MERCURY CHELATION...
Mercury is a toxic metal widely occurring in the biosphere which presents hazards associated with both ingestion and inhalation. Mercury has no essential function within the body.
Pesticides, large fish, and mercury dental fillings are the most potent sources of mercury. The amount of mercury found in fish is directly proportional to the size of the fish, with the largest and most long lived fish (eg sharks) accruing huge amounts of mercury by the end of their lives. Mercury tends to enter rivers, lakes and the oceans through industrial discharges and volcanoes. It settles in bacteria which are eaten by algae; algae are eaten by small fish; small fish are eaten by large fish, and so on up the chain. Each step concentrates the amount of mercury present in each animal.
Mercury has also been used as an antiseptic and pesticide. Many commercial preparations have contained the inorganic mercury salt calomel (mercurous chloride), including over the counter laxative preparations and some cosmetics. It has also been used to treat grain seed as a pesticide.
The largest source of mercury for most people in the Western World is from amalgam (silver) dental fillings. Amalgam fillings were developed by a British chemist in 1819 and were originally made from filing down silver coins and mixing the filings with mercury to make a paste of pliable mass. Modern amalgam is made from a mix of copper, tin, zinc, silver with 50% mercury. Mercury fillings have a life expectancy of 10 years, due to the highly corrosive conditions of the mouth. An electrical current tends to exist between the metals in the amalgam and saliva. This electrical current is actually a chemical reaction between the amalgam and saliva, and leads to a loss of mercury from the amalgam as a vapour, where it is inhaled. The normal chewing of food also causes the abrading of amalgam from the fillings, leading to the ingestion of small particles of mercury. Natural endogenous bacteria of the mouth and gut are able to convert inorganic mercury into organic mercury through methylation (adding a methyl group to the mercury element) and so forming methyl mercury.
The World Health Organization states that the largest estimated average daily intake and retention of mercury and mercury compounds in the general population is from dental amalgam fillings. The estimated daily intake of mercury from dental amalgams is 3.8-21 mcg per day.
Mercury can be found in a two main forms, inorganic and organic. Inorganic mercury is very toxic to humans, but not nearly as toxic as organic mercury such as methyl mercury. Methyl mercury is a form of mercury which has been bound to a simple organic carbon group. This makes it permeable to membranes and encourages its movement into brain tissue. About 10% of mercury ingested accumulates in the brain.
Mercury has an affinity for organic sulphur compounds called thiols, which are essential components of enzyme systems. Mercury will irreversibly bind to these thiol groups and inhibit their function in enzymatic reactions. Thiols are also involved in protein formation and help stabilize protein structure. Mercury is then able to cause the denatutrations of protein structures, particularly in the brain. It can also form a hapten with the protein it is bound to, causing the immune system to recognize that protein as foreign and destroying it at all opportunities. This leads to beginning of autoimmune disorders.
Mercury toxicity can be manifest in many forms. In acute organic mercury toxicity symptoms include loss of coordination, intellectual ability, vision and hearing. Organice mercury can produce redness, irritation and blistering of the skin. Chronic exposure to mercury can produce the following symptoms: fatique, loss of energy, weakness, oedema, pallor, inappropriate chilliness or excessive warmth, excessive perspiration without fever, fainting, blurred vision, headache, anxiety, irritability, hostility, agression, insomnia, restlessness, decreased concentration, grogginess, depression and thought of suicide.
In attempting to reverse the problem of mercury toxicity it is important to realize that the mercury contamination must be removed, whether this be the cessation of using cosmetics, eating fish, or having your dental amalgams removed. It is also important to supplement those nutrients most effected by mercury as this appears to one way of reducing the effects of chronic exposure.
As mercury will attach to sulphur amino acids in protein, it is important to supplement with nutrients to encourage mercury elimination.
Pesticides, large fish, and mercury dental fillings are the most potent sources of mercury. The amount of mercury found in fish is directly proportional to the size of the fish, with the largest and most long lived fish (eg sharks) accruing huge amounts of mercury by the end of their lives. Mercury tends to enter rivers, lakes and the oceans through industrial discharges and volcanoes. It settles in bacteria which are eaten by algae; algae are eaten by small fish; small fish are eaten by large fish, and so on up the chain. Each step concentrates the amount of mercury present in each animal.
Mercury has also been used as an antiseptic and pesticide. Many commercial preparations have contained the inorganic mercury salt calomel (mercurous chloride), including over the counter laxative preparations and some cosmetics. It has also been used to treat grain seed as a pesticide.
The largest source of mercury for most people in the Western World is from amalgam (silver) dental fillings. Amalgam fillings were developed by a British chemist in 1819 and were originally made from filing down silver coins and mixing the filings with mercury to make a paste of pliable mass. Modern amalgam is made from a mix of copper, tin, zinc, silver with 50% mercury. Mercury fillings have a life expectancy of 10 years, due to the highly corrosive conditions of the mouth. An electrical current tends to exist between the metals in the amalgam and saliva. This electrical current is actually a chemical reaction between the amalgam and saliva, and leads to a loss of mercury from the amalgam as a vapour, where it is inhaled. The normal chewing of food also causes the abrading of amalgam from the fillings, leading to the ingestion of small particles of mercury. Natural endogenous bacteria of the mouth and gut are able to convert inorganic mercury into organic mercury through methylation (adding a methyl group to the mercury element) and so forming methyl mercury.
The World Health Organization states that the largest estimated average daily intake and retention of mercury and mercury compounds in the general population is from dental amalgam fillings. The estimated daily intake of mercury from dental amalgams is 3.8-21 mcg per day.
Mercury can be found in a two main forms, inorganic and organic. Inorganic mercury is very toxic to humans, but not nearly as toxic as organic mercury such as methyl mercury. Methyl mercury is a form of mercury which has been bound to a simple organic carbon group. This makes it permeable to membranes and encourages its movement into brain tissue. About 10% of mercury ingested accumulates in the brain.
Mercury has an affinity for organic sulphur compounds called thiols, which are essential components of enzyme systems. Mercury will irreversibly bind to these thiol groups and inhibit their function in enzymatic reactions. Thiols are also involved in protein formation and help stabilize protein structure. Mercury is then able to cause the denatutrations of protein structures, particularly in the brain. It can also form a hapten with the protein it is bound to, causing the immune system to recognize that protein as foreign and destroying it at all opportunities. This leads to beginning of autoimmune disorders.
Mercury toxicity can be manifest in many forms. In acute organic mercury toxicity symptoms include loss of coordination, intellectual ability, vision and hearing. Organice mercury can produce redness, irritation and blistering of the skin. Chronic exposure to mercury can produce the following symptoms: fatique, loss of energy, weakness, oedema, pallor, inappropriate chilliness or excessive warmth, excessive perspiration without fever, fainting, blurred vision, headache, anxiety, irritability, hostility, agression, insomnia, restlessness, decreased concentration, grogginess, depression and thought of suicide.
In attempting to reverse the problem of mercury toxicity it is important to realize that the mercury contamination must be removed, whether this be the cessation of using cosmetics, eating fish, or having your dental amalgams removed. It is also important to supplement those nutrients most effected by mercury as this appears to one way of reducing the effects of chronic exposure.
As mercury will attach to sulphur amino acids in protein, it is important to supplement with nutrients to encourage mercury elimination.
