Amalgam & Long-Term Effects of Mercury
JAMA Findings
The Journal of the American Medical Association in 2006 published two articles concerning two recent studies on the long-term effects of amalgam and mercury. One study at Harvard University included 534 children and the other, performed in Lisbon, Portugal, included 507 children. Both studies randomized half of the group to amalgam and half to resin fillings. Both used a battery of tests to look at any neurocognitive side-effects that mercury is known to cause. They followed the children for 5 and 7 years, respectively, and showed no ill effects in all the neurobehavioral tests, intelligence, behavior, auditory memory, visual motor integration, attention, and emotional states. They also followed urinary mercury levels and found that, although the amalgam group was slightly higher, the levels were still within the levels of the normal background population.
Environmental Exposure Report
The CDC has an environmental health branch that just published its 2006 report called “National report on human exposure to environmental chemicals,” or the environmental exposure report card. This biennial report has been in existence since 2001 and reports environmental chemicals found in the blood and urine of US citizens. It currently tests 148 chemicals (it tested 27 the first year and 116 the second). There are 9 categories it tests for: dioxins, herbicides, metals (lead, mercury, antimony, cesium, cobalt, thallium, uranium), pesticides (organochlorines -DDT, lindane orgnophosphates, pyrethroids, carbamates), phthalates, phytoestrogens, polyaromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB's), and tobacco smoke. To get a copy of the report, you can look on the CDC web site for its Exposure Report.