Synergistic Effects of Mercury and Other Toxic Exposures
I. Introduction
While the additive and synergistic effects of multiple toxic exposures are well documented in the medical literature, Government agencies do not take such into account in their regulation of toxic chemicals.
II. Synergistic Effect of Multiple Toxic Metal Exposures and Toxic Metals with other Toxic Substances
Mercury and lead are extremely neurotoxic and cytotoxic, but their combined synergistic effect is much worse. A dose of mercury sufficient to kill 1% of tested rats, when combined with a dose of lead sufficient to kill less than 1% of rats, resulted in killing 100 % of rats tested(1). Thus with combined exposure the safe dose is 1/100 as much as the dose individually. Studies in Australia have confirmed similar relationships hold for people, and other studies document such effects(7). This means most people in the U.S. are getting dangerous levels of these metals, enough to cause some neurologic effects. Consuming two toxic metals in combination, such as lead and cadmium, or lead and mercury, can have a synergistic effect, meaning one metal has the ability to enhance the toxicity of another metal in amounts smaller than what it would usually take that metal to be toxic.(1,7,11)
Laboratory animals are often used to test the toxicity of a substance. In the case of testing lead and mercury together, rats were used. Rats were dosed with an amount of mercury that would cause death in 1% of the rat population within about 5 days. This is called lethal dose 1% or LD1. The laboratory rats were also tested with a LD1 dose of lead. What is frightening is that when mercury and lead LD1 dosages were combined, there was a 100% mortality rate; all of the rats died, demonstrating that mercury and lead together are highly synergistic in their toxic effects.(1)
The level of mercury thimerosal in vaccines has been shown to be highly neurotoxic, but the effect was found to be much larger due to the synergistic effect with aluminum, which is also in most vaccines(4,8). Aluminum is in all vaccines and has been found to have significant adverse effects, independently of mercury(8,10). Studies using U.S. CDC data have found thimerosal from vaccines to be major factors in autism and ADHD(5,9,10), along with prenatal rhogam shots which contain high levels of mercury thimerosal and are given to some RH negative women during pregnancy.
Dietrich Klighardt has found that copper, zinc, and lead are synergistic with mercury, increasing the adverse effects. Other factors found to be synergistic with mercury toxicity are cavitation toxins, stress, sleep deprivation, aspartame, vaccinations, metal dental work, and wheat (6).
Similar is true for mercury’s synergistic effect with other toxic metals like arsenic, and with other toxic chemicals like PCBs(2) or with smoking which greatly increased measured kidney damage effects(12). Mercury in combination with PCBs through diet can also have a synergistic effect(2). It is rather disturbing to realize that some populations of Canadian, Alaskan, and Great Lakes children are routinely ingesting chronic doses of lead, mercury, and PCBs together in their diet.
Another study found that insulin resistance increased with serum dioxins and blood mercury levels(26). Moreover, participants with higher serum dioxins or blood mercury were at a significantly increasing risk for insulin resistance, and simultaneous exposure to dioxins and mercury heightens the risk of insulin resistance more than does individual exposure.
A report by the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) (Oct 2003) acknowledged that fluoride has been observed to have synergistic effects on the toxicity of aluminum, complexing with the mineral in the water. They acknowledge that most drinking water is high in fluoride/aluminum complexes, which enhance neurotoxicity. Other studies have shown that cooking with fluoridated water leaches the aluminum out of the aluminum cooking pots, with different amounts being released depending on the foods being cooked, whereas cooking with non-fluoridated water resulted in no release of aluminum from the pans. Leaching of up to 600 ppm occurred with prolonged boiling!
Autism has increased in the U.S. more than 10 fold in the last decade (10). According to the Florida Dept. of Education, the numbers increased from approx. 300 to over 4000 during this time period. There have likewise been large increases in the number of children with ADHD and other developmental conditions, according to the National Academy of Sciences and other sources. A major factor in this appears to be the large increase in vaccinations given to infants and other toxic metal exposures(9-11).
There was an increase of over 45% in learning disabilities in Pennsylvania between 1990 and 2000(3). But the study showed that the county highest on the Chemical Pollution Scorecard, Montgomery, had an increase more than double that of the rest of the state. Montgomery County had an increase in ADHD of 32.7% and an increase in autism of 310%.
(more documentation available at the children’s neurological page, www.flcv.com/indexk.html)
III. Synergistic Effects of Organochlorine Chemicals and Other Estrogenic Chemicals
While the additive and synergistic effects of multiple toxic exposures are well
documented in the medical literature, Government agencies do not take such into account in their regulation of toxic chemicals.
Studies have found that the combined synergistic effects of such estrogenic organochlorine chemicals such as endosulfan, dieldrin, toxaphene, and chlordane are much stronger than would be expected(19). Combinations of endosulfan, dieldrin, toxaphene, and chlordane produced estrogenic effects 500 to 1000 times as much as their individual effects(19). Likewise, synergistic effects were found beet the neurotoxic pesticide ingredient Deet and other types of pesticides and chemicals(25). Similar synergistic estrogenic effects were observed when small levels of estrogenic pesticides were combined with 2 types of PCBs(21). T.M. Gross of the Univ. of Florida indicates PCBs appear to have synergistic effects with those of other estrogenic chemicals like dioxin, DDT, mercury, etc.(18) Similar findings have been seen in dioxin or organochlorine chemically contaminated fish and wildlife of the Great Lakes region, Mississippi River, and other areas throughout the U.S. and Canada, and in dioxin or pesticide contaminated Florida rivers (14,15,16,12,13b,23). Animal studies have confirmed that PCBs have similar feminizing and sexual mutation effects, and that there are synergistic effects between different organochlorine congeners that produce effects at lower levels than for one toxic chemical alone(17,18)
While some of the common phthalates of weakly estrogenic, they have also been found to have more adverse synergistic effects when combined with other chemicals found in the environment and food chain. For example, DEHP has been found to have synergistic effects with trichloroethylene and heptachlor for prenatal loss of fetus and maternal mortality in rats(20).
Mixtures of low levels of organochlorine chemicals were found to cause a significantly greater proliferation of tumor cells than when exposed individually. This could also explain why the distribution of toxic-waste sites in the U.S. closely parallels the sites of highest breast cancer mortality(24) and increased birth defects.
