Article 79301 of sci.med:
Path: bigblue.oit.unc.edu!concert!news.duke.edu!MathWorks.Com!europa.eng.gtefsd.com!howland.reston.ans.net!EU.net!sunic!seunet!seunet!agora2000!Leif_Hedegard
Message-ID: <295174110.741988@agora2000.ETT.se>
Date: 25 Aug 1994 23:05:43 -0000
From: Leif_Hedegard@ETT.se (Leif Hedegard)
Reply-To: Leif_Hedegard@ETT.se
Subject: FAQ Amalgamrelated illness (v1.5)
Distribution: world
Newsgroups: sci.med
Lines: 812


Frequently asked questions about Amalgamrelated illness.
FAQ Amalgamrelated illness. v1.5    940825

You are free to use/copy/print any part(or the hole) of this faq
as long as my name and address are present so I can get responses
and as long as this is done in a non-profit way. Please respond.
Please double-check everything in this FAQ before you do let it
influence your thinking, there IS a possibility that I have got
something wrong - please inform me if so is suspected. 

If you are ill - you should se a physician, this FAQ is not
instead of seeing a physician. However read about symptoms /
possible diseases, as a COMPLEMENT.

Leif Hedegard           
Strindbergsgatan 44
S-115 31 Stockholm 
Sweden

Internet: leif_hedegard@public.se
  (or: 100103.3020@compuserve.com)

I intend to post this faq to sci.med and sci.med.dentistry about
once a month even if nothing has been changed.

Mercury = Hg.
-----------------------------------------
Index:

1 What are the symptoms of mercury-intoxication?
  1.1 General description of symptoms in chronic Hg-intoxication.
  1.2 Symptoms are typically unspecific.
  1.3 No obligatory symptom exists.
  1.4 The Hg-intoxicated normally has a multisymptomatic
appearance.
  1.5 Symptoms of acute inorganic Hg-intoxication.
  1.6 Symptoms of Acrodynia, a form of chronic Hg-intoxication.
  1.7 Symptoms in suspected (non-allergic-) amalgamrelated
illness.

2 Is it possible to get these symptoms because of amalgam in ones
mouth?
  2.1 What has science to say about it?
  2.2 Did people get a symptom reduction after amalgam removal?
  2.3 Is it possible that it is not for real?

3 Do I have a (non-allergic-)amalgam-related illness?
  3.1 Sorry - no diagnostic test exists.
  3.2 No you can't determine Hg-levels in your brain/CNS. 
  3.3 Always exclude other illnesses.
  3.4 Look for connection in time exposition<->symptoms.
  3.5 Provocation. Try taking one filling out. 

4 I believe I have an amalgam-related illness - what to do?
  4.1 Read.
  4.2 Minimize Hg-exposition.
  4.3 Remove fillings slowly.
  4.4 Minerals/vitamins in pharmacological doses.
  4.5 Fibres.
  4.6 C-vitamin infusion.
  4.7 Chelators.
  4.8 Social environment.
  4.9 Wait.
  4.10 Treat symptoms.

5 What are the alternative restorative materials?
  5.1 Composites.
  5.2 Glasseionomercement.
  5.3 Ceramics.
  5.4 Gold.

6 What are the sources to mercury exposure in your body?
  6.1 General sources.
  6.2 Pharmacological, preservatives...
  6.3 Skin lightening creams/soaps.
  6.4 Paint.
  6.5 Mirrors.
  6.6 Mercury spill from thermometers, barometers...
    
7 References.

8 Where can I get more information?
  8.1 Official review.
  8.2 Pro-amalgam papers.
  8.3 Anti-amalgam papers.
  8.4 Patient organisations.
  8.5 IAOMT.
  8.6 Dental associations.
  8.7 E-mail request to leif_hedegard@public.se



********************


1 What are the symptoms of mercury-intoxication?

***1.1 General description of symptoms in chronic
Hg-intoxication.
The heavy, mostly occupational, chronic mercury intoxication has
usually been described as having a triad of symptoms:
1)Tremor 
2)Gingivitis 
3)Erethismus/psychiatric symptoms
Tremor and gingivitis are not always present and usually not in
milder forms. The tremor can cause alteration of handwriting. The
tremor is usually an intentional tremor. Gingivitis is an
inflammation of the gingiva(gum).

