Dangers of Mercury Info

- 180 million Americans have more than a half billion teeth restored with fillings made with mercury. A recent decision from the FDA endorses the fillings, but there is an ongoing debate over their safety. Channel 2's consumer investigator Jim Strickland found two metro dentists in the middle of the controversy.

- There is no question that mercury is toxic. It can poison the brain, liver, kidneys, and more. Mix it with metals to form a filling and it is supposed to be safe. Well, two metro dentists told me mercury poisoned them. Now, they are trying to get rid of it mouth by mouth, tooth by tooth.

- A Buckhead dental office becomes a Hazmat zone as Dr. Michaela McKenzie gets ready for the procedure that makes up nearly her entire practice: mercury filling removal.

- Mercury is extremely toxic - it is more poisonous than arsenic, and you’re putting it in patients’ mouths.

- McKenzie says mercury readings in her 20-year-old patient's mouth were enough to shut down a school. Elizabeth Lapapan is hoping removing the mercury will clear the brain fog that has plagued her for years.

- I could start concentrating better, I could start thinking more, not forgetting things, and stopped getting a lot of headaches.

- McKenzie says headaches were just the beginning for her.

- I was poisoned when I was in dental school from mercury, and I got very, very sick.

- Gwinnett County dentist Ronald Dressler considers himself a mercury survivor and a reformed pro-mercury dentist.

- Volumes of science say that mercury is a poison and should not be used. There are no studies demonstrating the safety of dental mercury amalgam.

- After taking five years to consider conflicting research, the FDA in January denied petitions to ban mercury or declare it a high risk medical device. The American Dental Association also defends the fillings as having established a record of safety and effectiveness. An ADA video speaks to the anti-mercury crusaders.

- Unfortunately, there are some groups who don't accept the science, and who like to rely on fear and other factors.

- The ADA takes issue with mercury removal as well. Its code of professional conduct says unless the patient is allergic, taking them out is improper and unethical. Dressler violated their professional code when he took nine fillings out of this woman's mouth.

- Mercury did this?

- Mercury did this.

- You’re convinced?

- Absolutely, positively, yes.

- So is the woman in the picture.

- Look at my pictures, call me on the phone, come and see me. And I will tell you what mercury poisoning can do and did to me.

- For Angela Cochran, the rash was just part of it. Her diagnosed mercury poisoning caused heart and digestive problems, and blood pressure spikes. She started to feel a difference three weeks after getting her fillings out.

- I had to keep telling myself you feel better today, I know I feel better today, I could actually go down the stairs today. - Cochran went from tears to anger when the subject turned to the FDA's decision to leave mercury alone.

- If they want to call me a crackpot, they can call me a crackpot. I've lived it. I am not the only person that has been sick from this misuse of mercury.

- Now the American Dental Association scheduled then canceled two on-camera interviews. But the debate is not over. The Food and Drug Administration says it is continuing to study mercury in fillings and will take action as warranted. It took five years for the FDA to respond to the petitions asking for restrictions on mercury fillings.

- So, we have all these agencies involved, what about the EPA since it is toxic?

- Well, this is kind of ironic. The EPA is considering new rules on how dentists should handle the rinse water when they either use mercury or remove it from patients. Dr. McKenzie showed us her state-of-the-art system to trap mercury particles before they get into the sewer. The EPA says half of all the mercury coming into wastewater plants is coming from dental offices.

- This is so bizarre. “Watch the wastewater.” There is a problem here.

Hi Jose. Today, we are going to be taking out some of your black fillings that are 50 percent mercury. And so, as we’re taking all that stuff out, it’s going to go everywhere. It’s going to get on your clothes, when you’re breathing in, as we make an aerosol with our drill. So, I want to explain how we prevent you from sucking all that mercury up, breathing them in, getting it all over your clothes and taking it home with you and how we keep this office free of mercury so we’re safe to work with you.

