Date:   1/29/2007 4:00:03 PM ( 17 y ago)
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URL:   https://www.curezone.org/forums/fm.asp?i=823431

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The CDC is required to publish data on toxic substances such as mercury. As such, it includes some information on amalgam, because Amalgam exposes people to mercury vapor (it's so undeniable a fact that the CDC doesn't even question it but does quantify it). The "home page" for this is here.

The entire publication is broken down into chapters, and each chapter is its own PDF. In the first chapter, we can find the following on amalgam:

A potential source of exposure to metallic mercury for the general population is mercury released from dental Amalgam fillings. An Amalgam is a mixture of metals. The amalgam used in silver colored dental fillings contains approximately 50% metallic mercury, 35% silver, 9% tin, 6% copper, and trace amounts of zinc. When the amalgam is first mixed, it is a soft paste which is inserted into the tooth surface. It hardens within 30 minutes. Once the amalgam is hard, the mercury is bound within the amalgam, but very small amounts are slowly released from the surface of the filling due to corrosion or chewing or grinding motions. Part of the mercury at the surface of the filling may enter the air as mercury vapor or be dissolved in the saliva. The total amount of mercury released from dental amalgam depends upon the total number of fillings and surface areas of each filling, the chewing and eating habits of the person, and other chemical conditions in the mouth. Estimates of the amount of mercury released from dental Amalgams range from 3 to 17 micrograms per day (μg/day). The mercury from dental amalgam may contribute from 0 to more than 75% of your total daily mercury exposure, depending on the number of amalgam fillings you have, the amount of fish consumed, the levels of mercury (mostly as methylmercury) in those fish, and exposure from other less common sources such as mercury spills, religious practices, or herbal remedies that contain mercury. However, it should be kept in mind that exposure to very small amounts of mercury, such as that from dental amalgam fillings, does not necessarily pose a health risk. (emphasis added)

Whether the levels of exposure to mercury vapor from dental amalgam are sufficiently high to cause adverse health effects, and exactly what those effects are, continues to be researched and debated by scientists and health officials. U.S. government summaries on the effects of dental amalgam conclude that there is no apparent health hazard to the general population, but that further study is needed to determine the possibility of more subtle behavioral or immune system effects, and to determine the levels of exposure that may lead to adverse effects in sensitive populations. Sensitive populations may include pregnant women, children under the age of 6 (especially up to the age of 3), people with impaired kidney function, and people with hypersensitive immune responses to metals. If you belong to this group, you should discuss your medical condition with your dentist prior to any dental restoration work. Removal of dental Amalgams in people who have no indication of adverse effects is not recommended and can put the person at greater risk, if performed improperly. Chelation therapy (used to remove metals from the body tissues) itself presents some health risks, and should be considered only when a licensed occupational or environmental health physician determines it necessary to reduce immediate and significant health risks due to high levels of mercury in the body. For additional information on health risks associated with mercury dental amalgam, see Section 2.5, "More on the Health Effects of Dental Amalgam."

From section 2.1:

The general population is most commonly exposed to mercury primarily from two sources: (1) eating fish and marine mammals (e.g., whales, seals) that may contain some methylmercury in their tissues or (2) from the release of elemental mercury from the dental amalgam used in fillings. It is not known how much of the elemental mercury released from dental amalgam is inhaled as a mercury vapor, how much is breathed out, how much is swallowed in a liquid form, or how much is converted into a mercuric salt that is either swallowed of directly absorbed into the oral mucosa. Exposure to mercury, however, does not necessarily mean that adverse health effects will result.

And the CDC's assurances does not necessarily mean that adverse health effects won't result. The CDC is doing an excellent job of promoting the status quo while also covering its collective butt.

A lot of research information is discussed in chapter 2; some of it concludes no danger from amalgam, while a lot of it shows significant problems with amalgam.

Anyway, it's worth a read or a skim (it's pretty long), just for bits that can be picked up, and just to see that even the US Government ultimately knows better than to keep trying to protect the ADA against the growing mountain of evidence against amalgam.
 

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