The Erethismus (from Greece; excite) is a pathologically
increased excitability. Erethism is the first symptom to develop.
It goes along with; self-consciousness, loss of self-confidence,
timidity, excessive shyness, embarrassment with insufficient
reason, anxiety, indecision, stress intolerance, decreased
simultaneous capacity, increased sensitivity to sounds and light,
outbursts of temper, lack of concentration, memory loss,
depression, insomnia, vivid dreams, fatigue, resentment of
criticism, irritability, all these together can cause a complete
change of personality.

The memory loss could be disabling: "memory loss such that young
mothers would forget to retrieve children from baby-sitters on
the way home from work... Non-verbal memory tested by facial
recognition was no better than chance"(Vroom 1972)

Other symptoms may include: headache, muscular weakness,
drowsiness, slurring of words, slight stammering, difficulty in
pronunciation of words, unsteady gait, numbness and pain in the
extremities, paraesthesias, oedema, metallic taste, increased
salivation, loss of weight, hair loss, nausea, constipation,
diarrhoea, gastrointestinal disturbances, difficulty in
breathing, loosened teeth...

(Buckell et al 1946, Elihu 1982, Mantyla et al 1976, McNerney
1979, Ronnback 1992, WHO 1991, Vroom 1972)
 
Yes there are yet other symptoms described (for example visual
disturbances and loss of motor control), it depends which paper
you read.

***1.2 Symptoms are typically unspecific.
"The symptoms of mercury poisoning from chronic inhalation
develop gradually and thus, may be difficult to notice. With the
exception of tremor, the symptoms may be ignored by the victim or
attributed to other causes" (McNerney 1979)
 "it is impossible to distinguish early erethism from shyness or
anxiety neurosis" (Buckell 1946).
 
***1.3 No obligatory symptom exists.
There is not any specific (or unspecific) symptom that has to be
present in order to diagnose a Hg-intoxication.

***1.4 The Hg-intoxication is multisymptomatic.
The Hg-intoxicated patient is not hypochondriac, it IS a
Hg-feature to cause a multisymptomatic illness. One could even
say that if a person only has one symptom it is not likely to be
mercury-related.

***1.5 Symptoms of acute inorganic Hg-intoxication.
"Acute inhalation exposure to mercury vapour may be followed by
cheast pains, dyspnoea, coughing, haemoptysis, and sometimes
interstitial pneumonitis leading to death... Acute exposure has
given rise to psychotic reactions characterised by delirium,
hallucinations, and suicidal tendency" (WHO 1991). (Haemoptysis =
coughing up blood from the lower respiratory tract)

***1.6 Symptoms of acrodynia, a form of chronic Hg-intoxication.
Acrodynia (acro- Latin for: tip peak, -dynia Greece for pain)
even named Pink Disease. Both names point in the direction of
something specific and almost obligatory in this variant of
Hg-intoxication; pink peeling skin and extreme pain at/in distal
extremities. There is often a profuse sweating, and there can be
low-grade intermittent fever as well as hypertonia and
tachycardia, in addition to the symptoms described above (1.1).
It seems to mainly affect younger children, but can affect adults
as well. There is almost always a high urine mercury level
present. But it has no simple dose-effect-connection, only a
minority of those exposed to mercury from different
mercury-containing medicaments, as teething powder, got affected
- a fact that made it hard to track down its causation. It was
described 1914(or even earlier), but not until 1948 was it
suggested to be caused by chronic mercury poisoning. (Dathan
1965)
(Aronow 1990, WHO 1991)

***1.7 Symptoms in suspected (non-allergic-) amalgamrelated
illness.
As in a Hg-intoxication, the multisymptomatic picture is the main
characteristic in suspected amalgamrelated illness.


