Comments on the article: The Toxicology of Mercury and its Chemical Compounds

Crit Rev Toxicol. 2007;37(6):537-49; discussion 551-2.

Comment on:
Crit Rev Toxicol. 2006 Sep;36(8):609-62.

Comments on the article "the toxicology of mercury and its chemical compounds" by Clarkson and Magos (2006).

Mutter J, Naumann J, Guethlin C. University Hospital, Institute for Environmental Medicine and Hospital Epidemiology, Freiburg, Germany. joachim.mutter@uniklinik-freiburg.de

Clarkson and Magos (2006) provide their perspectives on the toxicology of mercury vapor and dental amalgam. As scientists who are involved in preparing a German federal guideline regarding dental amalgam, we welcome additional scientific data on this issue. However, Clarkson and Magos do not present all the relevant studies in their review. The additional data provided here show that: (a) Dental amalgam is the main source of human total mercury body burden, because individuals with amalgam have 2-12 times more mercury in their body tissues compared to individuals without amalgam; (b) there is not necessarily a correlation between mercury levels in blood, urine, or hair and in body tissues, and none of the parameters correlate with severity of symptoms; (c) the half-life of mercury deposits in brain and bone tissues could last from several years to decades, and thus mercury accumulates over time of exposure; (d) mercury, in particular mercury vapor, is known to be the most toxic nonradioactive element, and is toxic even in very low doses, and (e) some studies which conclude that amalgam fillings are safe for human beings have important methodogical flaws. Therefore, they have no value for assessing the safety of amalgam.

PMID: 17661216 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

{mosgoogle}

{mos_sb_discuss:15}

Set as favorite

Bookmark

Email this

Comments (1) Add Comment

Subscribe to this comment's feed

Show/hide comments

...
written by Adan J, January 05, 2009

Mercury poisoning is a very serious condition that can be fatal if untreated. Mercury is a highly toxic substance that can kill in small amounts. Jeremy Piven, star of the multiple Emmy award winning HBO program Entourage, was earning some serious extra cash for appearing in a Broadway play. He left the production on advice from his doctor due to a high mercury count in his blood. The director, who does not have an MD, nor a completed medical internship or residency, called hogwash on the star's departure on advice from a medical professional. If you want to find out what would cause Jeremy Piven to turn down so much extra cash, check out this article.