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. Thus the Government regulatory levels are
not generally valid or sufficient for protecting the public since everyone has
multiple toxic exposures.
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. Another study found that for low
levels of lead, cadmium,
arsenic, and mercury, the combined exposure synergistically disrupted brain synaptic
homeostasis even though the levels of each were supposedly low safe levels (27). 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, http://www.myflcv.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. Enhanced
conformational changes in DNA in the presence of mercury(II),
cadmium(II) and lead(II) porphyrins. J Inorg
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A, Bonini M, Dano SD, Creppy EE. Synergistic effects of some metals
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8. Vaccine
Induced Autism & ADHD , David Ayoub, M.D.
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behavioral effects of toxic metal exposures on children: Review, B.
Windham (Ed.), http://www.myflcv.com/tmlbn.html
10. Neurological and immune
effects of vaccines and mercury on children; Review, B Windham (Ed.), http://www.myflcv.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 Health Perspectives,
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.
(22) www.myflcv.com/pesticid.html
(23)T.Meersman, “Sexual Abnormalities in Mississippi River
Walleye”, Minnesota Star Tribune, 4-18-99.
(24) Estrogenic microenvironment generated by
organochlorine residues in adipose mammary tissue modulates biomarker
expression in ERα-positive breast carcinomas, M Munoz-de-Toro, E.H. Luque et al, Breast Cancer Research 2006, 8:R47, http://breast-cancer-research.com/content/8/4/R47
(25) 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
(26 ) 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.
(27) Lead, cadmium, arsenic, and mercury
combined exposure disrupted synaptic homeostasis through activating the Snk-SPAR pathway. Zhou F, Xie J,
et al; Ecotoxicol
Environ Saf. 2018 Nov 15;163: 674-684.
*****************************************************************************
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, http://www.myflcv.com/fishhg.html)
*****************************************************************************
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?
************************
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.
|
(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. |
|
||||||
****************************************************
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.