2 Is it possible to get these symptoms because of amalgam in ones
mouth?

***2.1 What has science to say about it?
Science can tell us that:
Dental amalgam consists of 50% mercury (by weight). 
Besides mercury the amalgam usually consists of silver, tin,
copper and sometimes zinc... 
Mercury IS highly toxic. Whether or not mercury or any other
(toxic) metal will cause toxic reactions in you depends upon a
combination of the dose you absorb and your individual
sensitivity. Allergic reactions to metals, however, are not
dose-dependent.
Mercury DOES get away from your amalgam fillings and is taken up
by your body.
However, 5-100 times higher levels of Hg exposure / absorption,
than those you get from amalgam fillings, are required to produce
adverse health effects (on a group level) in people
occupationally exposed to mercury.
People with suspected amalgam-related illness do not, on a group
level, have higher mercury levels in their urine/plasma/blood
than healthy people with the same amount of amalgam.
So it seams that if there is an (non-allergic-)amalgam-related
illness it is based upon increased sensitivity towards mercury
rather than higher mercury levels in body fluids compared with
the general population.
But IF there is a minority (for example 1-3%) of the population
that is more (none-allergic-) sensitive to amalgam/mercury than
the rest of the population there could well be a relation between
amalgam and a multisymtomatic illness, the question is however
scientifically unclear.

***2.2 Did people get a symptom reduction after amalgam removal?
There are reports that people have reduced their symptoms, by up
to 80%, after removing their amalgam fillings (Godfrey ME. 1990,
Lichtenberg 1993, Redhe O & Pleva J 1994), but here it is not
possible to definitely distinguish between a ceased poisoning, a
placebo-effect or spontaneous recovery.
There are patient organisations in several countries with members
convinced that they have achieved a symptom reduction after
amalgam removal.
Twelve months after an complete amalgamremoval the mercury levels
in plasma and urine are reduced to 50 % and 25 % respectively of
the levels that were present before the amalgamremoval begun
(Molin 1990).

***2.3 Is it possible that it is not for real?
There are reports suggesting that the amalgam-related illness has
nothing to do with mercury or anything else in the filling
material, but it is an "environmental somatization syndrome
(ESS)" (Nilsson CG 1991) or "such patients need... to adress the
core problems of their lives" (Bergman et al 1992).
These reports points out the theoretical possibility of such a
thing, but do not, in any way, prove that this is a fact. 
It has been reported that somatization, as measured by the
Minnesota Personality Inventory, has been found in 4 of 9
Hg-intoxicated individuals.(Vroom 1972). Thereby somatization can
be looked upon as a feature of Hg-intoxication. This would mean
that the presence of somatization is not enough to exclude a
Hg-intoxication as the cause of a persons symptoms.
On the other hand; there could be individuals among them who are
convinced they have an amalgam-related illness that really do
have other causes to their symptoms, it just hasn't been proven.
Also it is not impossible that a patient has parallel symptoms
from psychological, amalgamrelated and other causes.
There are doctors who do not believe in amalgamrelated illness
but rather would recommend social help / psychological therapy /
psychiatric treatment.


3 Do I have a (non-allergic-)amalgam-related illness?

***3.1 Sorry - no diagnostic test exists.
As stated above(se 2.1): if there is a
(non-allergic-)amalgam-related illness it seems to be based upon
an increased individual (non-allergic-)sensitivity towards
amalgam rather then raised mercury in body-fluids. And we have no
way of testing this potential over-sensitivity (other than
provocation - see below). The diagnosis of amalgam-related
illness will have to be a probability diagnosis based upon your
history, your symptoms, other findings(not common) and of course
exclusion of other diseases. 

***3.2 No you can't determine Hg-levels in your brain/CNS.
There are no way of determine Hg-levels in brains/CNS of living
individuals.
In deceased individuals there is a correlation between the amount
of Hg in CNS and the number of amalgam fillings in the
individual.(Nylander 1987). The clinical relevance of these
findings is not clear.