In 2002 Kortenkamp and his colleagues tested a mix of eight xenoestrogens on yeast. These included chemicals used as plasticisers, sunscreen ingredients and others found in cooling and insulating fluids. In the mixture, each was below the level that toxicologists call the "no-observedeffect concentration" --the level that should be safe. Sure enough, the combination triggered unusual effects in the yeast. Kortenkamp and his colleagues dubbed the mixture effect "something from nothing". (22) Kortenkamp and his colleagues found that if the doses of all eight chemicals were simply added together, after adjusting for the varying potencies, this new cumulative dose could be used to predict the effect --a principle called "dose addition". "This result was to be expected, but it had never been shown with endocrine disrupters until our work," says Kortenkamp.
Since then the effect has been shown with other species, too. Kortenkamp and his colleagues now report that mixtures of xenoestrogens feminised males to varying degrees even though the individual components should have been harmless. In July this year the team showed that a blend of anti-androgens --chemicals that block the effect of male sex hormones --can work in the same way. They exposed pregnant rats to two common fungicides, vinclozolin and procymidone, and the prostate cancer drug flutamide, and then screened the male offspring for reproductive deformities. At higher doses, each of these three chemicals wreaks havoc with sex hormones, and they all do it via the same mechanism: they disrupt male development by blocking androgen receptors and so prevent natural hormones from binding. The researchers found that even when the chemicals were used in doses that had no effect when given individually to pregnant rats, a mixture of them disrupted the sexual development of male fetuses.
Earl Gray, an ecotoxicologist at the reproductive toxicology division of the US Environmental Protection Agency's Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory (HEERL) in Research Triangle, North Carolina, and his team also tried exposing pregnant rats to vinclozolin and procymidone. When they exposed the animals to the compounds individually, they too saw no effect. But when they combined the two, half of the males were born with hypospadia. Gray calls this phenomenon "the new math --zero plus zero equals something".
Gray then tried the same experiment with phthalates --the ubiquitous compounds that are used to soften plastics and thicken lotions, and are found in everything from shampoo to vinyl flooring and flexible medical tubing. They also disrupt male development, in this case by stopping the fetus from making testosterone. The mix of two phthalates that Gray used caused many of the same effects on male rat fetuses as a mixture of vinclozolin and procymidone. (22)
It makes sense that chemicals targeting the same pathway would have an additive effect. But what about mixtures of chemicals that work via different mechanisms? Surely the individual doses of such chemicals would not be additive in the same way.
In 2004, Gray and his team put this to the test by mixing procymidone with a phthalate at levels that, on their own, would produce no effect. Because the chemicals work via different routes, he expected that the combination wouldn't have any effect either. But they did. Then the team mixed seven compounds --with four independent routes of action --each at a level that did not produce an effect. "We expected nothing to happen, but when we give all [the compounds] together, all the animals are malformed," Gray says. "We disrupted the androgen receptor signalling pathway by several different mechanisms. It seems the tissue can't tell the difference and is responding in an additive fashion."
Shanna Swan is doing something similar. In a study published in 2005 she showed that boys whose mothers had had higher levels of five phthalates while their babies were in the womb had a shorter distance between the anus and genitals --a marker of feminising activity. They also had higher rates of cryptorchidism compared to sons of mothers with lower phthalate levels. Swan devised a cumulative score to reflect exposure levels to all five phthalates and found that score was "very predictive of ano-genital distance". (22)
References:
1. Schubert J, Riley EJ, Tyler SA. Combined effects in toxicology. A rapid systematic testing procedure: cadmium, mercury, and lead. Toxicol Environ Health 1978;4(5/6):763-776.
2. Philippe Grandjean P, White RF et al. Neurobehavioral deficits associated with PCB in 7-year-old children prenatally exposed to seafood neurotoxicants. Neurotoxicology and Teratology 2001;223(4):305-317.
3. Pennsylvania Dept. of Education, 2003, Study of learning disability incidence in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, 1990 and 2000; & ""Polluting Our Future: Chemical Emissions in the U.S. that Affect Child Development and Learning,"" by Physicians For Social Responsibility, at (202) 898-0150, psrnatl@psr.org
4. Haley, BE, Pendergrass JC ,Lovell, M., Univ. of Kentucky Chemistry Dept., paper presented to the Institute of Medicine Immunization Safety Review Committee, Spring 2001, and on medical lab website, www.altcorp.com
5. Geier M.R., Geier DA; Thimerosal in Childhood Vaccines, Neurodevelopmental Disorders, and Heart Disease in the U.S. ; J of Amer Physicians and Surgeons, Vol 8(1), Spring 2003; & Bradstreet J, Geier DA, et al, A case control study of mercury burden in children with Autisitic Spectrum Disorders, J of Amer Physicians and Surgeons, Vol 8(3), Summer 2003.
6. Amalgam Detox, Klinghardt Academy of Neurobiology, 2008
7. Tabata M, Kumar Sarker A, Nyarko E. Enhanced conformational changes in DNA in the presence of mercury(II), cadmium(II) and lead(II) porphyrins. J Inorg Biochem. 2003 Feb 1;94(1-2):50-8; & Traore A, Bonini M, Dano SD, Creppy EE. Synergistic effects of some metals contaminating mussels on the cytotoxicity of the marine toxin okadaic acid. Arch Toxicol. 1999 Aug;73(6):289-95.
8. Vaccine Induced Autism & ADHD , David Ayoub, M.D.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8119523476709184666#
9. Neurological and behavioral effects of toxic metal exposures on children: Review, B. Windham (Ed.), www.flcv.com/tmlbn.html
10. Neurological and immune effects of vaccines and mercury on children; Review, B Windham (Ed.), www.flcv.com/kidshg.html
11. Sanchez DJ, Belles M, Domingo JL et al; Nephrotoxicity of simultaneous exposure to mercury and uranium in comparison to individual effects of these metals in rats. Biol Trace Elem Res. 2001 Winter;84(1-3):139-54
12. El-Safty IA, Shouman AE, Amin NE. Nephrotoxic effects of mercury exposure and smoking among egyptian workers in a fluorescent lamp factory. Arch Med Res. 2003 Jan-Feb;34(1):50-5.
13. Hultberg B, Andersson A, Isaksson A. Interaction of metals and thiols in cell damage and glutathione distribution: potentiation of mercury toxicity by dithiothreitol. Toxicology. 2001 Jan 2;156(2-3):93-100.
(13b) Birth Defect/Learning Disability Registry, New Jersey Agent Orange Commission- Association of Birth Defect Children, Fall 1993; & J.D.Erickson et al, Journal of the American Medical Assoc., 252: 903-912, 1984 & ABDC News, Vol 27, No.4, march 1998, Association of Birth Defect Children.
(14) Science News, 1-8-94, p145; & "Lake Apopka: Gator sexual mutations likely caused by organochlorine chemicals" L.Guilette, Univ. of Florida, in Tallahassee Democrat, 8-29-94.
