Health advisers reject mercury reportANDREW BRIDGES
Associated Press

WASHINGTON - Government health advisers rejected a federal report tha
concluded dental fillings used by millions of patients are safe, sayin
further study of the mercury-laden amalgam is needed.

A joint panel of Food and Drug Administration advisers did not declar
the so-called "silver fillings" unsafe. But in a 13-7 vote Thursday
the advisers said the federal report didn't objectively and clearl
present the current state of knowledge about the fillings.

In a second 13-7 vote, the panelists said the report's conclusion
about safety weren't reasonable, given the quantity and quality o
information available.

The FDA had asked the panel of outside advisers to weigh the report,
review of 34 recent research studies.

The report had found "no significant new information" that would chang
the FDA's earlier determination that mercury-based fillings don't har
patients, except in rare cases where they have allergic reactions.

"For the general population, amalgams are safe. There is evidence o
that," said Dr. Karl Kieburtz, a University of Rochester professor an
chairman of one of the two panels. Still, Kieburtz and other panelist
said remaining uncertainties about the risk the fillings may pose t
some groups demanded further study.

In particular, research is needed on the effect of dental mercury o
children, the fetuses of pregnant women with fillings and others whos
bodies may absorb, distribute, process and eliminate mercur
differently, they said.

"There are too many things we don't know, too many things that wer
excluded," said Michael Aschner, a professor of pediatrics an
pharmacology at Vanderbilt University and a panel consultant. He cas
two "no" votes.

Panelists also said more study was needed on whether mercury filling
give off more vapors when they're being placed or removed.

Dr. Ralph Sacco, of Columbia University, said consumers shouldn't pani
and that there was no need to have their amalgam fillings removed.

The votes were a "start" to sparking greater dialogue and awareness o
the issue, said consumer activist Sara Moore-Hines, 57.

"If we don't want it in our fish, we don't want it in our thermometers
what is it doing in our heads?" said Moore-Hines, a Pennsylvani
counselor.

She and other activists had pressed the panel to recommend the FDA ba
mercury fillings.

"Do the right, decent, honorable and God-loving thing: There needs t
be an immediate embargo on mercury fillings for everyone, or at leas
pregnant women and children, because they are our future," said Michae
Burke, who blamed mercury fillings for the early onset Alzheimer'
disease diagnosed in his wife, Phyllis, in 2004.

Dr. Michael Fleming, a Durham, N.C., dentist and the consume
representative on the panel, asked the FDA to consider restricting th
use of amalgam in children younger than 6 and in pregnant women. Th
activists - dozens attended the two-day meeting - met his proposal wit
applause.

"We are going to take the recommendations, your comments, and we wil
start evaluating the next steps, with the white paper and this whol
issue of dental amalgam," Dr. Norris Alderson, the FDA's associat
commissioner for science, told the panel.

Amalgam fillings by weight are about 50 percent mercury, joined wit
silver, copper and tin. Dentists have used amalgam to fill cavities
and have argued about their safety - since the 1800s. Today, tens o
millions of Americans receive mercury fillings each year. Amalgam us
has begun to taper off, though, with many doctors switching to resi
composite fillings that blend better with the natural coloring o
teeth.

With amalgam fillings, mercury vapor is released when patients chew an
when they brush their teeth. Significant levels of mercury exposure ca
cause permanent damage to the brain and kidneys. Fetuses and childre
are especially sensitive.

Scientists have found that mercury levels in the blood, urine and bod
tissues rise in conjunction with mercury fillings. However, even amon
people with numerous fillings, exposure levels are well below those
known to be harmful, the FDA report said.

ON THE NET

Food and Drug Administration: http://www.fda.gov