My Dentist Claims That The Mercury That Does Leak From Amalgam Is Not Enought To Cause Harm.
Description
This article is from the Dental Amalgam FAQ, by anonymous.
My Dentist Claims That The Mercury That Does Leak From Amalgam Is Not Enought To Cause Harm.
Which is a reversal of the ADA's earlier claims that NO
mercury leaks from amalgam. However, there is indeed substantial
evidence indicating that Amalgam causes a variety of ailments.
Here is the most recent study..
(Thanks to BIOPROBE news: www.bioprobe.com)
AMALGAM BAN DEMANDED IN GERMANY
The following Press Release From Germany has been translated
by Mats Hanson, Ph.D. of Sweden.
BUND, Friends of the earth. The Association of Environment
and Environmental Protection, Germany. Dunanstrasse 16,
D-79110 Freiburg. Freiburg/Bonn, 28 January 1997
*** Review/Background Information
Presentation of the results of the largest trial on mercury release
from dental amalgam fillings in world, BUND demands:
No respite for amalgam - Amalgam ban overdue.
Amalgam has been the dental filling material of choice for 150
years. The criticism of this debated material has now been
further strengthened after the current results of the Tubingen
amalgam tests.
The largest experiment in the world ever conducted on mercury
release from Dental Amalgam fillings into the saliva was initiated
in the summer 1995 by BUND and carried out by the Department of
Environmental analysis labs at the university of Tubingen. After
a few hundred tests at the BUND- Environmental exhibition (tm)KO-95
in Ulm had shown a mean of more than four times higher mercury
levels in the saliva than the Bundesgesundheitsamt had reported,
BUND decided to act because of apparent governmental inactivity.
Funded by the MOMO-Children Foundation, we engaged the environmental
analytical group at the university of Tubingen for the scientific
realization of the largest experiment in the world on mercury
release from Dental Amalgam fillings. The analysis of the data
have been completed and sent to the Bundesinstitut fur Arzneimittel
und Medizinprodukte for publication.
Part 1: Mercury concentration In saliva from Dental Amalgam fillings.
In the first part of the study mercury levels in the saliva were
measured in 20,000 persons and related to the number of
Amalgam fillings. The aim was to evaluate whether and to what
degree there was an exposure to mercury from amalgam fillings.
The second part of the study examined the relation between the
levels of mercury in saliva and a special spectrum of symptoms.
Mercury levels strongly elevated.
When mercury levels in saliva were found to be more than 4-5 times
higher than the levels reported by the former Bundesgesundheitsamt
in 1984, (now Bundesinstitut fur Arzneimittels und Medizinalprodukte)
this caused alarm, both among the public as well as among professionals.
Continuation of these experiments were increasingly made more and more
difficult for the scientists at the University of Tubingen, a sign
of the alarming nature of the results. In addition to a great
deal of irrelevant criticism, it was also reported that WHO had
distanced itself from interpretations of the Tubingen study, which
also proved to be false. The fact that established mercury limits
were exceeded caused worry: The total tolerable weekly uptake
of mercury (including the vapor phase) stipulated by the W.H.O.
were exceeded.
About 43 % of the test subjects had higher, often several fold,
exposure than the permissible intake. Since it has already been
demonstrated that the mercury in the saliva is in solution and
*not* particulate, one has to calculate a much higher absorption
and mercury load than previously supposed. It is of importance
that in the 20-39 year old group (including women in the fertile
ages) the tolerable levels were more often exceeded. This can
be explained by the fact that the number of fillings in this group
is especially high with 9-11 fillings, compared to a mean of 8 in
the general German population. The tolerable intake was also often
exceeded for children with fewer fillings because of their lower
body weight.
Mercury load from amalgam fillings.
As a further statistical result the study established that the
mercury concentration in saliva (before and after chewing)
depends on the number amalgam fillings. The exposure to
mercury from amalgam fillings has been scientifically debated,
and the results from the Tubingen study clearly show an increased
mercury load from amalgam fillings.
Saliva test a method to establish the mercury load.
The criticism of the Tubingen amalgam study concentrated on the
question whether saliva was a better medium than for instance
blood and urine to evaluate mercury exposure, Recent research
confirms the advantages of the saliva test. The load on the oral
cavity and the gastrointestinal tract can be estimated better with
the saliva test than with any other available method. Hg can be
present in both the oral cavity and the gastrointestinal tract
without being detectable In blood or urine. It is clear that blood
and urine do not reflect the Hg-concentration in the oral
cavity/upper airways and in the gastrointestinal tract. In addition,
it was not possible to obtain a certification/standardization for
either blood (Dtsch Ges fur Arbeitsmed) or urine (Dtsch Ges fur
Kiln Chem) in the exposure range relevant for amalgam fillings.
In contrast, a standardization test by the State Medical Dept of
Stuttgart confirmed the excellent reproducibility for the saliva
test; laboratories which processed the samples with the same
method obtained consistent results; the standard error between the
10 laboratories was less than 15 %.
Part 2. Corelation between measured levels in saliva and health symptoms.
Every saliva test was accompanied by a questionnaire in which
the persons were asked for 30 symptoms. The analytical group at
Tubingen university evaluated 17500 completely answered
questionnaires. The question was whether there was a significant
relation between report of a symptom and the measured level of
Hg in the saliva after chewing.