(15) "Dioxins Toll on Wildlife", National Wildlife, Aug/Sept, 1994, p4-12: & Blus LJ et al, Eggshell thinning in the brown pelican: Implication of DDE, Bioscience, 21:1213-1215; & Hickey JJ, Anderson DW; Chlorinted hydrocarbons and eggshell changes in fish-eating birds 1968; Science 162: 271-273.
(16) Dr.T. Colborn, D.Dumanoski, JP Myers(Ed.), Our Stolen Future Dutton Books, NY, 1996; & Chemically Induced Alterations in Functional Development- The Wildlife,Human Connection , Princeton Scientific Press, 1992 & T. Colburn et al, "Developmental Effects of Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals in Wildlife and Humans", Environmental Health Perspectives, Vol 101, No5, Oct 1993;& T.Colburn et al, "Environmentally Induced Alterations in Development, Environmental HealthPerspectives, Supplement 4, May 1995.
(17) "Are Environmental Hormones Emasculating Wildlife", Science News, Volume 145 1994, p24-27 & "Another Emasculating Pesticide Found", Science News, Vol146, 1994,p16 & Science News, 1-22-94,p56 & Science News, Vol 145, 1994,p27.
(18) J.M. Bergeron et al, Environmental Health Perspectives, Sept 1994 &
"Gender Bending PCBs", Science News, Volume 146, Oct 8, 1994, p239 & D.E.Tillet et al,"...PCBs..." Environ Toxicol Chem 11:1281-1288, 1992; & Science News, 1-22-94, p56; & Science News, Vol 145, 1994, p27; & Science News, Vol 146, p206; & & "PCB Hazards to Fish, Wildlife, and Invertebrates", U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Contamination Hazard Reviews Biological Report 85(1.7), 1987.
(19) John McLachlan et al, Tulane University, Synergisms in estrogenic pesticides, Science, June 1996; & Soto AM, Chung KL, Sonnenschein C. The pesticides endosulfan, toxaphene, and dieldrin have estrogenic effects on human estrogen-sensitive cells. Environ Health Perspect. 1994 Apr;102(4):380-3; & DeRosa, C., P. Richter, H. Pohl, and D.E. Jones. 1998. Environmental exposures that affect the endocrine system: Public health implications. Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Part B. 1:3-26; & D.P.Crews, Univ. Of Texas, Science News, 10-8-94,p239 & 7-2-97,p69
(20) M.G. Narotsky et al, Fund Appl Toxicol 27:203-216, 1995.
(21) A.M.Soto et al, Environmental Health Perspectives, 102:380-383, 1994.
(23)T.Meersman, “Sexual Abnormalities in Mississippi River Walleye”, Minnesota
Star Tribune, 4-18-99.
Vincent Corbel, Maria Stankiewicz, Cedric Pennetier, Didier Fournier, Jure Stojan, Emmanuelle Girard, Mitko Dimitrov, Jordi Molgo, Jean Marc Hougard and Bruno Lapied. Evidence for inhibition of cholinesterases in insect and mammalian nervous systems by the insect repellent deet. BMC Biology, Aug 2009
Simultaneous exposure of non-diabetics to high levels of dioxins and mercury increases their risk of insulin resistance. Chang JW, Chen HL, Su HJ, Liao PC, Guo HR, Lee CC. J Hazard Mater. 2011 Jan 30;185(2-3):749-55.
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ps. note that a high percentage of Gulf state residents have been documented to have high levels of mercury exposure(Mobile Register study & medical test survey study, www.flcv.com/fishhg.html)
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The original
evidence cited for the synergistic effects of lead and mercury (and
cadmium) comes from a 1978 paper by Schubert et al published
in Michigan:
"...the
administration of an essentially no-response level (LD1) of a mercury
salt together with 1/20 of the LD1 of a lead salt killed all of the
animals [rats]."
Dr
Michael Godfrey and dentist Noel Campbell write:
"...a
lethal dose (LD1 [enough to kill 1% of the rats]) was combined with a
1/20th LD1 of lead, resulting in a LD 100 [100% death rate] in the
test animals.
"We have recently found that considerable
amounts of lead may be excreted with the mercury following DMPS
provocation. Our preliminary investigations appear to indicate that a
synergistic effect could be identified by multiplying the lead and
mercury concentrations together, after adjusting to IG of urine
creatinine. We have termed this the Campbell-Godfrey factor (C-G
factor). Chronic-ally affected patients may have high levels of
either metal or a high total C-G factor. Those with the highest C-G
factor appear to be the worst affected, thus indicating that the
synergism in animals is replicated in man."
The questions raised are: is it safe for lead poisoned people to have mercury fillings? Should CLAS advise parents of lead-poisoned kids never to allow these fillings in their kid’’s mouths? Should CLAS advise lead-poisoned people who are planning to conceive for instance, to have their amalgam fillings replaced, along with DMSA chelation therapy and nutrient replenishment therapy, well in advance of trying to conceive? Is it acceptable for anyone to be exposed to lead and mercury (and cadmium) as they are in mining and smelting communities? Why aren’’t the DMPS provocation test, DMSA chelation therapy or amalgam removal procedures claimable under Medicare? When will Australia phase out amalgams?
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Consuming two toxic metals in combination, such as lead and cadmium, or lead and mercury, can have a synergistic effect, meaning one metal has the ability to enhance the toxicity of another metal in amounts smaller than what it would usually take that metal to be toxic.(5) Mercury in combination with PCBs through diet can also have a synergistic effect(6).
Laboratory animals are often used to test the toxicity of a substance. In the case of testing lead and mercury together, rats were used. Rats were dosed with an amount of mercury that would cause death in 1% of the rat population within about 5 days. This is called lethal dose 1% or LD1. The laboratory rats were also tested with a LD1 dose of lead. What is frightening is that when mercury and lead LD1 dosages were combined, there was a 100% mortality rate; all of the rats died, demonstrating that mercury and lead together are highly synergistic in their toxic effects.(5)
It is rather disturbing to realize that some populations of Canadian, Alaskan, and Great Lakes children are routinely ingesting chronic doses of lead, mercury, and PCBs together in their diet.
