From SafeMinds: How to Help Stop Two Sources of Mercury Poisoning
By Scott Laster
This week, a study involving more than 6,000 American women suggests that blood levels of mercury are accumulating over time, with a big rise noted over the past decade (US News HERE). The current presidential administration is working to negotiate an international treaty to phase out man-made mercury, and President Obama had a history in the Senate of introducing bills to phase out mercury pollution from man-made sources. Yet there are still entrenched corporate interests, and their friends in Washington, that are actively working to continue out-dated practices that are major sources of mercury poisoning. Two organizations, Consumers for Dental Choice and Oceana, are fighting mercury pollution and could use the help of our community right now:
1) Consumers for Dental Choice (HERE) have been campaigning for ten years to raise awareness of the risks of mercury in dental amalgams and to eventually ban these dental amalgams in favor of newer, non-mercury-based dental fillings. After making significant progress towards these goals with the FDA, this campaign experienced a setback in July when the FDA unexpectedly declared amalgams to be safe for the general public (including children and pregnant women). Further, the FDA stated that amalgams only need to carry a warning of risk to persons who are allergic to mercury. An investigation by Consumers for Dental Choice has uncovered evidence that the current FDA Commissioner has close ties to the top amalgam manufacturer. Consumers for Dental Choice has filed a formal complaint with the U.S. Inspector-General requesting an investigation (HERE), and is asking the public to:
• Write the Inspector-General ([email protected]) with your views about the need for such an investigation;
• Write or telephone your Representative to ask that he or she request an investigation of FDA and the amalgam rule (https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml, House of Representatives switchboard at 202.224-3121 or 202.225-3121)
2) Congress is currently considering a bill to stop mercury pollution from chlorine manufacturing plants. Even though 95 percent of US chlorine is made without the use of mercury, four outdated plants continue to use old technology that relies upon hundreds of tons of mercury at each plant. Collectively, these plants release hundreds of pounds of mercury into our air and water every year. When released into the environment, the mercury can cause neurological damage when we breathe it in air or eat fish in which the mercury has accumulated. Pregnant women and children are particularly susceptible. There is also concern that this mercury might be contaminating household and food products (HERE). The newer non-mercury technology costs less to operate and produces higher capacity.
The Mercury Pollution Reduction Act, H.R. 2190 in the House and S.1428 in the Senate, would make the outdated “Foul Four” chlorine plants update their equipment to modern technology that doesn’t utilize or release mercury. The Mercury Pollution Reduction Act was originally authored by then-Senator Obama in 2006, and was re-introduced in 2009. Oceana, an organization which campaigns to protect and restore the world’s oceans, has been leading the push to introduce and pass these laws. If you can help, you can take action via the Oceana website (HERE.)
Scott Laster has over 20 years experience as an entrepreneur and engineer in the telecommunications industry. He received an engineering degree with Highest Honors from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Scott chairs the environmental committee of SafeMinds.
Two more points:
Some dentists do tests to determine biocompatibility of fillings. (Mine did - there are choices.) Perhaps there is some new filling material that is compatible for everyone - but I wouldn't know since it's been years since I had mine replaced. The biocompatibility test is simple bloodwork.
Also, at the risk of stating the obvious, never do any kind of chelation - including megadoses of vitamin C and other supplement programs that have a chelating effect - with any amalgam fillings still in your mouth!!
Posted by: detoxed my teeth, smiling now | September 03, 2009 at 11:42 PM
My amalgam is coming out this month, Woo Hoo! :)
Posted by: Elizabeth | September 02, 2009 at 09:07 AM
To the parent who was told mercury fillings may be necessary; I wouldn't even go to that dentist. If he uses mercury at all, that means the building may be toxic. Why risk exposure.
About 50% of US dentists do not use mercury fillings at all, so I'm sure you can find one that doesn't.
I never thought of my 13 mercury fillings being a problem, until my 3rd child was diagnosed with autism. My first child is also autistic, but vaccinated. My third child wasn't ever vaccinated, but still seems to have gotten his full quota of mercury from me.
I don't have the money to run alot of tests, but am planning to start Andy Cutler chelation shortly. Seeing a huge improvement will be proof enough to me about why he has autism.
