"Dental Amalgam Fillings" is the Number One Source of
Mercury in People and
Exposure Exceeds Government Health Standards for
Inorganic mercury (vapor)-
Bernard Windham (Ed.)
Government agencies
and medical studies have found that the largest source of mercury in most
people who have several dental amalgam fillings is from amalgam fillings (ref 2‑20,26,27).
Exposure from fillings amounts to from 50 to 90 percent of exposure, with the
average being about 80 % of total exposure (2,5‑9,12‑15,19,20,26,27). The
studies found that mercury amalgams are unstable due to mercury's low vapor
pressure and galvanic action (24), leaking mercury vapor continuously into
the lungs and saliva at levels exceeding health standards. The
amount of mercury released by a gold alloy bridge over amalgam over a 10-year
period was measured to be approx. 101 milligrams(mg) (60% of total) or 30
micrograms (ug) per day(21b), and other studies have found similar results for
amalgam fillings (21a,12,18, etc.).
Mercury
exposure of most people with fillings was found to exceed government health
standards and levels found to cause adverse health effects (see below).
The
tolerable
daily exposure level for mercury
developed in a report for Health
Canada is .014 micrograms/kilogram body weight (ug/kg) or approximately
1 ug/day for average adult (2)
(.04 ug/day for a
6.5 pound
infant
or
.14 ug/day
for a 22 pound infant
).
The U.S. EPA Health Standard for
elemental mercury exposure(vapor) is 0.3 micrograms per cubic meter of air
(1). The U.S. ATSDR health standard (MRL) for mercury vapor is
0.2 ug/ M3 of air, and the MRL for methyl mercury is 0.3 ug/kg body
weight/day (4). For the average adult breathing 20 M3 of air per day, this
amounts to an exposure of 4 or 6 ug/day for the 2 elemental mercury
standards. For an
infant
breathing 4 M3 of air per
day, this would be
0.8 to 1.2 ug/day
and for a
child breathing 8 M3 per day of air this would be 1.6 to
2.4 ug/day.
The
EPA health guideline for methyl mercury is 0.1 ug/kg body weight per day
or 6 ug to 8 ug per day for the average adult
(1). This corresponds to a level of 1 ug/gram in hair which is
the EPA reference level for mercury hair test. (this amounts
to
0.3 ug/day for a 6.6- pound infant
and 1 microgram per
day for a 22- pound child)
The range of mercury exposure levels found
in people with amalgam fillings by the World Health Organization
Scientific Panel on Mercury was 3 to 70 micrograms per day(3), with other
medical studies finding up to 500 ug/day in gum chewers or people who
grind their teeth(6,11,16,17,18) or some with large numbers of fillings. The
average amount absorbed was above 10 ug/day (ref. 3‑18). The
average mercury exposure for a Canadian adult with amalgam fillings was found
in the Health Canada study to be 9 ug/day (2). In a large German study
with 20,000 tested subjects at a University Medical Clinic, the average
exposure from fillings was over 10 ug/day and over 50 % of all those with
6 or more amalgam fillings had daily exposure exceeding the EPA health
guideline (6).
Note that the amount of mercury
excreted in feces, as opposed to absorbed, is much higher than most
of these estimates of mercury absorbed by the body. Daily excretion
through feces amounted to from 30 to 190 ug of mercury, being more
variable than other paths (7). Other studies had
similar findings (9,12,17-19). Most with several amalgams had
daily fecal excretion levels over 50 ug/day. The
reference average level of mercury in feces (dry weight) for those tested
at Doctors Data Lab with amalgam fillings is .26 mg/kg, compared to the
reference average level for those without amalgam fillings of .02 mg/
kg(
27). (13 times that of the
population w/o amalgam). Other labs found similar results (27). This
level of mercury gives a daily excretion of over 30 micrograms per
day. There is also evidence that amalgam is also the largest source
of methyl mercury in most people with amalgam, based on studies and medical lab
tests of those who have amalgam replaced (26,27,12). Mercury vapor
and inorganic mercury have been documented to be methylated to methyl
mercury by mouth and intestinal bacteria, along
with candida albicans and other methyl
donars
(28),
so that even people who
don�t
eat fish but
do have several amalgam fillings have high levels of methyl
mercury in saliva and blood.
Studies have consistently
found modern high copper non gamma‑two amalgams have greater release of
mercury vapor than conventional silver amalgams (21-23,25). Recent studies have
concluded that because of the high mercury release levels of modern amalgams,
mercury poisoning from amalgam fillings is widespread throughout the
population"(17,22,18,6). Due to such widespread high exposures
the average person with several amalgam fillings has approx. 10 times higher
mercury exposure than those without amalgam(1b,2) and excretes approx. 30
micrograms into the sewer each day, making dental amalgam the
largest source of mercury in
sewers.
The high levels in sewers and sewer sludge
result in amalgam being a significant source of mercury in water bodies and
fish, and also a significant source of air emissions from out gassing sewer
sludge and crematoria (1c).
����
Exposure
to EMF or Wi-fi
increases mercury vapor release by amalgam fillings, thus
increasing the chronic exposure and chronic damage
from amalgams.
Susceptibility factors
that
reduce the
body�s
master detoxification
agent, glutathione or reduce the ability to excrete mercury are a major factor
in who is affected by mercury and to what extent. Common levels of mercury
found in persons with amalgam fillings are over 10 times the Health Canada
TDE, and more than the EPA health standard for mercury
vapor. Thus, persons with amalgam fillings have levels
of intraoral mercury vapor and body exposure levels higher than the
level considered to have significant health risk. The studies
found that Total mercury intake is proportional to the number and extent of
amalgam surfaces, but other factors such as chewing gum and drinking hot
liquids influence the intake significantly increasing exposure as much as
500%.
A World Health
Organzation
Scientific
Panel concluded that a safe level of mercury exposure below which no adverse
effects occur has never been established (3).
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