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(1) Wheatley B and Paradis S. Balancing human exposure, risk and reality: Questions raised by the Canadian Aboriginal Methylmercury Program. Neurotoxicology 1996;17(1):241-250. (2) Starnes R. Lead shotgun pellets contaminate game birds. The Ottawa Citizen 1998 Dec. 17; Section A:20. (3) Toxic Chemicals Poison Inuit Food. The Ottawa Citizen 1998 July 5; Section A:5. (4) Health Canada. Riedel D, Tremblay N, Tompkins E. (Eds.) State of Knowledge Report for Environmental Contaminants and Human Health in the Great Lakes Basin, Ottawa: 1997; p. 275 (5) Schubert J, Riley EJ, Tyler SA. Combined effects in toxicology. A rapid systematic testing procedure: cadmium, mercury, and lead. Toxicol Environ Health 1978;4(5/6):763-776. (6) Philippe Grandjean P, Pal Weihea P, Bursed VW, Needham LL, Storr-Hansene E, Heinzowf B, Debesc F, Muratag K, Simonsenh H, Ellefsenc P, Budtz-Jøørgenseni E, Keidingi N and White RF. Neurobehavioral deficits associated with PCB in 7-year-old children prenatally exposed to seafood neurotoxicants. Neurotoxicology and Teratology 2001;223(4):305-317. |
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Learning Disabilities
Statistics
by Penn State Graduate Students –– 2002
Source:
Montgomery County Intermediate Unit (IU 23) was compared to (IU
17)
Statewide Statistics: Pennsylvania Department of Education
Census Figures: 1990 and 2000
Autism: Several websites
including: naar.org, exploringautism.org, nich.nih.gib/autism and
Naar
Pennsylvania Dept. of Education, Study of learning disability incidence in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, 2003; & ““Polluting Our Future: Chemical Emissions in the U.S. that Affect Child Development and Learning,”” by Physicians For Social Responsibility, at (202) 898-0150, psrnatl@psr.org
There was an increase of over 45% in learning disabilities in
Pennsylvania between 1990 and 2000 (3). But a study showed that
the county highest on the Chemical Pollution Scorecard had an
increase more than double that of the rest of the state.
Montgomery County had an increase in ADHD of 32.7% and an increase in
autism of 310%.
1990 to 2000
Montgomery County +94
%
Least Polluted Comparison Area + 40.2 %
Bradford,
Lycoming, Sullivan and Tioga Counties
Pennsylvania + 46.6 %
1990 to 2000
Total
Enrollment in Montgomery County Schools Down - 10.9 %
Learning Disabilities have Risen Threefold in Montgomery County in comparison to the population - from 1990 to 2000
1990
to 2000
|
Montgomery County Intermediate Unit Total Enrollment |
+ 32.7 % |
|
Montgomery County - Learning Impairment Services |
+ 32.7 % |
|
Least Polluted Counties - Learning Impairment Services |
+ 1 % |
1990
to 2000 - ADD/ADHD and Autism
|
Montgomery County ADD/ADHD |
+ 32.7 % |
|
Montgomery County Autism |
+ 310 % |
••
Montgomery County is one of the most chemically polluted counties
in the nation, according to Score Card’’s pollution
indicator.
•• ADD and AUTISM are Neurodevelopmental
Disorders.
•• Heavily emitted neurological
and developmental toxins in Montgomery County could be Major
Factors in Increased Learning Disabilities, ADD, and Autism.
Vinyl Chloride, Mercury, Methyl Isobuatyl Ketone, TCE, and
Lead are all neurological toxins. The Pottstown Landfill is a source
of ALL these neurological toxins. They travel downwind into many
parts of Montgomery County. Researchers had difficulty determining
exact amounts emitted by the Pottstown Landfill, since landfills are
not required to report to EPA’’s Toxic Release Inventory.
•• Occidental Chemical in Pottstown has emitted
over 1½½ Million Pounds of Vinyl Chloride into
Montgomery County’’s air since 1988 and has ranked 1st
and 2nd in the nation in Vinyl
Chloride emissions.
Montgomery
County Children Have Doubled Increases In Learning
Disabilities
Compared To Lesser Polluter Counties and
the State - 1990 to 2000
Montgomery
County is one of the most POLLUTED Counties in the Nation, according
to Score Card’’s pollution indicator.
Ironically,
all Pottstown Landfill’’s toxic emissions are not
included by Score Card.
Children
everywhere are experiencing unacceptable increases in learning
disabilities which suggest a serious problem. These disabilities are
clearly the result of complex interactions among environmental,
social, and genetic factors that impact children during vulnerable
periods of development.
There is new understanding about the
effects of environmental chemicals on these processes. Developmental
disabilities, including attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder
(ADHD), autism, and related neurodevelopmental diseases affect
millions of American children. The consequences of these disorders
are often tragic. The family, social and economic costs are immense,
and the disabilities can be life-long. Studies of animals and
children show subtle changes in the concentrations of normally
occurring chemicals such as hormones –– as well as the
presence of toxic agents like lead, mercury, or PCB’’s ––
can produce profound and permanent changes in the developing nervous
system. These can lead to decrements in mental performance.
Developmental processes are extremely vulnerable to
environmental insult. For detailed information refer to ““In
Harm’’s Way - Toxic Threats to Child Development,””
by Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility and
““Polluting Our Future: Chemical Emissions in the U.S.
that Affect Child Development and Learning,”” by
Physicians For Social Responsibility, at (202) 898-0150,
psrnatl@psr.org
Studies demonstrate that a variety of
chemicals commonly encountered in industry can contribute to
developmental, learning, and behavioral disabilities. Developmental
neurotoxicants are chemicals that are toxic to the developing brain.
They include the metals lead, mercury, cadmium, and manganese, and
pesticides such as organophosphates. PCB’’s, and DIOXINS
bioaccumulate and are directly toxic to cells and neurotransmitters.
With widespread use and disposal of all these chemicals and
metals which affect learning disabilities, it is easy to understand
why learning disabilities increased in PA by 46.6%, and even in the
least polluted PA counties by 40.2% from 1990 to 2000. But, how do we
explain such shocking Montgomery County increases in learning
disabilities (more than twice the state and comparison area) 94%,
ADHD (32.7%), and autism at 310%? This represents an epidemic.
ACE believes Montgomery County children face a chemical
plague. A major factor is toxic air releases. The kinds of
neurotoxins which cause learning disabilities, ADHD, and autism are
emitted into the air 7 days a week from the Pottstown Landfill and
Occidental Chemical. Both emit unknown amounts of dioxin. The
Pottstown Landfill emits synergistic and additive combinations of
nearly every neurotoxin. These can become far more toxic as they
synergize. Mercury is just one example. Occidental Chemical in
Pottstown has emitted 1½½ million pounds of vinyl
chloride since 1988. These emissions travel downwind through many
parts of Montgomery County.
**********************************************
Combined effects in toxicology--a rapid systematic
testing procedure: cadmium, mercury, and lead.
Schubert
J, Riley EJ, Tyler SA. J
Toxicol Environ Health. 1978 Sep-Nov;4(5-6):763-76.