Posted by: Kim Davis | September 01, 2009 at 04:26 PM
At age 60 I experienced cardiac arrhythmia, palpitations and my treadmill test had to be stopped soon. (This had not happened earlier)I immediately went for an angiogram, expecting to have angioplasty. The angiogram showed that I have the heart of a young person. Thats when it clicked- The real cause was the dental work that I had had many months earlier.Nothing else was wrong with my heart. Sure enough, within a few months all the symptoms vanished. So no more mercury amalgams for me. Im going to get old ones removed carefully or just get teeth pulled. To answer Garbo's questiion- I live in India and nearly all dentistry here is done with amalgam fillings. Perhaps some very wealthy people are getting composite fillings. One would have to find a dentist skilled in that method. Many Indian people are lucky to have very few fillings in their mouths.
Naturally, neither Indian dentists nor pediatricians want to hear that mercury is a toxic substance.
Posted by: Cherry Sperlin Misra | September 01, 2009 at 04:26 PM
Hi, Bek, I think the dentist will work with you - even if his staff member wasn't too helpful. Maybe call and have a chat with him/her first. "Dr. Smiley, I'd like to avoid using silver amalgam but Herbie has a cavity. Can we please agree to use composite now before I take your time up to drill out the tooth?
Use all the honey you can muster - and if he says no, find a new dentist.
Kim
Posted by: Stagmom | September 01, 2009 at 03:58 PM
Thank you, Kim. It's on her baby tooth, molar. I will tell the dentist it's either composite or nothing, or I'll just have to go to someone that will comply. (Maybe I'll tell him she's allergic to mercury too). It doesn't have to last too long...in 8 or 9 years she'll get a brand new one. Thanks again....
Posted by: bek | September 01, 2009 at 03:48 PM
I had so many amalgams, I don't even know how many. The dentist basically hollowed out my back teeth, telling my mom that if he just filled them up then, he wouldn't have to go back and keep filling little caries. Sheesh. They never meshed right (the teeth), so I ground and ground them, all the time. Then I became ADD when no one heard of it, and my grades started dropping. This was all over forty years ago. The teeth ultimately cracked to pieces, and I have dentures now, but the damage was done. My kids were ADD/ADHD and OCD. One of my son's sons has autism, and I am raising him. Of course, I mostly blame vaccines, specifically the flu shot.
Posted by: Sue | September 01, 2009 at 03:22 PM
I had 12 teeth filled with amalgam when I was pregnant. Fortunately, my children are healthy, but the last baby who is now 31 was nursed by four years and has had endocrine problems. My babies did not receive the number of vaccines given to infants for the past 20 years, hence they did not have the mercury exposure seen in children with autism spectrum.
The FDA on July 28 classified dental amalgam after a 32 year delay claiming that there are no risks to children or pregnant women unless they are allergic to mercury. How does one know that they are allergic to mercury? Mercury is not a systemic allergin, it is a poison. FDA reversed their previous statement that mercury amalgams may cause neurological harm to the fetus and children, without substantiation, ignoring the scientific evidence which had been submitted to them by the International Academy of Oral Medicne and Toxicology (www.iaomt.org).
An excellent article challenging the FDA classification has been published on the Huffington Post:The Mercury Mischief: As Obama Warns of Hazards, The FDA Approves Mercury Dental Fillings http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ellen-brown/the-mercury-mischief-as-o_b_271520.html .
The author is working on a follow up article related to the medical aspect and health issues.
Considering the new Geier research linking maternal amalgam fillings to autism specturm, I encourage you to comment to the Huffington Post's article. Scroll down to the bottom for the comment form area.
Ellen Brown has a reputation for writing powerful articles uncovering the turth - bucking mainstream medicine.
Other sites covering the FDA classification:
www.toxicteeth.org
www.iaomt.org
Posted by: Freya Koss | September 01, 2009 at 12:21 PM
Adult or baby tooth? If baby - perhaps pulling it is an option? You have the right to decide what goes into your son's mouth. Request composite. Politely demand composite. If the dentist tells you it won't last as long as mercury amalgam, kindly tell him you'll be happy to come for a repair in 10 years instead of the 30 the amalgam might last. Good luck.
Kim
Posted by: Stagmom | September 01, 2009 at 11:43 AM
Any suggestions for me? My 3 yr old has a large cavity that we're having filled on Thursday. I called to make sure the dentist will not us amalgam, the receptionist said only if it's "too big" will the dentist use amalgam. What is the issue with using the white filling on a larger cavity? Thanks.
