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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Orthomolecular Medicine News Service, November 20, 2008
Mercury Dental Amalgams Banned in 3 Countries
FDA, EPA, ADA Still Allow and Encourage Heavy-Metal Fillings
(OMNS, November 20, 2008) Any science teacher encouraging students
to put mercury in their mouths would be fired for gross negligence and
likely prosecuted for endangering the health of a child. Yet dentists
do it every day.
And the US Food and Drug Administration lets them, all the while
fully aware that there are serious safety concerns. At is website, FDA
says, "Dental amalgams contain mercury, which may have neurotoxic
effects on the nervous systems of developing children and fetuses. When
amalgam fillings are placed in teeth or removed from teeth, they
release mercury vapor. Mercury vapor is also released during chewing."
(1) And a considerable amount is released, too. So-called "silver"
fillings are 50% mercury.
In January 2008, Norway and Sweden totally banned mercury fillings.
In April 2008, Denmark banned mercury fillings. Norwegian Minister of
the Environment Erik Solheim said, "Mercury is among the most dangerous
environmental toxins." (2)
You might think that the US Environmental Protection Agency, which
restricts most forms of heavy metal pollution, would be concerned since
they are very concerned about mercury toxicity from incinerators and
coal-fired power plants. EPA lists the symptoms of mercury poisoning:
"tremors; emotional changes (e.g., mood swings, irritability,
nervousness, excessive shyness); insomnia; neuromuscular changes (such
as weakness, muscle atrophy, twitching); headaches; disturbances in
sensations; changes in nerve responses; performance deficits on tests
of cognitive function." These detrimental effects are worst
"particularly in warm or poorly-ventilated indoor spaces." The human
body is warm. A closed mouth is a poorly-ventilated indoor space. In
spite of all this, EPA does nothing to control the level of mercury in
your teeth because "dental amalgams are considered medical devices and
are regulated by U.S. Food and Drug Administration." (3)
And the FDA? FDA claims that their "advisory panel believed that
there was not enough information to answer this question. Some other
countries follow a 'precautionary principle' and avoid the use of
dental amalgam in pregnant women." But FDA is grossly misrepresenting
the problem. Three western countries have entirely banned mercury
amalgams, period. For everyone and every age.
Make no mistake about it: FDA has both the specific responsibility
and the authority to restrict amalgam fillings. If there were mercury
in other medical devices, such as artificial heart valves or hip
prostheses, they would be instantly banned. FDA has the power to stop
the use of mercury fillings today.
Why don't they?
After all, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission tells parents
to "Protect children . . . avoid fish with high levels of mercury."
CPSC also says, "Keep children and mercury apart: Replace mercury
thermometers with digital ones. Don't let kids handle or play with
mercury." (4) We will not let a child play with or eat mercury. Should
we let them have it drilled into their teeth?
Toys are recalled when they are dangerous. Cars have safety recalls.
But not heavy-metal dental fillings, found in the teeth of almost our
entire population.
Check the comprehensive list of recalls at the U.S. Government's Consumer Product Safety Commission's website. (http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prerel.html)
The CPSC describes itself as "charged with protecting the public from
unreasonable risks of serious injury or death from more than 15,000
types of consumer products. You can find information on over 4,000
product recalls and recall alerts using the various searches on this
page," they say. Go ahead, try a search for "mercury" and see what you
get ( http://search.cpsc.gov/query.html?qt=mercury&charset=iso-8859-1&col=recalls ).
Even though CPSC has information on "4,000 product recalls," there
is not a word about dental mercury amalgam fillings. Not a single word.
But there is Release # 95-066 from January 23, 1995. It is not about
fillings. It's about jewelry. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety
Commission (CPSC) announced a recall of necklaces "that bear small
vials or glass balls containing the metal mercury (because) exposure to
their vapor can cause long term health problems, especially for small
children and pregnant women, if the vials or balls break."
Well, one did. "The Washington State Department of Health, Office of
Toxic Substances, brought these potentially hazardous necklaces to the
attention of CPSC after receiving a report that a vial had broken in a
public school in Washington, which required evacuation of the students
until the spill could be cleaned up."
It is interesting that the government will not allow jewelry, worn
outside the body, to contain mercury. Exposure to mercury in a school
classroom results in a building evacuation. Yet the same government
lets the very same toxic metal, in similar quantities, be implanted
into those kids' living teeth. It is ironic that so many of the
children ordered out of the school to avoid exposure to mercury were
taking their own implanted supply of mercury right along with them. And
will continue to do so, for the life of their fillings.
Yes, amalgam fillings are durable. And yes, they have been around a
long time. Mercury amalgam was widely used during the Civil War. (5)
Before that, lead was sometimes used. Today everyone knows that lead is
a toxic metal, totally inappropriate for insertion into the human body.
The same is true with mercury. As technology advances, 19th century
medical devices such as lancets and leeches, and heavy metal amalgam,
must be discarded.
FDA could and should immediately recall the mercury fillings already
implanted in the jaws of the nation. Why haven't they? Perhaps because
as soon as any more mercury fillings are prohibited, tens of millions
of people will want their existing ones removed. And then will likely
follow the biggest class-action lawsuit in history.
