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http://www.toxicteeth.net/pressRoom_articles_News-Leader_092004.cfm

Mercury at 'crisis level,' some fear

By Mike Penprase
News-Leader, Springfield, Missouri
September 14, 2004

A woman holds a vial of elemental mercury. Mercury has been linked to
developmental problems in children who were exposed in the womb.
Mark Randall / South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Environmental workers clean up mercury from the walkway of a Texas home after
some teenagers confessed to handling the toxic element. Mercury has become more
high-profile this year after Environmental Protection Agency warnings.
Associated Press File Photo
Basics of mercury: Types of compounds, what mercury can do to the body, testing
for it

Mercury is a naturally occurring element that is present throughout the
environment. It is a silver-white heavy metal that is liquid at room
temperature. In the U.S., coal-fired power plants are the biggest source of
mercury emissions in the air. Mercury takes various forms: pure element,
inorganic compounds and organic compounds.

• Elemental mercury is a liquid and gives off mercury vapor at room
temperature. This vapor can be inhaled into the lungs and passed into the
bloodstream. Elemental mercury, which is fat-soluble, can also pass through the
skin and into the blood stream. If it's swallowed, only a small amount is
absorbed through the gastrointestinal tract, making poisoning from swallowing
the element rare.

Once in the body, elemental mercury is eventually eliminated in urine and
feces. But it can accumulate in the kidneys, bone marrow, liver, spleen, lungs,
skin and hair. Acute exposure to mercury vapor leads to pulmonary and central
nervous system effects. Inhalation of high levels of vapor can lead to
coughing, chest pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fever and a metallic taste in
the mouth. Chronic exposure to lower levels of mercury vapor affects the
central nervous system.

Symptoms of chronic poisoning vary, but may include tremors, psychological
changes, insomnia, loss of appetite, irritability, headache and short-term
memory loss. Direct contact with the skin can lead to dermatitis. A rare
syndrome called acrodynia, or "pink's disease," can occur in children exposed
to vapor. Its symptoms include severe leg cramps, irritability and painful pink
fingers and peeling hands.

• Inorganic mercury compounds are created when mercury blends with nonliving
things. Inorganic mercury can be found in products such as batteries and
over-the-counter drugs. Many inorganic mercury compounds are irritating or
corrosive to the skin, eyes and mucous membranes.

• Organic mercury compounds, like methylmercury, are created when mercury is
converted in the environment by microorganisms. When the element becomes an
organic compound, it can be highly toxic to mammals, including people. Acute
exposure can also lead to blindness, deafness and impaired consciousness.

In extreme cases, oral ingestion of methylmercury by pregnant women has led to
developmental defects such as blindness and retardation.

• Health problems caused by mercury depend on how much has entered your body,
how it entered, how long you have been exposed and how your body responds.

There are two tests available to measure mercury in the body: A blood test
measures exposure to all three types of mercury, but because mercury remains in
the bloodstream for only a few days, the test must be done soon after exposure.
A urine test only measures exposure to elemental and inorganic mercury. Organic
mercury is not passed from the body in urine and thus cannot be measured this
way.
- Sources: Illinois Department of Public Health, U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency


The substance that made the Mad Hatter mad back in author Lewis Carroll's time
still poses enough environmental and health hazards to deserve the increasing
attention it's getting, Marie Steinwachs believes."We have just reached the
crisis level on mercury," Steinwachs, the environmental quality specialist with
the University of Missouri Extension, says. She has spent years trying to
reduce and recycle hazardous waste. "Now, we're finding it in our food, our
water, our soil, our babies, everywhere."Carroll's character of the Mad Hatter
in "Alice in Wonderland" was based on hat makers of the 1800s, who frequently
showed signs of nervous system degeneration due to the use of the element in
the process of making felt hats.In recent years, concern has arisen regarding
dental fillings made with amalgams containing mercury, the use of mercury-based
thimerosal as a preservative in vaccines for children, and mercury emissions
from coal-fired powerplants. And this summer, advisories were issued regarding
fish — eating the animals, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency feared,
could lead to ingestion of methylmercury. Methylmercury is an organic compound
created when pure mercury enters the air, then gets into a water supply.
Bacteria in the water cause chemical changes that transform the mercury into
methylmercury. It is this type of mercury that can be harmful to unborn babies
and young children. Fish absorb the methylmercury as they feed, then the
substance builds up in their tissues.In a report on methylmercury contamination
in freshwater lakes and streams, the EPA estimated one of every three lakes and
one quarter of the nation's rivers are contaminated enough that some fish taken
from them shouldn't be eaten by pregnant women, women who are nursing, women
considering pregnancy or children under 12 years of age.Missouri had a jump on
the EPA: It has issued advisories on fish contaminated by methylmercury for
several years. Gale Carlson, whose job with the Missouri Department of Health
and Human Services includes supervising the department's mercury advisory
program, said the state's Department of Health issued its 2004 advisory just
for largemouth bass that are more than 12 inches long. Big largemouth bass are
the focus of concern because they have the highest concentrations of mercury,
he said.Other fish in this state aren't included in the mercury
advisory.Missourians can expect changes in the advisory system because it's
being refined to determine whether other fish should be included and to define
areas of concern, he said."Hopefully, we can get a regional advisory rather
than a statewide advisory," he said.Currently, the state is trying to reassure
people that fish not included in the advisory are a good source of protein and
can be eaten without concern, Carlson said.

Why single out large fish?
Mercury enters the environment from coal-fired power plants in Missouri (or
even from plants in other states, hundreds of miles away), chlorine plants
using mercury as part of the production process, and from products such as
mercury switches that aren't removed from junked cars before they're smelted to
make new steel products, Carlson said.And there are other, more unusual
sources, he said. One is cultural, with the area's increasing number of
Hispanic residents continuing a tradition of burning candles with
mercury-soaked wicks or sprinkling mercury on floors beneath beds, he said.Once
it's in vapor form, mercury can become part of a raindrop — and fall into
lakes and rivers, turning into a food source for plants and tiny critters that
make up the base of the aquatic food chain."All that stuff, no matter what form
it's in, when it gets into water ... small organisms actually use that chemical
to make energy," he said.And that mercury persists up the food chain, ending in
big predator fish such as largemouth bass. As the fish grow larger, they
concentrate higher levels of mercury in their flesh — and the methylmercury
can't be removed by cutting away fat or by cooking, Carlson said.Although older
children and adults can eat those fish on an occasional basis, the threat is
highest for fetuses because mercury can interrupt the formation of the nervous
system, he said.Determining whether a fetus has had too much exposure involves
trying to detect mercury levels in a baby's or small child's system, he said.
But he's never seen a physician report that mercury caused a child's
developmental problems, Carlson said."We'll never see that happen," he said.
"Those levels are so low we're not going to be able to determine the number of
people harmed. ... Even if in fact you had a young baby who had some kind of
developmental delay, you can't point to mercury and say because the child was
this way, it was caused by mercury."
Symptoms of poisoning
The situation is different when exposure to elemental mercury, the substance in
its purest form, is involved. Because long-term exposure to vapors from the
silver element is readily apparent, deciding that a person suffers from mercury
poisoning isn't difficult, Carlson said.But just how mercury in levels high
enough to require hospitalization affects the body — and why some people are
more susceptible to mercury contamination — isn't known, said Dr. Stephen
Adams, medical director of Cox Walnut Lawn Urgent Care Center."Once that
mercury molecule gets turned into something that's fat-soluble, it can enter
cells and start doing damage," he said. "The way mercury does its damage is
unclear at this point."Some researchers contend that mercury blocks the neural
transmitters that send signals from the brain, while other researchers
speculate that mercury changes how the body uses proteins, he said.Symptoms of
poisoning run a wide gamut, Adams said. They range from diarrhea and stomach
cramping to chronic fatigue, tremors, irritability, agitation or shyness and
memory loss.Treatment involves chelation therapy, which is also used to treat
people who have been exposed to lead and arsenic, Adams said. In the therapy,
chemicals attach to mercury molecules to draw them out of the body's cells and
into the bloodstream. The mercury returns to its elemental form and is
eliminated in urine, he said. The procedure can take weeks or months.