As you see, I’m wearing a suit. In a minute, I’m going to have a full mask on, a hood, and I will be completely covered up. I’m going to look like I’m going to Mars so, after that, I won’t be able to talk to you so much. So, the first thing we have is this machine sitting behind you. It is a tact air ionizer and it creates ionic charges that picks up dust particles and heavy metal particles, and they are attracted to that plate on the wall over there and as long as the machine is on, they stick to that plate. The other thing we do for the room is we have this thing in the corner that’s a whole-room air cleaner and it’s got a HEPA filter and UV lights. What you don’t see there is an activated charcoal filter that captures the mercury vapor so it doesn’t come out the bottom and we’ve tested it. We know that what goes in is a high volume and what goes out comes out zero. Now, while we’re actually working on you, we’ll sneak this big tube up close to your face and it’s an auxiliary suction that does the same thing as that. It’s also got activated charcoal filters in it that capture the mercury particles, the bigger particles and the vapor that we try to pull away from our working zone around your mouth.

We’re going to cover you up with the same kind of material I have on. We’re going to put a hood over your head, and you’re also going to have this polyvinyl dam which doesn’t allow vapor to go through. Your teeth are going to poke up through here and you’re going to breathe through your nose through an oxygen mask. And, that way you’re going to be very, very protected and have as limited exposure as possible. We’ll also put another suction under this dam so that any vapor that gets through will hopefully be pulled out. Alright, let’s get you washed up. I’ll put this HgX (Mercury X) cream on my hands so, under my gloves it helps protect exposure for me. Our assistant and I will use this, and we’ll put our gear on and we’ll be right there.

- Alright, we’re done! How was that?

- You know, it’s comforting to get all that stuff out of your mouth and even though I’m still numbed up, just to know that I’m safe and protected is very reassuring. Thanks!

- You’re welcome, thank you.

Mercury is one of the most toxic elements and a persistent traveler through our environment. So, who's the travel agent for this elemental poison? Coal fired power plants? Most definitely. Mining operations? Of course. Your neighborhood dental office? Surprisingly, yes.

The United Nations Environment Program reports that 10% of global mercury usage is for amalgam tooth fillings. This results in up to 340 tons of dental mercury journeying into the environment each year. In the United States, dentists are currently the second largest users of elemental mercury. This accounts for roughly 32 tons of mercury used yearly to place amalgam restorations, otherwise known as silver fillings. Although the number of amalgams placed has decreased over the last few decades, dentists still use amalgam without precautions. So, the threat of mercury exposure continues.

Dental mercury travels many pathways on its journey back into the environment. It starts when a dentist receives pre-capsulated dental amalgam. In each capsule, up to 900 mg of elemental mercury is separated from the other alloys. To make the final product, the capsule is vigorously shaken in a triturator to thoroughly mix all the elements. Occupational safety concerns arise because this heats the mercury, creating thousands of micrograms of mercury vapor which are released upon opening the capsule. The used amalgam capsule still contains a small amount of mercury. So, the ADA recommends the capsules to be stored in an airtight container and collected by a hazardous waste company. Unfortunately, a majority of dentists toss the capsules into the trash. This mercury-contaminated trash will eventually travel to a landfill where mercury will continue its trip down into the soil.

Back at the dental office, a freshly mixed amalgam is placed into the tooth. The dentist then carves away any excess material while patients swallow some amount of waste. Most is suctioned out and flows to the filtration system. But this system only captures a small percentage of the larger pieces. The vast majority and much smaller pieces escape into the wastewater. A similar scenario plays out when dentists replace amalgam fillings. Many dentists aren’t realizing the environmental harm and clean out their filtration systems by dumping the captured mercury-tainted sludge down the drain. A study funded by the ADA estimated that amalgam fillings contributed to 50% of the mercury found in wastewater. This contaminated water then flows to publicly owned water treatment plans. While efforts are made to remove the mercury from wastewater, most of it settles down into the sewage sludge, which is then taken and spread on land as fertilizer or deposited in a landfill. In both scenarios, the mercury constantly off gases into the atmosphere and seeps into the ground. A percentage of the sewage sludge is also sent packing to incinerators. With over 200 tons of dental mercury continually off gassing mercury vapor in the mouths of Americans, even exhaling is a contributor of mercury to our atmosphere. Additionally, people with amalgam fillings serve as hosts for mercury's passage back into our environment through the excretion of human waste. Mercury's ride continues even after death. Crematories which are unregulated and contain no filtration processes are a drawing vehicle for transporting mercury back into the atmosphere. And all the various pathways are accounted for.

