Over
2 million acres of Florida’s surface waters have fish with high levels of
mercury, averaging above the FDA/EPA warning level of 0.5 parts per million(20). The
major source of mercury into these water bodies is air deposition that is
brought down in rain. A Florida
emissions inventory found that the major sources of atmospheric mercury were
municipal solid waste combustors (MSW), electric utility industry, and medical
waste incinerators(20), but incinerator emissions have
been reduced in recent years.
The most
vulnerable groups to mercury exposure are women who are pregnant or might
become pregnant, nursing mothers, and young children(8,10b,12,27,28).
These groups should limit consumption of freshwater fish to no more than one
meal per week (6 ounces of cooked fish for adults and 2 ounces of cooked fish
for young children).
High levels of mercury
including the very toxic organic forms are being measured in rainfall
throughout the U.S.(24) High levels of the extremely toxic di-methyl and methyl
mercury forms of mercury are being found in landfill gas coming from landfills
and appear to be a source of some of this(22-24). Bacteria in landfills and in
soils where sewer sludge is spread have been found to be methylating elemental
and inorganic mercury to the organic forms(22,23).
Government studies have found that all sewers in the U.S. and all sewer sludge
have high levels of mercury, with the most common significant source dental
amalgam from dental offices or from being excreted mercury into sewers from
those with amalgam dental fillings(13,23,28,21).
Dental amalgam waste and mercury from sewer sludge are major sources of mercury
in some landfills and sludge is also used in landspreading on farms and other
areas. Programs are already being implemented to reduce most other sources of
mercury into sewers and into landfills such as flourescent light tubes. High
levels of mercury have been found to be taken up in crops on land where sludge
is spread(23), and high levels of emissions of
elemental and organic mercury forms methylated by soil bacteria. Health Canada
and Canadian sewer agencies have also documented similar information on mercury
emissions from amalgam waste and sewer sludge to waterways, crops, and air(29), and have implemented standards and restrictions to
help alleviate this problem.
Recent government studies
have documented that the environmental effects of mercury excreted into sewers
from those with amalgam dental fillings are widespread and significant, and are
affecting everyone in Florida(22-24,29). Dental
amalgam mercury has been documented to have a high bioavailability in water(31) and dental offices are a major source of mercury
into waterways. Also the average amalgam
filling has more than ½ gram of mercury, and has been documented to
continuously leak mercury into the body of those with amalgam fillings due to
the low mercury vapor pressure and galvanic current induced by mixed metals in
the mouth. Because of the extreme toxicity of mercury, only ½ gram is required
to contaminate the ecosystem and fish of a 10 acre lake to the extent that a
health warning would be issued by the government to not eat the fish[2]. Over half the rivers and lakes in Florida have such
health warnings[3,4] banning or limiting eating of
fish, and most other states and 4 Canadian provinces have similar health
warnings(6,29). Wisconsin has fish consumption warnings for over 250 lakes and
rivers(6,13) and Minnesota even more, as part of the total of over 95,000 such
lakes with warnings(6), 33% of all U.S. lake surface area and 15% of all U.S.
river miles. All Great Lakes as well as many coastal bays and estuaries and
large numbers of salt water fish carry similar health warnings-70% of all
coastal miles and 100% for the Gulf of Mexico.
Government studies have
determined that dental amalgam is by far the largest source of mercury in
sewers and sewer sludge, with dental amalgam the largest source and waste
excretion from those with amalgam the second largest source(13e). Unlike many European countries and Canada(29) which have more stringent regulation of mercury
that require amalgam separators in dental offices, the U.S. does not and most
dental offices do not have them. The discharge into sewers at a dental office
per dentist without amalgam separators is approximately 270 milligrams per day(18,13e(Table4)). For the U.S. this would be
approximately 5400 kg/yr (or slightly over 6 tons/year of mercury into sewers
and thus into streams and lakes in most cases. In Canada the annual amount
discharged is about 2 tons per year, with portions ending up in waters/fish,
some in landfills and cropland, and in air emissions. The recently enacted
regulations on dental office waste are expected to reduce emissions by at least
63% by 2005, compared to year 2000 levels(29).
A study in Michigan estimated that dental mercury is
responsible for approximately 14 % of mercury discharged to streams(18).