A testing procedure is described for the assessment of the
toxicological response (e.g., acute toxicity or mutagenicity) of any
combination and number of chemical, physical, and biological agents,
with no more effort for a particular combination than for a single
agent. The method provides a simple, sensitive, and quantitative
index of synergism, antagonism, and additivity, and it has been
demonstrated experimentally in rats by determining the acute
lethality of combinations of cadmium, mercury, and lead salts. In a
combination of two metal salts, the dose of one metal of the pair was
fixed at or near the no-effect level while the dose of the second
metal was increased until the entire dose-response curve was
obtained. To evaluate interactions of the three metals, the previous
pair of metals were kept fixed at their combined extrapolated LD1
level, and the third metal was increased. The statistical treatment
of the data employed a computer program that did not involve probit
transformations, but rather the approximate linear relationship
between the fractional response and the logarithm of the dose. A
particular combination could be synergistic, antagonistic, or
additive, depending on the relative doses employed. Generally, a
combination was synergistic when the most toxic member was present at
or near its LD1 dose in the presence of the much less toxic member;
the same combination was protective when the least toxic member was
present at or near its LD1 dose. The results clarify apparently
contradictory reports regarding the biological effects of metal
combinations. The application of the testing procedure to
combinations of mutagens is described, and an example is cited
involving, for a particular bacterial mutagen, a combination of
N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine with ethylmethanesulfonate.
|
Toxic
Overload: Assessing the Role of Mercury in Autism
These parents informed me that increased mandatory vaccination of infants was, in their opinion, the cause of an apparent epidemic of autism. This was the first time I had heard of this situation. The rationale for considering vaccinations as the cause of their children's problems seemed sensible and worth an investigation. I would like to state here that I am a very strong supporter of the national vaccine program, and that nothing in this article should be construed to imply that parents should avoid getting their children vaccinated. But I do recommend avoiding vaccines that contain thimerosal. My laboratory was well experienced in mercury research. We had earlier demonstrated that mercury, when exposed to normal human brain tissue homogenates, is capable of causing many of the same biochemical aberrancies found in Alzheimer's diseased (AD) brains.1-4 Also, rats exposed to mercury vapor show the same major protein aberrancy as AD brains. Specifically, the rapid inactivation of important brain enzymes occurs following the addition of low levels of mercury or exposure to mercury vapor, and these same enzymes are significantly inhibited in AD brains.5 Also, mercury exposure to neurons in culture by other researchers, at a concentration lower than that found in many human brains, has now been shown to produce three of the widely accepted pathological diagnostic hallmarks of AD.6,7 Therefore, we hypothesized that exposure to mercury is involved in the etiology of AD, or at least would exacerbate this disease. We also proposed that other heavy metals, such as lead and cadmium, which act synergistically to enhance the toxicity of mercury, could be involved. Additionally, we proposed that exposure to organic-mercury compounds like methyl mercury from fish and ethyl mercury from thimerosal would also enhance the toxicity of any exposure to mercury. The early work of Dr. Pendergrass confirmed this with pure thimerosal, with some interesting additional observations. First, in human brain samples the exposure to mercury dramatically reduced the viability of a major brain protein called tubulin, but had little if any effect on another major protein, actin. Both tubulin and actin are critically important for the growth of dendrites or maintenance of axon structures of neurons. Exposing neurons to mercury rapidly results in the stripping of tubulin from the axon structure, leaving bare neurofibrils that form the tangles that are the diagnostic hallmark of AD. Thimerosal, like mercury, also rapidly reduces the viability of tubulin; in addition, however, it abolishes the viability of actin. This likely represents a major difference in the mechanism of mercury versus organic-mercury (more neurotoxic) toxicity. However, both mercury and organic-mercury inhibit tubulin viability and would work in concert to damage neurons of the central nervous system. We therefore decided to investigate vaccines with and without thimerosal present as a preservative, using human brain tissues. To date the data have been very consistent: the toxicity of the vaccines is primarily dependent on the presence of thimerosal and, in my opinion, would be classified as severely toxic to numerous brain proteins. In the spring of 2001 these data were presented to the Institute of Medicine Immunization Safety Review Committee, which concluded its analysis by suggesting that thimerosal involvement in autism was a plausible hypothesis. Since then I have formed a collaboration with one of my colleagues, Mark Lovell, PhD, who uses cultured neurons in some of his experiments. Using his cultured neuron system, we studied the extent of neurotoxicity of pure thimerosal and of vaccines with and without thimerosal present. The experiments were done as follows: Neurons were grown in culture for 24 hours. Then pure thimerosal or vaccines were added to test cultures. The death of neurons was observed for the next 24 hours and compared to the death of neurons in the absence of toxicant. The results were almost identical to the results observed with brain tissues: vaccines with thimerosal present were much more toxic than thimerosal-free vaccines. Pure thimerosal was toxic at the low nanomolar level--an extremely low concentration, about 10,000 times less than the thimerosal concentration found in most vaccines. These results leave little doubt about thimerosal being the toxic agent in the vaccines. However, many vaccines contain aluminum ions that have neurotoxic properties, and aluminum was once considered a factor in AD etiology. So we tested aluminum in the same system. Aluminum is not nearly as toxic to neurons in culture as is thimerosal. However, we had earlier observed with mercury that the presence of other metals would enhance toxicity. Experiments were done to determine if aluminum would increase the toxicity of very low levels of thimerosal. The results were unequivocal: the presence of aluminum dramatically increased the rate of neuronal death caused by thimerosal. Therefore, the aluminum and thimerosal combination found in vaccines produces a toxic mixture that cannot be compared to situations where thimerosal alone is the toxic exposure. The enhanced toxicity of thimerosal created by the addition of aluminum represents a problem with all forms of mercury toxicity. Synergism of toxic metals is well known. A slightly toxic solution of lead, mixed with a slightly toxic solution of mercury, results in a very toxic mixture. This is similar to the enhanced adverse reactivity to thimerosal found in optomological solutions, when subjects were prescribed to take the antibiotic tetracycline. For some reason, tetracycline increased the ocular toxic reaction to thimerosal. We have done some experiments to determine if certain antibiotics could also increase thimerosal-induced neuronal death in the neuron culture system. Our preliminary results indicate that this is the case, especially with tetracycline and ampicillin. Further research is needed in this area for accurate evaluation. But our results support previous reports and indicate how important it is to check out the effects of other compounds on the exacerbation of mercury and organic-mercury compound toxicity. One of the