It has to be stressed that the established relation has a direct
mathematical and statistical character and should not be casually
interpreted. A statistically significant difference does not
automatically mean a medical or biological relevance. Not even
multi variance analysis can decide which relations are caused by
chance and which by a casual relation.
Relation between symptoms and mercury concentrations in
saliva after chewing.
The Tubingen amalgam study could establish in the especially
examined group of 21-40 year old persons a statistically
significant relation between mercury levels in saliva and
symptoms. Only symptoms which are characteristic of subacute
or chronic mercury exposure in the low-level range were studied.
The set of symptoms are often called micromercurialism in
the literature.
There was a significant co-relation between the measured mercury
concentration and the following symptoms:
1. Mouth-oral cavity: Bleeding gingiva, metal taste, burning
tongue.
2. Central nervous system: Concentration difficulties, impaired
memory, sleep disturbances, lack of initiative, nervousness.
3. Gastrointestinal tract: not specified; further research is needed
to establish the diseases which are covered by the non- specific
label gastrointestinal problems.
Plausibility and explainability of the demonstrated symptoms.
In addition to high levels of mercury in saliva there has also been
demonstrated high levels in gingiva, pulp, oral mucosa, dentine,
roots and jaw bone. Amalgam fillings, as described in the
literature, lead to increased inflammation of the gingiva. In
addition the oral cavity will be affected by the Hg-vapor released
by the fillings. Experiments with cell cultures demonstrated that
the Hg-levels measured in the oral tissues (up to 8000 ng/g in the
mucosa) can lead to damage to human cells. It has also been
described that unpolished amalgam fillings can damage nearby
cells more than polished ones.
Also for the gastrointestinal tract it has been demonstrated that
there are high levels of mercury in the intestinal wall, intestinal
lymph nodes and in feces. The cause of this is that the mercury
which is swallowed with the saliva is only absorbed to 10% and
the rest remains in the gastrointestinal tract.
For both these body parts it has been established that blood and
urine levels are unsuitable to evaluate the mercury load. The
symptoms from the central nervous system show a remarkable
similarity with the classical mercury symptoms described in the
literature. For instance, effects of mercury on memory and
concentration has been repeatedly described in the literature.
The Tubingen group for environmental analysis stress that some
aspects of the study require further examination. For instance,
the relationships between mercury exposure to metal allergy, or
loss of hair, or the relationship to involuntary infertility.
In each of these considerations, tendencies were noted, however,
extensive and expensive further questionnaires are required. It
should be stressed that the results are statistical and do not
establish a causal relation for single cases for any symptom.
After the statistical relations found in the study, persons who
complain over problems with amalgam must not further be
dismissed a "Ecochondriacs" or Hypochondriacs," and
furthermore a possible Hg-load must be take into account in the
anamnesis, especially when the patients exhibit the described
symptomatology.
Amalgam is with certainty not the material for the future, the
Tubingen group stress, however they also warn for exaggerated
panic reactions. As in medicine in general, in every single case
one must together with the treating doctor evaluate whether an
amalgam removal is necessary and if yes, how rapidly a removal
should take place.
The relations found, which as stated above, should not be
causally interpreted, however clearly prove that humans will be
exposed to a continuous load of mercury from amalgam fillings.
The filling material amalgam is thus suspected of being able to
cause damage to health,
This should be sufficient for health policy measures and at last
start to end the amalgam era.
Demands by BUND as a consequence of the amalgam study:
- BUND demands that the Minister of Health, Seehofer, immediately
acts on the basis that: Amalgam, as an additional risk factor, does
not belong in the oral cavity.
- The amalgam ban should not only be restricted to pregnant
women and children but should immediately be general for
dentistry.
- The university dental clinics must immediately remove the
technique of amalgam placement from their educational agenda,
as has already happened in renowned dental clinics in
Switzerland.
- Teaching and education on amalgam problems, safer removal
techniques for amalgam filling and on plastic alternatives for
molar teeth.
- Further studies are indicated by the amalgam study. The
Minister of Health Seehofer must not further burden
environmental organizations with the expenses,
- BUND demands that the Minister of Health release funds for
follow-up studies at the Uuniversity of Tubingen.
- After an overdue amalgam ban the costs for alternative materials
must be taken over by the insurance s stem
Dental metal test can be mediated by all pharmacies. BUND can,
in cooperation with the environmental analytical group at
Tubingen, offer under the name SALIVAGAM a dental metal
test. This can be mediated by all pharmacies. In addition to
mercury levels in saliva all other dental metal are analyzed.
Further information in all pharmacies and from
BUND-Umweltlabor, Tel: 0781/9383-21, Fox-11
For answers to scientific matters please contact Dr E Roller, Dr.
HD Wolss, KH Maier, AK Umweltanalytik, Univ. of Tubingen,
Postfach 210352, D-72026 Tubingen, tel 07071/2984802.
Interested journalists can obtain detailed information from
BUND, Dunanstrasse 16. D-79110 Freiburg, Tel:
0761/885955-0, Fax-90
Also make sure to read these books: Poison in Your Teeth: Mercury Amalgam (Silver) Fillings...Hazardous to Your Health! and Mercury Detoxification by Tom McGuire
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