Posted by: bek | September 01, 2009 at 11:30 AM
I would think the Dentists would be more in favor of removing mercury than anyone else YET so many are not in favor of replacing mercury fillings with other types. Why?
Posted by: Lisa - Central Mass | September 01, 2009 at 10:49 AM
I AM RESPONDING TO jACK'S QUESTION:
Has anybody done any studies that prove mercury from dental fillings can travel through the blood,and cross the placenta,and get into the baby ? If they have would anybody be able to post some links ?
Here are some links:
[PDF]A prospective study of prenatal mercury exposure ...
mercury exposure can cause immune, sensory, neuro-. A prospective study of prenatal mercury exposure from maternal dental amalgams and autism severity ...
Link:
www.iaomt.org/news/files/files302/Amalgam_Autism_Geie... - Similar pages
Do a search for:
COMED INC.
LANDMARK STUDY FINDS: MERCURY POISONING CAUSES AUTISM
There are other studies. Please contact me directly, [email protected]
Posted by: Freya Koss | September 01, 2009 at 12:27 AM
I had 10 mercury fillings. When we did the porphyrin tests as part of our DAN protocols, both my kids came up off the charts for mercury. I came up within normal range. I fully believe that pregnancy "chelated" me and led to high levels in my kids. Since that time, two of those fillings, placed when I was in my teens, crumbled and had to be replaced, and I've had 5 removed and replaced with non-amalgam. I'll have the rest done once there's some disposable income (hah!) to cover the cost because dental insurance doesn't. A bit of closing the barn door after the horse has left. Met a gal who'd had all of hers removed while living in Europe; she was told they don't use amalgam there any more and recommend removal of existing, especially for women who plan to have children. Gee, sounds almost logical and civilized, doesn't it? Anyone know what countries still use amalgam?
Posted by: Garbo | August 31, 2009 at 11:51 PM
Roger,
It is definitely plausible that your mother's amalgam exposure harmed you. A single dental amalgam filling releases as much as 15 micrograms of mercury per day. Thus, if the average person has eight amalgam fillings he or she could absorb up to 120 micrograms of mercury per day.
Here are some links you requested to studies showing maternal-fetal distribution of mercury:
http://ajpregu.physiology.org/cgi/content/abstract/258/4/R939
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6TCN-47GHVX4-1&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=996533135&_rerunOrigin=google&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=3404b8f8969deeed7c48eff692f2ee91
http://toxsci.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/66/2/261
Most sobering was a study published in 1994 from a group led by a forensic pathologist at the University of Munich. The study evaluated the levels of mercury found in tissues of human babies who had died prenatally or soon postnatally (mostly from "SIDS"). The levels of mercury found in the tissues of the babies significantly correlated with the number of dental amalgam fillings of the mother.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7957411
It's all in this little book (my former bible) copyright 1997:
http://www.amazon.com/dentistry-without-mercury-sam-ziff/dp/B001E0DDUO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1251774889&sr=1-1
A more recent book:
http://www.amazon.com/Its-All-Your-Head-Amalgams/dp/0895295504/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1251775073&sr=1-2
Amazon has others on the subject.
Kathy, I had MS symptoms too as well as severe depression that I've never experienced after the amalgam removals. I am basically a very up person who was poisoned by the dental industry - simple as that. It's a parallel fight with the vaccine industry.
Posted by: detoxed my teeth, smiling now | August 31, 2009 at 11:30 PM
I recently was berated by a pediatric dentist when I questioned the mercury-filled amalgams. I never took my son back to him. He was rude, arrogant, a complete jerk and stated silver fillings had no side effects. I reported him to both my insurance company and to the ADA. I also rated him very poorly on various rate websites.
Posted by: Lillith | August 31, 2009 at 08:40 PM
Here are the towns where these plants still are (it was on the site): Ashtabula, OH, Augusta, GA, Charleston, TN and Natrium WV.
Of course, I don't really know anything about the process, but I suppose that isn't necessarily where the waste is eventually discarded.
Posted by: Jack R. | August 31, 2009 at 03:39 PM
Kathy,
Ever since I heard about the mercury-autism connection,I had wondered if this might be a possible way for someone to get autism who was too old to have gotten the MMR or the other thimerosol based vaccines everybody talks about.