***3.3 Always exclude other illnesses.
See your physician for a medical check up. He/she might find
something else than Hg-intoxication that could be treated and
could explain part of or all of your symptom flora.
For example hypo-/hyperthyreos, Sjogrens syndrome, Multiple
Sclerosis... can mimic Hg-intoxication. It is another question if
these and other diseases could be caused by or could be
aggravated by mercury/amalgam.
Your dentist could maybe find some treatable tempo-mandibular
disorder... causing headache...

***3.4 Look for connection in time exposition<->symptoms.
Write down a life-curve with its ups and downs(symptoms), then
get your hands on all your dental journals. Then compare; if
there is a connection backwards in time (before you started
thinking about amalgam-related illness) between amalgam work in
your mouth and your symptoms then an amalgam-related illness
could be suspected.

***3.5 Provocation. Try taking one filling out.
Try taking one filling out. Write down your symptoms a month
before and then a month after and compare. This way is less
informative because you can always suspect that you out of
expectation(placebo-effect) will get worse after the filling is
taken out. But if your symptoms do not feel worse the month after
the removal of an amalgam filling you may suspect that you are
not suffering from an amalgam-related illness.


4 I believe I have an amalgam-related illness - what to do?

***4.1 Read.
As long as amalgamrelated illness is not an accepted diagnosis,
very few dentists will minimize your mercury exposure during
amalgam removal more than the standard procedure (water-cooling /
high volume suction) unless you your self demand it. The standard
procedure of today is insufficient if a patient has an
amalgamrelated illness which is demonstrated by the following:
If, using standard procedure only, all amalgams in a mouth are
drilled out in one day the mercury level of the plasma
immediately after the drilling will raise with 300-400% compared
to the levels before drilling. In the same way the mercury levels
in urine and erythrocytes will both raise by 50%. It will then
take 70-90 days before these levels has returned down to those
levels that were present before the amalgamremoval. (Molin 1990).
There are other examples to why you need to reed - but the
background is the same; it is not a commonly accepted diagnosis.
And therefore, if you really are convinced that you DO have an
(non-allergic-) amalgamrelated illness, you will have to take
greater part in your treatment than what is needed in commonly
accepted diseases.

***4.2 Minimize Hg-exposition.
During amalgam removal, the dentist could substantially reduce
your exposure to / absorption of mercury further compared to
standard procedure by;
1) The use of cofferdam in the oral cavity - it is a rubber sheet
and only your tooth/filling will be sticking out from it. When
the dental session with amalgam removal is over the rubber sheet
is easily lifted out together with  amalgam-particles.
2) Using a complement to the suction that encloses the tooth on
all sides but the chewing side. The one I know about is
"Clean-Up" by the Swedish firm Agda-group AB. You can get the
address of a local reseller of "Clean-up" if you send me an
E-mail and tell me where you live.
3) Letting you breathe through your nose only, using some kind of
fresh air breathing (diving equipment?...) or a
Hg-industry-breathing mask (3M HgMask number 9908) over your
nose, during the amalgam removal session.
4) Drilling as little as possible in the filling, trying to get
large parts of the fillings out, that is pulverising as little as
possible of the filling.
5) Having a well ventilated treatment room.

As long as you have amalgam fillings in your mouth the following
stimulation will raise the mercury-efflux over the base-line
value; tooth brushing, hot drinks, bruxism(grinding of ones
teeth), acid food as citrus-fruits, chewing chewing gum, and
maybe even smoking could raise the temperature in the oral cavity
thereby liberating more mercury.
Placing gold in a mouth with amalgam fillings will increase the
liberation of mercury from amalgam, especially if the amalgam and
gold is adjacent to each other / in contact with each other.
Lab tests have shown that amalgam in front of some
computer-monitors will free more mercury than elsewhere. It
seems, in this case, a varying magnetic field induces an electric
current in the amalgam which will liberate an extra amount of
mercury.

***4.3 Remove fillings slowly.
With the report from Molin (1990) in mind it is not too difficult
to arrive at the conclusion that the Hg-exposition could easily
become to high for a person with an amalgamrelated illness, if
all fillings are removed during one day. Therefore The Swedish
Association of Dental Mercury Patients (15 years old, 15 000
members) recommends you to remove only 1 (or maybe 2) fillings
each time, then wait 6-8 weeks before you remove the next
filling.