Cleaning it up
Springfield-Greene County Health Department environmental health services
administrator Ron Boyer said he's familiar with one case in Springfield in
which exposure led to chelation treatment. The exposure occurred when
acquaintances of a woman living in a Springfield apartment scattered elemental
mercury around without her knowledge, he said."She breathed enough mercury
fumes (that) she ended up in the hospital and was quite ill," he said."She had
acute poisoning. You have to have a pretty big dose for that."The woman
received medical treatment and her apartment had to undergo cleanup, Boyer
said.Mercury cleanups happen more often than people might think, said two
Environmental Protection Agency representatives from Region 7, which covers
Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and 9 Tribal Nations. Their office currently
is working on two spills in Iowa and Nebraska, Eric Nold and Ken Rapplean
said.One incident in Council Bluff, Iowa, started when a man mailed three vials
of mercury to the apartment where he was moving, Rapplean said."For some reason
or other he had three small vials of mercury, and ... a cap got loose," he
said. "When the box was delivered, the (apartment) owner recognized it was
elemental mercury. It sort of mushroomed from there."The spill resulted in
cleanups not only at the apartment, but also at the local post office and in
the vehicle carrying the mail.The process of cleaning up after mercury can vary
according to the amount of the substance involved, how long it has been present
and whether it has been tracked into other areas, Nold said."In general, the
first thing we always do is go for the elemental mercury, pick up the source,"
he said. "Once we pick up all the elemental mercury, we do field
monitoring."That determines whether mercury has vaporized and if ventilating a
structure is necessary.Sometimes, the contamination is so serious that further
work has to be done, ranging from removing carpeting and stripping walls to
using special materials to absorb mercury. And when even that isn't enough,
sometimes buildings must be torn down.

Local recycling efforts
Since mercury exposure can result in a hospital visit, the public needs to be
educated about hazards posed by the substance and how to reduce its use,
Steinwachs said.She wants to convince legislators that Missouri should join
states that require removal of mercury switches from scrapped automobiles, and
that the state should provide more recycling options for products such as
thermometers, microwave ovens, televisions and over-the-counter drugs that
contain mercury.Raising awareness, she said, requires more public education and
government action — and it could lead to results similar to the removal of
lead from gasoline after it was discovered to pose a health hazard, she
said."People are still catching on," she said. "It's in the news right now.
People are beginning to understand mercury is dangerous. There's a lot of
headshaking; (people are saying) 'I used to play with it as a kid.' But there's
also awareness it's not good stuff, it's not good to have it in the
environment."Although the Household Chemical Collection Center in Springfield
accepts household items containing mercury such as light switches and
batteries, it can't take anything from businesses, Springfield Public Works
recycling coordinator Barbara Lucks said.That's why she and others are working
with Steinwachs to win grant money to start a mercury recycling program in the
Springfield area.Whether that happens depends on how a grant application fares,
but Steinwachs said if it becomes reality, the program could be
groundbreaking."It would be looking at best management practices for a number
of sources; small businesses, homes, schools," she said."It would be a good
test market here because people are environmentally aware and conscious and we
have a good response from the business community and government."

http://www.toxicteeth.net/pressRoom_articles_Herald-Online_092004.cfm

 
 
Controversy continues over exposure to mercury through dental fillings

By Kate Coleman
The Herald-Mail ONLINE
http://www.herald-mail.com/
September 13, 2004
Kathy Myer of Shepherdstown, W.Va., recalled that she had a "tinny taste" in
her mouth for a long time. Although she doesn't have direct proof that the
metallic taste she hated was caused by mercury in amalgam fillings in her
teeth, the taste was gone after she had the fillings removed a couple of years
ago, she said.