Dental mercury from the United States contributes roughly 28 and a half tons into the environment each year. The governments of the world are actively working together to reduce the amount of mercury released globally to protect human health. The first and most powerful step to eliminating mercury release from dental amalgam is to discontinue the use of this toxic material. With the threats so great and solutions so simple, it’s time to restrict mercury's passport.

In 1991, the World Health Organization acknowledged that the predominant source of human exposure to mercury is from your fillings. That should be of concern to anyone - all mercury silver fillings leak substantial amounts of mercury constantly. The amount increases with any kind of stimulation and as a result, mercury from fillings produces the majority of human exposure to mercury. The International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology is extremely concerned about the anecdotal claims of safety by manufacturers and dental trade associations. There is varying scientific evidence to the contrary. The precautionary principle requires action once the possibility of harm exists.

What you are seeing is mercury vapor coming off a 25-year old silver amalgam filling in an extracted tooth. The background is a phosphorescent screen - the mercury vapor absorbs the fluorescent light, and you can see it as a shadow on the screen. This is mercury coming off a filling that was dipped in water that's the same temperature as the human body. This is a filling that was rubbed with a pencil eraser for just a few seconds, like going to the hygienist and having your teeth cleaned. These are not small amounts of mercury. If you can see it, it's more than one thousand times higher than the Environmental Protection Agency will allow for the air that we breathe. What about the last time you went to the dentist and they drilled on your teeth? Here is the mercury vapor every time you raise the temperature to 110 degrees, with hot coffee, warm water, or even chewed on. Mercury comes off fillings everytime you stimulate them and that stimulation causes the mercury to continue to leak out of the fillings for an hour and a half at a minimum. Some people grind their teeth, some people chew gum.

The dentist might send an old gold crown to the dental lab to be welded. How about the dental personnel? They are not being given informed consent. Back in 1985, the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology set off to determine the amount of mercury that was coming off fillings, and here is the graph showing substantial quantities of mercury that were measured coming off fillings. And then we estimated the total dose, began animal experiments and put radioactive fillings in sheep. Mercury accumulated in the jaw, stomach, liver and the kidney of the sheep in just 30 days. Substantial quantities of mercury from the fillings spread to every organ in that sheep's body. Then, we measured that the sheep's kidneys dropped in their ability by 60% to clear inulin, an indication of kidney malfunction. Whole-body imaging of monkeys found exactly the same thing. Proponents of amalgam fillings claimed that sheep chew too much. Well, what's the problem with monkeys? They had mercury in their jaw, kidneys, liver, intestine and heart. And further research found these trophic bacteria that were antibiotic-resistant cropped up in the intestines within two weeks of receiving these mercury-leaking fillings.

Further studies have found damage to the ADP-Ribosilation of brain neuron proteins. In response to the controversy and at the request of the federation of experimental scientists and biologists, Drs. Loscheider and Vimy wrote an editorial - the first ever in FASEB that point by point refuted the claims of the amalgam proponents. That should be of concern to anyone wanting to have healthy children because mercury is highly damaging to fetuses. Experiments in sheep showed that mercury from the sheep's fillings transferred immediately to the placenta, to the unborn fetus and to every conceivable portion of the fetus' body. It even increased in the lamb higher afterward from mercury in the mother's milk. There is no such thing as a safe mercury filling. All mercury fillings leak mercury. The combined effect of mercury, cadmium, and lead is just now being investigated, but it's not one in one. It's synergistic, and one in one may make one hundred or even a thousand. Why is that of concern? Over and over again, we’ve heard that children are exposed to lead from our environment. Mercury in lead is many times more toxic than just mercury alone.