conundrums of autism is why there is an approximate ratio of four boys to every girl who gets this disease. Dr. Lovell therefore tested the possibility that this could be hormone related. The latest results were quite marked in their effects. Neurons that were pre-incubated with estrogen demonstrated substantial protection against thimerosal-induced neuron death. In contrast, the addition of testosterone caused a very large increase in thimerosal-induced neuron death. A low nanomolar level of thimerosal that gave less than 5 percent neuron death in three hours could be increased to 100 percent cell death by the addition of one micromolar level of testosterone. Testosterone alone at this level also showed less than 5 percent cell death. The opposing effects of estrogen and testosterone may explain the gender-based four-to-one ratio. Most important, the tremendous enhancement of thimerosal toxicity by testosterone points out the impact of synergistic effects when addressing mercury toxicity. Those involved in promoting the use of mercury in medicine and dentistry favor the old adage "Dose makes the toxin," and pick a supposedly safe level based on testing young, healthy mammals that have been exposed to mercury compounds. The synergistic enhancement of thimerosal toxicity by testosterone and aluminum demonstrates that no one can pick a concentration of mercury or organic-mercury and say with confidence, "This is a safe dose for human infants"--at least not with our current level of knowledge. MMR (measles-mumps-rubella) has been widely discussed as a vaccine involved in autism-related problems. Our studies did not find MMR vaccines (no thimerosal added) to be nearly as neurotoxic as thimerosal-containing vaccines. So how does this fit into the observations of measles virus in the intestines of a large percentage of autistic children? My theory, and it is only a theory at this time, is based on the fact that thimerosal is an inhibitor of the brain protein tubulin. One of the jobs of tubulin is to support the axon structure of nerve axons; exposure to thimerosal, or mercury, destroys this capability. Tubulin also has another job: it is involved in formation of the meiotic spindle on which a cell splits in two. In other words, tubulin is needed for cell division, and cell division is needed for development of an immune response. Inhibit tubulin function with thimerosal injections, and you inhibit the immune response. I have been told that the MMR vaccination is often given at the same time that three thimerosal-containing vaccines are given. Inhibit the immune response with the thimerosal-containing vaccinations, and an infant has less ability to respond to the measles virus in the MMR vaccination that is injected at the same setting. This might explain the presence of measles virus in about 80 percent of autistic children. The research results we have obtained on the toxicity of thimerosal are not really surprising. This ethyl mercury-releasing compound was known to be neurotoxic through the publication of several research articles, some quite old. Any competent biochemist would look at the structure of the compound and identify it as a potent enzyme inhibitor. What is surprising is that the appropriate animal and laboratory testing was not done on the vaccines containing thimerosal (and aluminum) before the government embarked on a mandated vaccine program that exposed infants to the levels of thimerosal that occurred. At this time it appears that exposure to thimerosal is the most likely suspect in vaccines that may be involved in causing autism and related disorders. The final verdict will come with observing the rate of autism now that thimerosal has been removed from the infant vaccine program. Let us therefore give credit to those who have worked to remove thimerosal from the vaccines given to infants and emphasize that continued testing of all vaccines is imperative to obtain the safest national vaccine policy possible, including a thimerosal-free flu vaccine for our elderly citizens.
NOTES
|
*****************************************
Dec 2003
A report by the National Institutes of Environmental
Health Sciences (NIEHS) (Oct 2003) acknowledged that fluoride has
been observed to have synergistic effects on the toxicity of
aluminum, complexing with the mineral in the water. They acknowledge
that most drinking water is high in fluoride/aluminum complexes,
which enhance neurotoxicity. Other studies have shown that cooking
with fluoridated water leaches the aluminum out of the aluminum
cooking pots, with different amounts being released depending on the
foods being cooked, whereas cooking with non-fluoridated water
resulted in no release of aluminum from the pans. Leaching of up to
600 ppm occurred with prolonged boiling!
***************************
Burning Brain
The Burning Brain, Its Cause and Cure
I did not find "burning
brain" as one of the symptoms of mercury poisoning in any list
when I was looking for symptoms of mercury poisoning. I searched on
the Internet for "symptom-burning brain," and could not
find anything.
It is so frightening to have a "hot spot"
in your brain or to feel that your "brain is on fire." I
lay in my bed at nights before I was diagnosed with mercury toxicity
imagining all the holes that were being caused in my blood brain
barrier by this burning. My neurologist could not tell me why my
brain burned, but thought it was improbable that I had mercury
poisoning. But then he confessed, "he knew little about mercury
poisoning."
After being diagnosed as mercury poisoned
and being introduced to the ACAM neurologist Dr. David Perlmutter, I
found an article written by Dr. Perlmutter that explained why my
brain burned. He was addressing a conference of ACAM doctors and
called my symptoms "a brain on fire."
In "The
Role of Inflammation in Chronic Diseases" Dr. Perlmutter
explained that when a combination of toxins are in the brain (in my
case aluminum, mercury and thallium) there is a synergistic effect on
the damage they cause.
Synergism-interaction of agents (as drugs), or conditions such that the total effect is greater than the sum of the individual effects.
I
have come into contact with several mercury- poisoned people now, who
are saying that their brains burned. Do not rule out mercury
poisoning just because your brain does not burn. People with
mercury poisoning experience varying symptoms.
I have recently
had a conversation with a friend in Roanoke who says he has a "hot
spot" on top of his head. He chain smokes cigarettes so he is
exposed to the heavy metal cadmium in the cigarettes. Smoking
cigarettes increase the damage caused by mercury in your mouth
because of the heat on the fillings. Any heat in the mouth causes the
mercury to leak from the fillings and it takes an hour or two for the
mercury vapors from the fillings to calm down.
My friend also
has a mouth full of mercury fillings and root canals that probably
contain mercury. Then he exposed himself to lead poisoning by sanding
down doors with old lead paint without wearing a mask. He has also
been exposed to paint fumes from painting cars. Now he has lost his
hair and what hair remains has turned white overnight. He needs to
have a heavy metals test run by an ACAM doctor and start removing the
metal safely from his mouth. Then he needs to detox the poisons out
of his body. If he doesn't he could end up with a neurological
disease.
In September of 2003, I had a conversation with
another friend, Troy, and I explained to him how I had been poisoned.
He said, "Well, Marie, that explains some of the things that
have happened to me when I went to dentists." He went on to
explain that probably around seven years ago he had a dentist in
Bland, VA to drill out two fillings. That is when the burning in his
brain first started. He also had a headache that would not go away,
not even with pain relievers. The burning gradually subsided, but it
would come back when he would drink diet drinks that contained the
sugar substitute aspartame. So he learned to avoid aspartame. He said
that was when he first started experiencing memory loss.