***4.4 Minerals/vitamins in pharmacological doses.
It has been reported that people with suspected amalgamrelated
illness can benefit from vitamins, minerals... in pharmacological
("mega") doses.
This is what the Swedish Association of Dental Mercury Patients
recommends you to take per day, starting at least two months
before you remove your first amalgam filling:
Vitamin B1 (Thiamine)       50-100 milligrams/day.
Niacin/nicotinamid (V B3)   25-500 milligrams/day
Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine)     25-50 milligrams/day
Vitamin C (ascorbic acid)        1 gram/day
Vitamin E                  100-200 milligrams/day
Magnesium                   00-300 milligrams/day
Selen                       50-200 micrograms/day
Zinc                        20-40  milligrams/day
Then there are many other nutrients (aminoacids as acetylcystein,
Coenzyme Q-10, vitamin B12, algae...) recommended from various
people/organisations, you will have to do the "trial and error"
here besides reading about it. 

This use of minerals / vitamins... is based upon animal and in
vitro studies in addition to experience among patients and
physicians in treating amalgamrelated illness.

Here well controlled studies would be welcome. But, bearing in
mind that there are people reporting who do not tolerate
selenium, magnesium... and that maybe only some people benefit
from treatment like this, this kind of study maybe ought to be
made with each patient as its own control.

***4.5 Fibres.
Could lower the gastro-intestinal uptake of mercury from your
fillings or reuptake of mercury excreted into the gut with bile
or by the sloughing of of the gut's mucous cells. It is a rather
big amount mercury that passes through the gut every day, about
60 ug Hg/day in amalgambearers compared to maybe 1 ug Hg/day in
persons with no amalgam (Skare 1992). The Hg content of food is
about 2-3 ug Hg/day and mainly dependent on the amount of fish
consumption (WHO 1991) 

***4.6 C-Vitamin infusion.
There are reports that people, with suspected amalgam-related
illness, do benefit from intravenous administration of about 0.75
g C-vitamin/kg body weight given under a few hours, especially
during(sic! -in the dental chair) amalgam removal.
Further information regarding this would be welcome!

***4.7 Chelators.
A mercury "antidote". Captures mercury and forces the captured
mercury to be excreted, thereby lowering the body burden of
mercury. Can cause unwanted side-effects, in other words - avoid
it unless you really need it.
Mainly eliminates easily accessible mercury from your body.
Functions well, and is "the-state-of-art", in acute or subacute
mercury intoxication's.
In the amalgamrelated illnesses it's positive effects remain to
be proven. In an non-occupational exposed person it only raises
the urine-mercury excretion by factor 10 for a few hours - and
that is really very little compared to the body burden. 
In an acute mercury intoxication, on the other hand, a much
greater part of the body's mercury burden is easily accessible
and therefore a chelator-cure can lower the body-burden a great
deal.

***4.8 Social environment.
If looking at the amalgamrelated illness as an organically
induced neurasthenic syndrome it seems to be of benefit to have
just right amount of stimulation (but not stress) and just right
amount of demands (that is a light noradrenalin activation) in a
positive atmosphere (that is a slight 5-HT activation). The above
is taken from an article written in Swedish with Ronnback as an
author among others. Part of this is described in Ronnback
(1992).

***4.9 Wait.
Sorry to say, but it takes time to recover from an
Hg-intoxication. Literature about chronic Hg-intoxication as well
as experience among individuals with suspected amalgam-related
illnesses points out that it can take months up to a couple of
years before you get a good symptom reduction after ceased
exposure. Some symptoms can remain even after several years,
especially in heavy chronically Hg-exposed individuals.

***4.10 Treat symptoms.
If a person has an increased sensitivity to mercury/amalgam the
symptoms will increase in connection with an amalgamremoval.
Because there will be an increase in symptoms and it is
relatively short lasted it would not be out of order to
facilitate the amalgamremoval phase by treatment of the symptoms
during this time.