I know my mother mercury/amalgam dental fillings for at least ten years before I was born.Has anybody done any studies that prove mercury from dental fillings can travel through the blood,and cross the placenta,and get into the baby ? If they have would anybody be able to post some links ?
Posted by: Roger Kulp | August 31, 2009 at 02:37 PM
I had eleven amalgams, and have two autistic children, why can't I sue the ADA? I took them out at my cost (eleven thousand dollars later), plus the infected root canals (with the DAMS method), and chelated my children and me...I was the first to dump the metals, off the charts. It also contributed to me having CFS, MS symptoms, etc. I also remember as a child when I firs had the amaglams, that within months, my grades went down, I got severely depressed...all atributing to going through puberty...right...now I know the source of this...
Also curiously, talked to Dr Walsh At Pfieffer and he agrees with me...that moms feel better during pregnancy, BECAUSE THE BABY IS CHELATING THE MOTHER...so, the baby gets the brunt. Then after pregnancy, the mom feels horrid again. Of course, you can relate that also to autoimmunity in the mother, because she is mercury poisoned too.
Posted by: Kathy Blanco | August 31, 2009 at 12:38 PM
I had over a dozen amalgam fillings - all removed now - and my teeth have never been better and my health has never been better. Unfortunately, all that mercury exposure took a toll on my developing child, and he was "born" on the spectrum as a result. Vaccinations, I now realize, only made things worse. I believe amalgam fillings are one of the most important pieces of the autism "puzzle," and more has to be done to protect our babies from this needless mercury assault.
Also, pregnant moms with amalgams should not have their teeth professionally cleaned as this increases the mercury release. Have fillings removed at least a year prior to pregnancy if possible, and follow chelation procedures - either natural or pharmaceutical - depending on your toxic load.
My husband had his removed after me - and this will reduce our alzheimer's risk as well. The procedure was NOT BAD AT ALL! Painless - despite having all 4 quadrants done. And decay was revealed underneath that wouldn't have been otherwise discovered. I believe my amalgam removal has extended the life of my teeth - and possibly my own life as well.
Amalgam fillings are setting up a generation of babies for autism, and Big Food doesn't help - our high sugar diets since childhood have contributed to the number of cavities many of us have. And of course, vaccines are the final assault.
Thank you SafeMinds!! I hope other autism organizations follow suit and start to emphasize the importance of SAFE amalgam removal as well as the need for legislation to ban amalagam fillings.
Here is a list of dentists who practice mercury-free, but it is by no means complete - I don't see my own excellent dentist's name on it. http://www.toxicteeth.org/DentistsDoctorsProducts.cfm
I found my dentist in a locally published guide to natural living (can't remember the name) that is distributed at health food stores. (He also uses other safer procedures I was not even aware of, including lowest dose x-rays.)
Please don't underestimate the extent of long term damage that can be caused by amalgam toxicity. The only places a dentist can legally put amalgams is in our mouths or in hazardous waste!
The FDA commissioners - past and present - should be placed under arrest for crimes against humanity.
Posted by: detoxed my teeth, smiling now | August 31, 2009 at 11:34 AM
"Further, the FDA stated that amalgams only need to carry a warning of risk to persons who are allergic to mercury."
Hey, maybe the NRA can get a similar "lead allergy" warning on bullets and we could dispense with all these gun laws.
Is there a way to find out where the four mercury polluting chlorine plants are? I didn't see it on the Oceana site.
Posted by: Jack R. | August 31, 2009 at 11:14 AM
To David:
There is a referral database at iaomt.org.
Posted by: meg929 | August 31, 2009 at 11:11 AM
Is there somewhere online that will direct me to qualified biological dentists to remove mercury amalgams?
Posted by: David | August 31, 2009 at 09:33 AM
I had two amalgams taken out during my second trimester. I was assured by both my gynecologist and my dentist that is was completely safe to my unborn child. I am so very mad at myself for taking their word and not doing my own research. That baby is now a four year old in autism recovery. I should never have been able to have that work done. My gynecologists office told me not to eat tuna fish but said I could have the dental work done. Oh, if I could go back in time. I have no doubt that one of the environmental assaults to my son's precious forming brain came during that day at the dentist's office.
Posted by: Nicole | August 31, 2009 at 07:04 AM