Barium Edit

I'm hoping this will help someone out there, I'm going to be looking at Barium, and how it affects people.

Here is Barium from wikipedia:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barium


All water or acid soluble barium compounds are extremely poisonous. At low doses, barium acts as a muscle stimulant, while higher doses affect the nervous system, causing cardiac irregularities, tremors, weakness, anxiety, dyspnea and paralysis. This may be due to its ability to block potassium ion channels which are critical to the proper function of the nervous system.

Barium sulfate can be taken orally because it is highly insoluble in water, and is eliminated completely from the digestive tract. Unlike other heavy metals, barium does not bioaccumulate.[2] However, inhaled dust containing barium compounds can accumulate in the lungs, causing a benign condition called baritosis.

Oxidation occurs very easily and, to remain pure, barium should be kept under a petroleum-based fluid (such as kerosene) or other suitable oxygen-free liquids that exclude air.

Barium acetate could lead to death in high doses. Marie Robards poisoned her father with the substance in Texas in 1993. She was tried and convicted in 1996.

From the dept of health and human services agency for toxic substances and disease registry:


http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/tfacts24.html#bookmark05


From this linc:

Highlights:

Exposure to barium occurs mostly in the workplace or from drinking contaminated water. Ingesting drinking water containing levels of barium above the EPA drinking water guidelines for relatively short periods of time can cause gastrointestinal disturbances and muscle weakness. Ingesting high levels for a long time can damage the kidneys. Barium and barium compounds have been found in at least 798 of the 1,684 National Priority List sites identified by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

What is Barium:

What is barium?
Barium is a silvery-white metal which exists in nature only in ores containing mixtures of elements. It combines with other chemicals such as sulfur or carbon and oxygen to form barium compounds.

Barium compounds are used by the oil and gas industries to make drilling muds. Drilling muds make it easier to drill through rock by keeping the drill bit lubricated. They are also used to make paint, bricks, ceramics, glass, and rubber.

Barium sulfate is sometimes used by doctors to perform medical tests and to take x-rays of the gastrointestinal tract.

How can barium affect my health?
The health effects of the different barium compounds depend on how well the compound dissolves in water or in the stomach contents. Barium compounds that do not dissolve well, such as barium sulfate, are not generally harmful.

Barium has been found to potentially cause gastrointestinal disturbances and muscular weakness when people are exposed to it at levels above the EPA drinking water standards for relatively short periods of time. Some people who eat or drink amounts of barium above background levels found in food and water for a short period may experience vomiting, abdominal cramps, diarrhea, difficulties in breathing, increased or decreased blood pressure, numbness around the face, and muscle weakness. Eating or drinking very large amounts of barium compounds that easily dissolve can cause changes in heart rhythm or paralysis and possibly death. Animals that drank barium over long periods had damage to the kidneys, decreases in body weight, and some died.

From Lenntech:


http://www.lenntech.com/Periodic-chart-elements/Ba-en.htm#Health%20effects%20...


Barium in the environment

Barium is surprisingly abundant in the Earth's crust, being the 14th most abundant element. High amounts of barium may only be found in soils and in food, such as nuts, seaweed, fish and certain plants.
Because of the extensive use of barium in the industries human activities add greatly to the release of barium in the environment. As a result barium concentrations in air, water and soil may be higher than naturally occurring concentrations on many locations.

Barium enters the air during mining processes, refining processes, and during the production of barium compounds. It can also enter the air during coal and oil combustion.

The chief mined ores are barite, which is also the most common and witserite. The main mining areas are UK, Italy, Czech Republic, USA and Germany. Each year about 6 million tonnes are produced and reserves are expected to exceed 400 million tonnes.


Health effects of barium
The amount of barium that is detected in food and water usually is not high enough to become a health concern.
People with the greatest risk to barium exposure with additional health effects are those that work in the barium industry. Most of the health risks that they can undergo are caused by breathing in air that contains barium sulphate or barium carbonate.

Many hazardous waste sites contain certain amounts of barium. People that live near them may be exposed to harmful levels. The exposure will than be caused by breathing dust, eating soil or plants, or drinking water that is polluted with barium. Skin contact may also occur.

The health effects of barium depend upon the water-solubility of the compounds. Barium compounds that dissolve in water can be harmful to human health. The uptake of very large amounts of barium that are water-soluble may cause paralyses and in some cases even death.

Small amounts of water-soluble barium may cause a person to experience breathing difficulties, increased blood pressures, heart rhythm changes, stomach irritation, muscle weakness, changes in nerve reflexes, swelling of brains and liver, kidney and heart damage.

It sounds like combining with sulphur might mitigate. Don't know, any ideas on that?

Edit- DMSA maybe MSM Also take a companion mineral suppliment at a different time than the DMSA, the DMSA can also bind with minerals that you need. I've been taking it for about 20 days for acute barium, I'm feeling better, but I suspect I've got potassium and magnesium deficiencies at this point. So I'm supping with minerals, calcium, mag, and phosphorus, plus trace minerals (apple cider vinegar, thinking about molassas)

I haven't figured out if MSM will work at all with this stuff yet. Wow, what a pain! It would be so much easier if I could just quit breathing.

I haven't found anything on the potassium stuff, still trying to figure out how it works.

Food for thought.

Julie


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