5 What are the alternative restorative materials?

***5.1 Composites.
Cheap. Can shrink which could lead to microleakeage and
secondary-caries.

***5.2 Glassionomercement.
Cheap. Adheres to the teeth and frees fluoride all the time, both
reducing risk of secondary-caries. Is not resistant to mechanical
wear, that's why it is mainly used to small fillings and not for
big fillings on the chewing side of teeth. Some people suspecting
they have an amalgamrelated illness do not tolerate
glassionomercement - maybe because it is made partly of aluminium
which is liberated along with the fluoride?

***5.3 Ceramics.
Expensive, costs about the same as Gold. Both porcelain and glass
are ceramics. They are resistant to mechanical wear, but a bit
fragile and can crack in a FEW cases. Maybe the cavity where the
amalgam filling was placed must be altered - thereby loosing
tooth substance. 

***5.4 Gold.
Expensive. Technically a very good material.
Gold is not pure gold. (It can contain some of these metals in
it; Au, Pt, Pd, In, Ir, Fe, Cu, Ag, Sn, Zn.) 
Gold is liberated from the fillings and taken up by the body.
However gold is not as toxic as mercury. People suspecting that
they have an amalgamrelated illness do often not tolerate gold,
especially not when there still are amalgam fillings left in the
mouth (battery-effect ->increased corrosion).


6 What are the sources to mercury exposure in your body?

***6.1 General sources.
According to WHO (WHO. 1991) these are the general sources to
mercury in the blood (ug/day): Air: 0.040, Fish 2.34, Non-fish
food 0.25, Drinking-water 0.0035, Dental amalgams 3-17. Yes,
amalgam alone is a bigger source than all the others sources
together. Breast milk from fish-eating mothers can be quiet high
in mercury.

***6.2 Pharmacological, preservatives...
There is mercury in some medicines, vaccina, contact lens
solutions... Look for the words; thiomersal, merthiolate or words
with; -mer- or hydrarg in it. Usually they are preservatives, the
amounts are not high enough to affect people others than those
who use very much medicine and/or are extra sensitive to mercury.
Mercury has, even recently, been used as a local
antiseptic(Merbromine) for humans, or as mercuric chloride
solution under operations to kill cancer cells implanted on
healthy tissue- as far as I know this is no longer the case.

***6.3 Skin lightening creams/soaps.
There are soaps / creams sold to lighten ones skin. These soaps /
creams can sometimes contain 1-10 % mercury as one ingredient.
These amounts of mercury can cause intoxication. Mercury
containing soaps / creams are banned in most countries in the
western world.(WHO 1991).
 
***6.4 Paint.
Mercury is used as preservative in some Latex-paints. When
painting with such a paint the air-mercury-levels will raise and
be raised for weeks-months. (Aranow 1990). However, usually, not
to such high levels that it  affects normal people. But if you
have a raised sensitivity towards mercury you should know about
it, because there is mercury-free latex-paint available. 

***6.5 Mirrors.
Old mirrors could be coated with a mercury-containing amalgam on
the back side. If it is so they are normally not painted on the
back side. Silver-coated mirrors on the other hand are normally
painted on the back side. A mercury-mirror will liberate mercury
as mercury vapour, but again far from the amount enough to affect
normal people.

***6.6 Mercury spill from thermometers, barometers...
Yes, mercury spill will result in vaporisation of the mercury as
long as the mercury is not properly cleaned up / eliminated. To
take away spilled mercury; try to pick it up with some instrument
and poor it into a bottle filled with water. Then seal the bottle
and get rid of it (in an environmentally correct way). Then if
there is anything left:
Get powder of sulphur or finely divided zinc and spread it all
over the place where there is / suspected to be mercury still.
Brush it up- do not use vacuum cleaner (will blow mercury up in
the air and the vacuum cleaner will be contaminated). If you
finally use the vacuum cleaner immediately dispose the
vacuum-cleaner bag after the cleaning is finished. It is really
not dangerous to get mercury on your hands if; A) it is a once in
your life experience and nothing you do every day, and  B) you
are not oversensitive towards mercury.