Myer, 48, also has TMJ - temporomandibular joint disorder - a syndrome caused
by a problem of the joint that connects the lower jaw to the bones at the side
of the skull. Myer wears a mouthpiece to alleviate her TMJ discomfort. Again,
though she can't attribute it directly to the removal of her mercury fillings,
she's noticed that she seems to have fewer TMJ symptoms than before she had the
fillings removed. She said her severe allergies have abated, but she's made a
lot of nutrition- and health-related changes in her life, so she really can't
pinpoint cause and effect.

The safety of mercury in amalgam dental restorations - fillings - is the
subject of debate. Concerns have been raised about possible toxicity because
vapor emitted from the fillings can be absorbed by the patient, according to
information in a fact sheet on the Web site of the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention at www.cdc.gov. The American Dental Association's position is
that the dental amalgam is safe, durable and affordable. Others, including
Consumers for Dental Choice, are working to abolish mercury in dental fillings,
claiming that mercury is related to various health problems.

Mercury is a shiny, silver-white, liquid metal. It can evaporate to form
colorless, odorless vapors. Mercury can combine with other elements to form
inorganic compounds, and it can combine with organic material to form organic
compounds such as methylmercury, which is the cause of concern for exposure in
the environment, according to information on the Web site of the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency. Methylmercury is taken up and retained in
higher organisms through the food chain, reaching high levels in fish and birds
and mammals who eat fish. Thus U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials
caution women who are or might become pregnant, nursing mothers and young
children about eating certain fish or large amounts of fish. Exposure to high
levels of elemental mercury vapor can result in damage to the nervous system,
which can include tremors and mood and personality disorders, the EPA states.
Also, exposure to "relatively high levels of inorganic mercury salts can cause
kidney damage," and "adult exposure to relatively high levels of methylmercury
through fish consumption can result in numbness or tingling in the extremities,
sensory losses and loss of coordination." The EPA says that metallic mercury
released from dental fillings is people's most likely source of exposure, but
the amount is "generally not considered to be high enough to cause adverse
health effects." The FDA, U.S. Public Health Service and the World Health
Organization have not found scientific evidence to support limiting the use of
mercury-based fillings, according to information on the Web site of the
National Toxicology Program Center for the Evaluation of Risks to Human
Reproduction at cerhr.niehs.nih.gov on the Web.

Mercury has been used in dental amalgams for more than 150 years, and although
tooth decay has declined thanks to fluoride, sealants and improved oral
hygiene, dental amalgam fillings still are in use. There are alternative
materials, but the most commonly used and less expensive of these cannot be
used for large lesions, because they are not strong or durable enough,
according to the CDC Web site. Dr. J. Rodway Mackert Jr. is a dentist,
professor of dentistry at the Medical College of Georgia and has a doctoral
degree in materials science, formerly known as metallurgy, he said. the topic
first surfaced 20 years ago, people didn't know about the possible effects of
mercury from amalgam fillings, he said. Numerous studies have been done - with
negative results. The amount of mercury emitted is very low. There is no link
between mercury in fillings and neurodegenerative diseases, Mackert said. The
amount of methylmercury absorbed from eating risky fish once a week is seven
times as great, he added. Mackert acknowledged that people sometimes are
concerned about mercury in fillings, but added that he could talk somebody out
of having alternative "white" fillings - made of different compounds. "Both are
completely safe," he said. He added that anything - Vitamin A, for example -
can be toxic in great enough amounts.

Myer is happy to have mercury containing fillings out of her mouth. "I can't
believe it's good to have mercury in your body," she said. Many agree with her.
Among those who do are holistic practitioners, "biological" dentists and
Consumers for Dental Choice, a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C.
Among its goals is abolishing the use of mercury in dental restorations.
Opponents of mercury in fillings have linked it to neurological diseases
including multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer's disease.

