Mercury toxicity is shockingly quite common and is often misdiagnosed as other chronic illness. The lethal effects of this heavy metal have a broad spectrum of symptoms because mercury is a powerful neurotoxin that effects all of your vital organs and entire nervous system.
Over exposure to mercury can result in simple things such as muscle twitches and digestive issues and lead to much more severe conditions like neurological issues, autoimmune disease, and even mental disorders such as dementia and Parkinson’s. It can even build up in your spinal fluid and travel into a fetus via the placenta
The troublesome fact is that the level of mercury poisoning is difficult to test for as severity of the symptoms don’t always correlate with the severity of the toxicity.
The World Health Organization states that mercury levels in biomarkers such as urine, blood, or hair do not represent the mercury levels in critical internal organs and tissues such as the heart, kidney or brain.
Along with contaminated fish, amalgam fillings are the leading cause of mercury toxicity.
Mercury from dental offices contributes significantly to the overall global mercury water contamination. Its been estimated at being responsible for up to 56% of all mercury emissions.
According to the American Dental Association, silver amalgam fillings, which are made up of 50% mercury, are safe to put into your mouth.
However, The Environmental Protection Agency considers removed amalgam fillings as toxic waste and they need to be disposed of according to hazardous material laws.
The International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicity conducted a study revealing the dangers of amalgam fillings.
On the right is a pictured from the study where they took a 25 year old filling and put a phosphorescent screen behind to reveal how much vapor comes off of the filling during simple day to day activities such as brushing your teeth or drinking a coffee.
The amount of vapor coming off the filling greatly ranges, starting from 1-3 micrograms as the lower and ‘safer’ end of the spectrum, and can reach levels up to a whopping 27 micrograms a day!
This is equivalent to 68% of workplace air quality standards that are allowable by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
This means that your repeated exposure to these high levels of the mercury vapors, you actually exceed the safety levels that OSHA says are dangerous.
Also the World Health Organization (WHO) has stated that the exposure to mercury vapor can greatly increase beyond this number due to personal habits such as grinding of the teeth, chewing gum, and drinking carbonated drinks.
This could now lead to a fivefold increase in your mercury levels!
The use of amalgam fillings in dentistry has been a long debated global topic. Scandinavian countries such as Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland have all banned the use of them for health and environmental reasons and other countries are beginning to follow by putting in place severe restrictions all while the US still claims they are safe.
And let’s not forget the mercury in the air, which you breath in, which eventually settles into water or onto land where it can be washed into water, which you drink, and also contaminate fish, which you eat.
And unfortunately drinking bottled water is not necessarily any safer than tap water. Often, up to 40% of all the bottled water produced, is nothing more than tap water.
The EPA has regulations that apply to the public water supply, but they do NOT apply to the bottled water industry. So in the end, your bottled water might be even more dangerous than your tap water…
As you can see, Mercury exposure can add up fast and getting it out of your body is not easy.
Doing a mercury detox program is pretty costly and takes a long time. First you’d need to remove your fillings, drastically change your diet, and take a heap of expensive supplements or medications. Then you’d have to stick to a strict detox protocol for months on end all while still suffering from mercury toxicity symptoms.
REFERENCES
- Adya Clarity 30-Day Human Clinical Trial Report. [PDF]
- Adya Clarity’s EPA Certified Lab Tests Reports on Water. [link]
- Mercury Poisoning Causes, Symptoms, and Prevention. Published by MedcineNet.com. [link]
- Mercury Filling by International Academy of Oral Medicine & Toxicity. Video Produced on Youtube [link]
- Mercury Exposure: A Guide To Dental Mercury Amalgam Fillings.. Published By MercuryExposure.info. [link]
- How to Rid Your Body of Mercury and Other Heavy Metals: A 3-Step Plan to Recover Your Health. Published by Mark Hyman, MD on Huffpost Healthy Living. [link]
- EWG’s Letter to EPA. Published by Richrd Wiles, Executive Director Environmental Working Group. [link]
- Toxic Teeth: Are Amalgam Fillings Safe?. Published by Dr. Jonathan B. Levine, World-Renowed NYC Aesthetic Dentist on Dr. Oz. [link]
- Mercury in Dental Amalgam. Published by EPA. [link]