7 References

Aronow R, Cubbage C, Weiner R, Johnson B, Hesse J & Bedford J. 
Mercury Exposure from Interior Latex Paint - Michigan. MMWR
39(8);125-126 (1990)

Bergman Bo , Bostrom Harry, Larsson K Sune, Loe Harald. Potential
Biological Consequences of Mercury Released from Dental Amalgam.
A State of the Art Document. A State of the Art Conference in
Stockholm 9-10 April 1992. 

Buckell Monamy, Hunter Donald, Milton Reginald & Perry Kenneth M
A. Chronic Mercury Poisoning. Br J Ind Med 3; 55-63 (1946)
Reprinted in Br J Ind Med 50;97-106 (1993)

Dathan JG, Harvey CC. Pink Disease - Ten Years After (The
Epilogue) Br Med J p 1181-1182 (1965)

Elihu D Richter, Nechama Peled & Menachem Luria. Mercury exposure
and effects at a thermometer factory. Scand J Work Environ Health
8(suppl 1);161-166 (1982)

Godfrey ME. Chronic illness in association with dental amalgam:
Report of two cases. J Adv Med 
3;247-255 (1990)

Hanson M & Pleva J. The dental amalgam issue. A review.
Experientia 47;9-22  (1991)

Lichtenberg H J. Elimination of symptoms by removal of dental
amalgam from mercury poisoned patients, as compared with a
control group of average patients. J Orthomol Med 8;145-148
(1993)

Mantyla Donald G & Wright Orson D. Mercury toxicity in the dental
office: a neglected problem. JADA 92;1189-1194 (1976)

McNerney Richard T & McNerney John J. A Review. Mercury
Contamination In the Dental Office. NYS Dental Journey November
1979 pp 457-458'

Molin M, Bergman B, Marklund SL, Schutz A, Skerfving S. Mercury
selenium and glutathione peroxidase before and after amalgam
removal in man. Acta Odontol Scand 48;189-202 (1990) 

Nilsson CG, G:othe CJ & Molin C. Environmental somatization
syndrome. Hur hanteras det yttre milj:osyndromet? (Environmental
somatization syndrome. How to deal with the external milieu
syndrome?) Nord Med   109(4):121-5 (1994) (In Swedish with
English abstract)

Nylander M, Friberg L & Lind B. Mercury concentrations in the
human brain and kidneys in relation to exposure from dental
amalgam fillings. Swed Dent J 11; 179-187 (1987)

Redhe O & Pleva J. Recovery from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
and from allergy after removal of dental amalgam fillings. Int J
Risk & Safety in Med 4;229-236 (1994)

Ronnback Lars, Hansson Elisabeth. Chronic encephalopaties induced
by mercury or lead: aspects of underlying cellular and molecular
mechanisms. Br J Ind Med 49;233-240 (1992)

Skare Ingvar, Engqvist Anita. Amalgamfyllningar en beaktansvard
kalla till tungmetallexponering. (Amalgam restorations - an
important source to human exposure of  mercury and silver).
Lakartidningen 89(15): 1299-1301 (1992) (Article written in
Swedish with English abstract

WHO Environmental Health Criteria 118. Inorganic Mercury.
WHO Geneva 1991 ISBN 92 4 157118 7

Vroom F Q & Greer M. Mercury vapor intoxication. Brain 95;305-318
(1972)


8 Where can I get more information?

***8.1 Official review.
The WHO rapport from -91. It is 5 years since it was written, but
it still is a good source of knowledge in this field.

***8.2 Pro-amalgam information.
(Bergman Bo 1992)

***8.3 Anti-amalgam information.
(Hanson M & Pleva J. 1991)

The "Bio-Probe Newsletter", a bi-monthly published newsletter
with abstract of and comment on the latest science in the
field... It costs USD 65/year. Editorial office is at 5508
Edgewater Dr. Orlando, FL 32810.