One may see the handwriting on the wall. FDA has already deleted
this specific statement from its website: "No valid scientific evidence
has shown that amalgams cause harm to patients with dental
restorations, except in the rare case of allergy." (http://www.fda.gov/cdrh/consumer/amalgams.html, accessed July 31, 2004)
The American Dental Association may have the most to lose. At it
website (6), ADA states, "Dental amalgam (silver filling) is considered
a safe, affordable and durable material that has been used to restore
the teeth of more than 100 million Americans." Indeed, ADA may prefer
that mercury amalgam be "considered safe" precisely BECAUSE it has been
used in 100 million Americans. Imagine the scope of such a safety
recall.
ADA continues: "ADA submitted comments to the FDA reflecting its
conclusion that the current evidence does not support a link between
dental amalgam and systemic diseases or risks to children, pregnant
women or developing fetuses." Then, ADA concludes saying that "ADA
continues to believe that amalgam is a valuable, viable and safe choice
for dental patients."
What is noteworthy is that ADA has now (October 2008) deleted its
former ending to this sentence, which originally went on to state: "and
concurs with the findings of the U.S. Public Health Service that
amalgam has 'continuing value in maintaining oral health.'" (7)
The US Public Health Service statement ADA was agreeing with has now
also been deleted. The original PHS statement was, "The U.S. Public
Health Service believes it is inappropriate at this time to recommend
any restrictions on the use of dental amalgam . . . (C)urrent
scientific evidence does not show that exposure to mercury from amalgam
restorations poses a serious health risk in humans." (CDC/National
Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. Oral Health
Resources. http://www.cdc.gov/OralHealth/publications/factsheets/amalgam.htm, accessed July 31, 2004)
That entire webpage is gone.
The US Government and the ADA are setting the stage to avoid the
biggest product-liability lawsuit in history. And as you read this,
mercury is still being implanted into the living bone tissue of adults,
pregnant women, and children.
References:
(1) Questions and answers on dental amalgam. http://www.fda.gov/cdrh/consumer/amalgams.html
(2) Dental mercury use banned in Norway, Sweden and Denmark. Reuters, January 3, 2008. http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS108558+03-Jan-2008+PRN20080103
(3) Mercury: Human exposure. http://www.epa.gov/earlink1/mercury/exposure.htm
(4) Children's Health Month Calendar, October 2002. http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml03/03004.pdf
(5) Glenner RA, Willey P. Dental filling materials in the
Confederacy. Journal of the History of Dentistry. Vol. 46, No. 2. July,
1998, p 71-75. http://www.fauchard.org/publications/history/Journal_98_46_2p71.htm
(6) ADA Positions & Statements: ADA Statement on Dental Amalgam. Revised: July 2008. http://www.ada.org/prof/resources/positions/statements/amalgam.asp
(7) American Dental Association http://www.ada.org/prof/resources/positions/statements/amalgam.asp, revised January 8, 2003, accessed July 31, 2004.
For more information:
Additional information on the health effects of mercury is available from the EPA's IRIS database at http://www.epa.gov/iris/subst/0370.htm.
Norwegian press release: http://www.regjeringen.no/en/dep/md/press-centre/Press-releases/2007/Bans-mercury-in-products.html?id=495138
Norwegian Mercury Ban Regulation: http://www.regjeringen.no/Upload/MD/Vedlegg/Forskrifter/product_regulation_amendment_071214.pdf
Danish Television link: http://nyhederne.tv2.dk/article.php/id-9868029.html
Danish Radio link: http://www.dr.dk/Nyheder/Indland/2007/12/31/174314.htm?nyheder
Swedish links: http://www.dn.se/DNet/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=147&a=728814 ; http://www.svd.se/nyheter/inrikes/artikel_724369.svd
Cautionary advice about mercury amalgam fillings from regulatory agencies in other countries:
Canada: http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/dhp-mps/md-im/applic-demande/pubs/dent_amalgam-eng.php
France: http://afssaps.sante.fr/ang/pdf/amalgam.pdf
Sweden: http://www.kemi.se/templates/Page.aspx?id=5233
Review and commentary: http://www.yourhealthbase.com/amalgams.html
Also see: http://www.mercurypolicy.org
Video on amalgam fillings:
http://www.foodmatters.tv/mercury-madness.html video by the http://www.iaomt.org/ (also at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ylnQ-T7oiA )
Another video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfVsUuhoFWY&feature=related
The first medical journal to report on the toxicity of mercury
amalgams was the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine. For free access to
the Journal's archive of peer-reviewed articles: http://orthomolecular.org/library/jom
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Editorial Review Board:
Carolyn Dean, M.D., N.D.
Damien Downing, M.D.
Harold D. Foster, Ph.D.
Steve Hickey, Ph.D.
Abram Hoffer, M.D., Ph.D.
James A. Jackson, PhD
Bo H. Jonsson, MD, Ph.D
Thomas Levy, M.D., J.D.
Erik Paterson, M.D.
Gert E. Shuitemaker, Ph.D.
Andrew W. Saul, Ph.D., Editor and contact person. Email: omns@orthomolecular.org
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This article is copyright 2008 International Schizophrenia Foundation http://www.orthomed.org/isf/isf.html
and may not be reprinted or otherwise used without ISF's written
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