http://www.toxicteeth.net/pressRoom_conference_083104.cfm

Media Advisory
DEP MUST ENFORCE LAW TO STOP DENTISTS FROM FLUSHING TOXIC METAL INTO OUR
WATERWAYS

Connecticut law being ignored


WHO: State Sen. Edith Prague (D-19th)
State Reps. T. R. Rowe (R-Trumbull), Richard Roy (D-Milford) and Robert Megna
(D-New Haven)
Betty McLaughlin, Connecticut Audubon Society
Dr. Mark A. Mitchell, Connecticut Coalition for Environmental Justice
Charles Brown, Consumers for Dental Choice
Michael Bender, Mercury Policy Project
WHAT:  News conference to announce filing a formal request that the Connecticut
Department of Environmental Protection enforce the state’s “Zero Mercury
Law”
WHERE: Legislative Office Building
Room 1C
Capital Avenue
Hartford Connecticut
WHEN: Tuesday, August 31, 2004
Presentation at 11:00 AM
Presentation expected to last about 20 minutes.
(Copies of formal filing, other materials, will be available for the media.)
Media questions will follow.
WHY:  Highlights seriousness of mercury pollution in state waterways;
highlights DEP ignoring enforcement responsibility; demonstrates broad
bi-partisan support for enforcement of new law.
Visually demonstrate amount of mercury in a tooth filling versus the now-banned
Spiderman promotional toy that had been in Kellogg’s cereal.


ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Michael London -- Office: 203-261-1549 Cell: 203-556-5123

http://www.toxicteeth.net/pressRoom_articles_Scanner_072004.cfm

Mercury Fillings Alarm Local Activist Group
Despite presence of a toxin, the American Dental Association says amalgam
fillings are safe
By Abe Proctor Of The Skanner

The fillings that are installed in the mouths of low-income kids during an
annual dental health day — and in the mouths of millions of other Americans
every year — are unsafe, two local activists said.

Amalgam fillings — commonly referred to as “silver” fillings — are
given to hundreds of Portland kids every year during Give a Kid a Smile Day, a
program put on by local affiliates of the American Dental Association and
corporate and nonprofit sponsors. They are also the most common fillings in
dentists’ offices around the country and have been in use for more than 100
years. The fillings are composed of approximately 50 percent mercury, a known
neurotoxin and considered among the most toxic non-radioactive elements on
Earth.

The American Dental Association, however, maintains that amalgam fillings are
safe. Its official statement on dental amalgam — posted on its Web site,
ada.org — claims that the other metals in the fillings bind with mercury in
such a way as to render the fillings “into a hard, stable, safe substance.”

Mercury is associated with a range of disorders, including autism, epilepsy,
fibromyalgia and multiple sclerosis, as well as certain cancers, heart and
kidney problems, muscular and respiratory ailments and changes in vision and
hearing. In pregnant women, exposure to elevated mercury levels can result in
fetal abnormalities.

“We are concerned about mercury in tuna, and there are now advisories that
pregnant women should limit their tuna consumption because they shouldn’t
expose their unborn child to mercury,” said Caroline Skinner of Mothers
Against Mercury Amalgam — MAMA — an organization of women concerned about
exposure to mercury through dental fillings.

“If mercury is being placed in the human mouth, shouldn’t we be concerned
about that, too?”

Amalgam fillings are composed of roughly half liquid mercury (43 percent to 54
percent) and half a mixture of other materials, including silver, tin and
copper (57 percent to 46 percent), according to the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention. Many dentists favor its use because of its malleability and its
cost-effectiveness when compared to alternate materials such as gold or pure
silver.

Jack Ferracane, Ph.D., chair of restorative dentistry at Oregon Health &Science
University — one of the sites of the annual Give a Kid Smile Day believes
that amalgam fillings are safe.
“It’s been in use for a long time,” he said. “Mercury is a poison, but
it’s always a question of dosage. The amount of mercury released by amalgam
fillings doesn’t pose a health risk.”

Ferracane added that many studies have been conducted in an attempt to link
amalgam with mercury-induced ailments, but that none have conclusively proven a
health risk.

OHSU’s Prashant Gagneja, D.D.S. — who coordinated this year’s Give a Kid
a Smile Day event — also stands behind the safety and ease of amalgam
fillings. However, he said that fewer amalgam fillings were installed during
this year’s event than in previous years, with more patients — and their
parents — opting for composite fillings instead.