Later my
friend moved to Amelia, VA and he had several more mercury fillings
drilled out. He did not put together the connection between his
dental work and the burning in the brain. He just saw a connection
with the aspartame exacerbating his symptoms. After this new dental
work where he was exposed to more mercury vapor, his brain burned
again, the headaches reappeared and the memory loss was worse. Now
his wife is complaining about his memory loss.
When I read the
book Beating Alzheimer's by Tom Warren, I was very interested
that he said when he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's that his brain
burned.
After speaking with my local ACAM doctor, I now
understand that toxins in the brain cause free radical damage. So one
must remove the toxins and in the process of removing the toxins this
will help remove the inflammation and the burning that is associated
with neurological diseases. EDTA chelation removes some heavy metal
toxins; DMSA removes others such as mercury. Taking antioxidants such
as Vitamin C helps to lesson the symptoms caused by free radical
damage. Persons that are mercury poisoned frequently take 5000 to
6000 mg of Vitamin C a day. However, you need to work with your
doctor to get on a balanced program of vitamins and minerals.
I
would recommend that you buy the book BrainRecovery.Com, Powerful
Therapy for Challenging Brain Disorders by Dr. David Perlmutter
if you have a neurological disease. He is a board certified
neurologist from Florida that belongs to ACAM. On the Amazon.com
website Bernie Siegel, M.D. says of Dr. Perlmutter's book:
"...Should be available to everyone so true integrative therapy can become the normal method of treatment in the neurology field."
Russell B. Roth, M.D. Past President, American Medical Association says:
"Dr. Perlmutter provides sound advice, supported by the latest and most well respected medical research."
A book description on Amazon states:
With forwards by Bernie Siegel, MD and Jeffrey S. Bland, PhD-- BrainRecovery.com, Dr. David Perlmutter, internationally recognized leader in functional approaches to neurological diseases, explores the cutting edge of both mainstream and complementary medicine. Powerful, clinically proven techniques are revealed providing answers and hope for patients and families faced with challenging disorder including: Alzheimer's Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, Memory Loss, Stroke, Parkinson's Disease, Post-Polio Syndrome, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, and more...
Though
Dr. Permutter is an ACAM doctor and these doctors are known as
chelation doctor, he does not stress testing for heavy metals in this
book. He makes no mention of removing mercury fillings.
Mercury
and other heavy metals are the major contributor to neurological
diseases. You will find this on Dr. Mercola's website and also the
neurosurgeon Dr. Russell Blaylock said the same thing on Pat
Robertson's 700 Club. Also exposure to chemicals, pesticides and
industrial poisons contribute to neurological diseases. But if you
have a neurotoxin right in your mouth just inches from your brain,
you must remove the mercury from your mouth. Also remove toxic metal
crowns and toxic root canals. A biological dentist, along with the
materials you receive from DAMS can advise you on what is toxic.
I
would use Dr. Perlmutter's book as an introduction to some
alternative therapies for neurological diseases. He warns that the
medication Parkinson's patients receive from their doctors will
actually cause the symptoms to get worse in the long run. If you have
a neurological disease find an ACAM doctor in your area that is
experienced in heavy metal toxicity. Some ACAM doctors are also
neurologists and some specialize in degenerative diseases. When you
go to the ACAM site online you will see the specialties of each
doctor listed beside his name. Be sure to see what the code for the
specialties are at the end of the list. (example NT=nutrition)
So
my recommendations to you is this:
1. Order an information
packet from DAMS concerning mercury toxicity from toxic dentistry.
Get the name of a DAMS coordinator in your state that you can talk
to.
2. Find a local ACAM doctor experienced in treating toxic
patients. He will give you a heavy metals test. Mercury may not show
up as high on a test, but if you have mercury in your mouth and you
have a neurological disease, you will still need to remove mercury
fillings and detox your body. It is hard to test for mercury as it
likes to hide in the brain and not come out for a heavy metals'
test.
Some ACAM doctors may say that your score for mercury is
not high enough to detox your body of mercury. I disagree with this.
King James Medical Laboratory states that there is no safe level of
mercury in the body, and Dr. Boyd Haley, leading researcher of
mercury in the USA, is testifying before Congressional hearings on
mercury dental fillings that there is no safe level of mercury in the
body. And if you have other heavy metals in your body, the small
amount of mercury will be intensified in your body. I say don't leave
any mercury in your body. Get it all out! And please don't just
settle for your doctor saying to you, "Your test results were
low, and are not problem." Get copies of the test results
yourself and put them in your own files. You have a right to remove
all heavy metals from your body. Your doctor might not be aware to
the latest research on heavy metals. Dr. Boyd Haley is saying that
some of the most poisoned people may actually have low levels of
mercury in their heavy metals testing scores because they are poor
excreters of mercury. See the footnote on Marie's Story of Mercury
Poisoning for an explanation of this.
3. Find a biological
dentist to safely remove toxic fillings, crowns, and root canals from
your mouth. Talk to your state DAMS coordinator before you choose
your biological dentist. Make sure the biological dentist will
properly protect you from mercury vapor.
4. Order Dr. Perlmutter's
book as a book you can use in conjunction to the advice and treatment
you will receive from your local ACAM doctor. Do not order the
neurological supplements from Dr. Perlmutter until AFTER you see what
your local ACAM doctor wants to prescribe for you. Then you can
discuss with your local ACAM doctor what Dr. Perlmutter recommends
and together decide if you need to take additional supplements that
Dr. Perlmutter recommends for the brain.
5. Do not use Dr.
Perlmutter's book and become your own doctor. You need an alternative
doctor to help you with supplements and treatments. Do not go to Wal
Mart and buy vitamins that Dr. Perlmutter recommends. You need an
alternative doctor to help you figure out which supplements are
appropriate for you. If you buy them yourself you will just end up
with a bag full of bottles and you may not even buy the correct form
of the supplement that is the most effective. Also your ACAM doctor
may have several of the things Dr. Perlmutter recommends in
combination in one pill. If you try to buy these yourself, you may
end up with 20 bottles of pills.
It is so sad that when a
person has a neurological disease conventional medicine will not even
check for heavy metals in the brain! Conventional doctors just
diagnose a patient with a "label" whether it is
Alzheimer's, ALS, MS, or Parkinson's. Autism in children is also
known by some doctors to have been caused by exposure to toxins such
as aluminum and mercury through vaccines. Conventional doctors, not
even neurologists, even check the brain to remove heavy metals!
Improvements in these neurological conditions are increased by early
detection of the heavy metals and the removal of these metals from
the brain and the teeth. (DAN doctors may help remove metals from
autistic children.)