Other EPA and municipal studies(18,13) found that dental
office waste was responsible for similar levels of mercury in lakes, bays, and
streams in other areas throughout the U.S. Another Canadian study found similar
levels of mercury contribution from dental offices into lakes and streams(29). Surveys of dental office disposal practices
found the majority violated disposal regulations, and dangerous levels of
mercury are accumulating in pipes and septic tanks from many offices(18,29). As previously noted, dental amalgam mercury
has been documented to have a high bioavailability in water(31).
The total discharge into sewers from
dental amalgam at individual homes and businesses is second only to dental
offices, since the average person with several amalgam fillings excretes in
body waste as much as 100 micrograms per day of mercury and (17,19,21). This has
also been confirmed by medical labs(13c) such as
Doctors Data Lab in Chicago and Biospectron in Sweden which do thousands of
stool tests per year and is consistent with studies measuring levels in residential
sewers by municipalities(13b). The reference average level of mercury in feces(dry weight) for those tested at Doctors Data Lab with
amalgam fillings is 0.26 milligrams/kilogram, compared to the reference average
level for those without amalgam fillings of .02 mg/kg(ppm). The AMSA study adopted a more conservative
estimate of 27 to 39 micrograms per day(13e). In the U.S. this would amount to between 2500
to 7300 kilograms per year into sewers or from 3 to 8 tons per year. Thus the
amount of mercury being excreted from dental amalgam is more than enough to
cause dangerous levels of mercury in fish in most U.S. streams into which
sewers empty.
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)
studies have also documented high levels of mercury in sewers and sewer sludge(23). According to an EPA study the majority of U.S.
sewerage plants cannot meet the new EPA guideline for mercury discharge into
waterways that was designed to prevent bioaccumulation in fish and wildlife due
to household sewer mercury levels(13). Over 3 tons of
mercury flows into the Chesapeake Bay annually from sewer plants, with numerous
resulting fish consumption advisories for that area and similar for other
areas(6). The EPA discharge rule is being reevaluated due to a National Academy
of Sciences report of July 2000 that found that even small levels of mercury in
fish result in unacceptable risks of birth defects and developmental effects in
infants(14).
However it should be remembered that the
largest sources of mercury air emissions are coal power plants and
incinerators, with additional significant contributions from power plants
burning bunker oil, and these are also significant sources of mercury in
Florida's streams, lakes, and bays(16). Florida ranks 14th nationwide for the most mercury emissions from
power plants, releasing 2,411 pounds of mercury into the air in 2002, according
to the most recent EPA data(11b). The Crystal River
Energy Complex alone emitted 491 pounds of mercury into the air in 2002. Since only
½ gram of mercury is required to contaminate all fish in a 10 acre lake to
dangerous levels requiring health warnings(2), all of these sources need to be
reduced to result in fish safe to eat.
Thousands of peer-reviewed studies have documented that
amalgam dental fillings, in addition to being a major source of mercury in the
environment and fish, are also the number one source of mercury in most people
with several fillings, with exposure levels above Government health guidelines
(21). The Gov't health guideline(MRLs) for mercury(15) of 0.2 micrograms per
kilogram body weight per day for organic mercury result in limits of approx. 6
micrograms per day for a 44 pound child, 16 ug/d for a 115 pound adult, and 24
ug/day for a large adult. The corresponding MRL for mercury vapor(the
type emitted by amalgam) is 0.2 micrograms per cubic meter of air breathed
which results in a limit of about 6 ug/d for a large adult and less for a
child. These levels are commonly exceeded in people with several amalgam fillings(21) and in those who regularly eat seafood with
mercury levels commonly found in Florida fish (4, 5,12,etc. ). Thousands of
peer-reviewed studies also document that mercury causes over 30 chronic
neurological or immune related health conditions(21,27,28), from which
thousands are documented to have recovered or significantly improved after
proper treatment of mercury toxicity(21b, Section VI, 20). Those interested in
additional information on testing for or treatments for mercury toxicity or in
clinics with experience treating mercury toxicity problems can contact the
Florida Chapter of the national patients support organization(DAMS)
at: www.flcv.com/indexd.html
References
(1) ATSDR/EPA Priority List for 2005: Top 20 Hazardous Substances,
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