If you want something more easy to read there is the
international magazine "Heavy Metal Bulletin" (International
forum focusing on immuno-toxic effects of dental-fillings and
related disorders.) You can get it from Monica Kauppi, Lilla
Aspuddsv. 10, S-12649 STOCKHOLM SWEDEN, Tel/Fax +46 8 184086. Or
from IAOMT Great Britain (address below). It costs USD 50/year or
low income USD 20/year. 3-4 issues/year, and it is in English or
German.

***8.4 Patient organisations for people with suspected
amalgam-related illness:

*Denmark;
Danish Association
for Non-Toxic Dentistry.
(Foreningen Mod Skadeligt
Dentalmateriale)
Jette Rosenbaum
Gudenavej 29, 2.th
DK-2720 VANLOSE
DENMARK
Tel/Fax +45 31 8626628

*Finland
Suomen Hammaspotilasyhditys ry
(Organization for Oral Patients in Finland)
Anja Olantera
PB 213
SF-0021 HELSINKI
FINLAND
Tel/Fax +358 0 607830

*Germany
BBFU Bundesverband der Patient Organisation Beratungsstellen fur
Umveltgifte, insbesondere Amalgam, Schwer- metalle und
Holzschutzmittel.
Marco Gehrke
Bandstrasse 114
D-45359 ESSEN GERMANY
Tel +49 201 602715
Fax +49 201 693742

*Great Britain
A patient organisation is under development. Contact IAOMT Great
Britain. (Address below) 

*Holland
Amalgaam Vrij Nederland
Derde Oosterparkstraat 63 A
1091 JV Amsterdam
HOLLAND
Tel +31 20 663 8230

*Italy
I.D.P.O. Italian Dental
(Associazione Italiana Pazienti Odontoiatrici)
c/o Monica Kauppi
Lilla Aspuddsvagen 10
S-12649 STOCKHOLM
SWEDEN
Tel/Fax +46 8 184086

*Luxembourg
AKUT Aktionsgruppe fur Umwelttoxikologie
Marielle Hilgert. 
Georges Goedert.
72, Bd de la Petrusse
L-2320 LUXENBURG
Tel + 325 492970

*Norway
Tannskadeforbundet
(Norwegian Dental Patient Organization)
Halden Terasse 9 C
N-1335 Snaroya NORWAY
Tel +47 67 53 6667

*Sweden
Tandvardsskadeforbundet
(Swedish Association of Dental Mercury Patients)
Katarina Bangata 56
S-11639 STOCKHOLM
SWEDEN
Tel +46 8 641 90 81
Fax +46 8 640 15 44

*Switzerland
Verein Amalgam-Geschadigter
Erica Bruhlmann-Jecklin
Zeughausstrasse 51
Postfach 8021 ZURICH
SWITZERLAND
Tel +41 1 291 5250
Fax +41 1 291 5266

*USA
DAMS
(Dental Amalgam Mercury Syndrome.)
6025 Osuna Blwd
Suite B
Albuquerque
NM 87109 NEW MEXICO
USA
Tel +1 505 888 0111
Fax +1 505 888 4554


***8.5 IAOMT.
IAOMT (International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology) .
From IAOMT Great Britain you can get a information package, for
dentists and the general public, regarding mercury-related
illness at the cost of *5. 

IAOMT Europe
Schadowstrasse 28
D-40212 Dusseldorf
GERMANY
Tel +49 211 133533
Fax +49 211 133555

IAOMT Great Britain
72 Harley Street
London W1N 1AE
Great Britain.
Tel +44 (171) 580 3168
Fax +44 (171) 436 0959
 
IAOMT international
David Kennedy
2425 Third Aveny
San Diego
Californien 92102
USA
Tel +1  619 231 1624
Fax +1  619 222 8177

***8.6 Dental associations.
Please give me information here. 

***8.7 E-mail request to leif_hedegard@public.se
Type "Abstract-potpourri requested" and I will send you abstracts
and some comments from/about 17 medical articles reporting about
different things in the field...

==========End of FAQ=========================