If you need an alternative doctor to help
a child with autism, there is a doctor in Richmond, VA listed on the
www.acam.org site. (I do not personally know this doctor, but it
would be a starting place for Virginians who want help.) Just go to
the American College for the Advancement in Medicine site
(www.acam.org) and click on VA. If the traditional doctors won't even
admit that the heavy metal ingredients in vaccines are causing
autism, how can you expect a traditional doctor to help your child
detox from the heavy metals in vaccines? How can these major teaching
hospitals help you if they won't test properly for heavy metals and
know how to remove them? Mainstream doctors are not chelation
doctors. If you have a illness related to heavy metals, you need a
chelation doctor. Chelation doctors have been removing metals for
years.
Doctors belonging to the American College for the
Advancement in Medicine (ACAM) are located at
www.acam.org.
****************
Statistically there is a higher incidence of hip fracture in residents of fluoridated areas. This includes U.S. studies published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) by Dr. S.J. Jacobsen in 1990 and Christa Danielson and others in 1992.
Fluoride Research and Dental Caries (cavities)
Prof. Y. Imai
of Japan studied 22,000 schoolchildren in 1972 in naturally occurring
fluoride areas and found increased caries (dental cavities) with
increased levels of fluoride.
A study of 23,000 elementary
schoolchildren in Tucson, Arizona, by Dr. Cornelius Steelink in 1992,
showed increased caries (dental cavities) with increased levels of
fluoride in drinking water
Professor S.P.S. Teotia of India
who reported on a study of 400,000 children from 1973 to 1993 also
showed increased caries (dental cavities) with increased levels of
fluoride in drinking water.
"In 1999, the US Environmental Protection Agency finally reviewed three studies carried out by scientists at Binghamton University. The scientists reported 80% death rates, kidney damage and brain damage in rats exposed to half of one milligram of aluminum fluoride complexes in a litre of drinking water. This is less than half of the amount of fluoride which is added in fluoridation schemes.
Finally, the National Toxicology Program was asked to commission studies to determine the extent of neurotoxic damage from aluminum in drinking water, particularly stressing the fluoride interaction."
Last October, a Report by the National Institutes of Environmental Heath Sciences (NIEHS) acknowledged that fluoride has been observed to have synergistic effects on the toxicity of aluminum
"I was particularly pleased when the US Environmental Protection Agency report by Urbansky and Schock on the toxicity of lead and fluoride in drinking water confirmed that fluoride complexes with other substances in the water.
They also acknowledged that most drinking water contains a substantial amount of fluoro-aluminium complexes. This should be a warning to dentists who hold with the simplistic notion that fluoride only affects teeth and is perfectly safe in drinking water."
According to the NIEHS Report, most water treatment processes result in increased levels of aluminum in the finished drinking water.
It stated that fluoridation will result in aluminum fluoride complexes which will enhance neurotoxicity, or that fluoride itself will enhance uptake and synergise the toxicity of the aluminum
Other studies have shown that in the presence of fluoride, aluminum leaches out of cookware. Boiling fluoridated tap water in an aluminum pan leached almost 200 parts per million (ppm) of aluminum into the water in 10 minutes.
Leaching of up to 600 PPM occurred with prolonged boiling. Different releases of aluminum depend upon the composition of the pan and the type of food being cooked. Using non-fluoridated water showed almost no leaching from aluminum pans.
US Government References:
http://ntp-server.niehs.nih.gov/htdocs/Chem_Background/ExSumPdf/Aluminum.pdf
http://fluoride.oralhealth.org/papers/urbansky.pdf
www.oehha.ca.gov/water/phg/pdf/Alumin.pdf
http://ntp-server.niehs.nih.gov/htdocs/Chem_Background/ExSumPdf/Aluminumalt.pdf
http://fluoride.oralhealth.org/
Please
find below the complete citation and the full article.
> Yours sincerely
Elizabeth O'Brien Manager, Global Lead Advice and Support Service (GLASS), run by The LEAD Group Inc
ph +61 2 9716 0014
fax + 61 2 9716 9005
PO Box 161 Summer Hill NSW 2130 Australia
www.lead.org.au
FULL CITATION
Are Amalgam Fillings Safe for Lead-poisoned People?
LEAD Action News vol 5 no 2 1997 ISSN 1324-6011
The journal of The LEAD (Lead Education and Abatement Design) Group Inc.
[Source:www.lead.org.au/lanv5n2/lanv5n2-4.html]
By Elizabeth O'Brien, Project Coordinator, NSW Community Lead Advisory Service (CLAS).
Alarming information about the synergistic effects of lead and mercury, recently brought to the attention of CLAS by ASOMAT members, will be the basis of an enquiry by CLAS to the NSW and Federal Health Ministers.
ASOMAT is the Australasian Society of Oral Medicine and Toxicology (ph 02 9867 1111), a non-profit organisation founded by concerned doctors and dentists.
Amalgam fillings contain 50% mercury.
> The original evidence cited for the synergistic effects of lead and mercury (and cadmium) comes from a 1978 paper by Schubert et al published in Michigan: "...the administration of an essentially no-response level (LD1) of a mercury salt together with 1/20 of the LD1 of a lead salt killed all of the animals [rats]."
Dr Michael Godfrey and dentist Noel Campbell write:
"...a lethal dose (LD1 [enough to kill 1% of the rats]) was combined with a 1/20th LD1 of lead, resulting in a LD 100 [100% death rate] in the test animals. "We have recently found that considerable amounts of lead may be excreted with the mercury following DMPS provocation. Our preliminary investigations appear to indicate that a synergistic effect could be identified by multiplying the lead and mercury concentrations together, after adjusting to IG of urine creatinine. We have termed this the Campbell-Godfrey factor (C-G factor). Chronic-ally affected patients may have high levels of either metal or a high total C-G factor. Those with the highest C-G factor appear to be the worst affected, thus indicating that the synergism in animals is replicated in man."
>
> The questions raised are: is it safe for lead poisoned people to have mercury fillings? Should CLAS advise parents of lead-poisoned kids never to allow these fillings in their kid's mouths? Should CLAS advise lead-poisoned people who are planning to conceive for instance, to have their amalgam fillings replaced, along with DMSA chelation therapy and nutrient replenishment therapy, well in advance of trying to conceive? Is it acceptable for anyone to be exposed to lead and mercury (and cadmium) as they are in mining and smelting communities? Why aren't the DMPS provocation test, DMSA chelation therapy or amalgam removal procedures claimable under Medicare? When will Australia phase out amalgams?
Another group of doctors who may understand heavy metals are
environmental doctors belonging to the American Academy of
Environmental Medicine.
Their website is located at www.aaem.com.