“In pediatric dentistry … amalgam is easier and faster to place on the
child,” Gagneja said, adding that composite materials have grown in
popularity because they are far less visible in the mouth than amalgam. “For
children, we are tending to use more composite, not because we’re concerned
about amalgam’s toxicity — because I think it’s pretty safe — but
because of aesthetics.”

Gagneja said he thinks that concerns about amalgam’s health risks are
“overblown.”

“Once the amalgam sets, there’s hardly any free mercury in it,” he said.
“The free mercury that everybody talks about as causing health problems is so
little in the filling itself … it doesn’t cause health problems. …
Mercury itself is toxic, I highly agree with that, but with the fillings
themselves, I don’t think the assumption (of mercury poisoning from amalgam
fillings) holds up.”

The American Dental Association admits that a minute amount of mercury (one to
three micrograms) is released into the mouth from a single filling every day as
a result of chewing and grinding but that this level of exposure does not
constitute a health risk.

“(Dental patients) should feel very secure that the many organizations
responsible for protecting the public’s health have said time and time again
that amalgam fillings are safe,” the site said. “Those organizations
include the World Health Organization, United States Public Health Service, the
National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration.”

The site provides a link to a World Health Organization report that reads,
“At present, there is scant evidence that the health of the vast majority of
people with amalgam is compromised.”

However, the same report goes on to say that a lack of definitive research on
amalgam leaves the question of its toxicity effectively unresolved:
“Nonetheless, the possibility that this material … could pose health risks
cannot be totally ruled out because of the paucity of definitive human
studies.”

Further, the report states that the lack of data on amalgam’s toxicity
necessitates the launch of a research program on the subject.

Despite the American Dental Association’s assurances, Skinner is among a
growing number of citizens concerned about the routine and widespread use of a
toxic substance in the human body. Among them is the National Association for
the Advancement of Colored People, which in 2001 voted to support The Mercury
in Dental Fillings Disclosure and Prohibition Act.
The bill, written by Reps. Diane Watson, D-Calif., and Dan Burton, R-Ind., was
introduced to Congress in 2003 as HR 1680 and calls for full disclosure of the
presence of mercury in fillings and protection for women and children against
the fillings’ installation. The bill has since been referred to the House
Subcommittee on Health.

In California, Assemblyman Dan Horton, D-Los Angeles, chair of the state
Legislature’s Black Caucus, wrote a bill ending the practice that mandated
that amalgam fillings be installed in the mouth of any low-income child
receiving a subsidized filling. The bill was signed into law in 2003 by Gov.
Gray Davis before he left office.

Sandy Duffy, also a member of MAMA, said that if dental patients are concerned
about mercury exposure, they should insist upon mercury-free fillings. Many
dentists, she said, make a point of advertising that they run mercury-free
offices.

Duffy cited a University of Washington study that found high incidences of
neurological problems among dentists with elevated mercury levels in their
urine.

“The federal government’s definition of ‘safe levels’ of mercury is
just too high,” she said. “If dentists and patients are developing problems
due to mercury, then it needs to be abandoned. Mercury is at least 40 times
more toxic than lead, and we would never start packing lead in kids’
mouths.”

According to the World Health Organization, the primary source of mercury
exposure to the general population is through amalgam fillings. A toxicology
profile for mercury prepared by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease
Registry in 1999 stated that “children may have greater exposure and greater
risks from mercury.”

The federal Environmental Protection Agency lists mercury as a serious
environmental toxin and, in addition to its recommendation that people limit
their consumption of tuna because of elevated mercury levels, has recommended
that coal-burning power plants take steps to reduce their mercury emissions.
Mercury is in the process of being phased out from use in thermometers,
vaccines, electrical switches and blood pressure machines due to its toxicity.

“When a mercury filling is removed, it’s classified by law as hazardous
waste,” Skinner said. “Why is it not hazardous when it’s put in?”

http://www.theskanner.com/cms/skanner/index.php/