The Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis / Why Heavy Metals are a Hazard to Your Health

submitted by Dr. Gary Farr Last Updated July, 15, 2004

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Common Heavy Metals: Sources and Specific Effects

Lead

Heavy metals have no function in the body and can be highly toxic. Introduction Aluminum Arsenic Cadmium Lead Nickel Antimony Barium Uranium

Sources: Air pollution, ammunition (shot and bullets), bathtubs (cast iron, porcelain, steel), batteries, canned foods, ceramics, chemical fertilizers, cosmetics, dolomite, dust, foods grown around industrial areas, gasoline, hair dyes and rinses, leaded glass, newsprint and colored advertisements, paints, pesticides, pewter, pottery, rubber toys, soft coal, soil, solder, tap water, tobacco smoke, and vinyl 'mini-blinds'.

Target Organs: Bones, brain, heart, kidneys, liver, nervous system, and pancreas.

Signs/Symptoms: Abdominal pain, {anemia} anemia, anorexia, anxiety, auto exhaust, bone pain, brain damage, confusion, constipation, convulsions, dizziness, drowsiness, fatigue, headaches, hypertension, inability to concentrate, indigestion, irritability, loss of appetite, loss of muscle coordination, memory difficulties, miscarriage, muscle pain, pallor, tremors, vomiting, and weakness.

Discussion: The toxicity of lead is widely acknowledged. The greatest risk for harm, even with only minute or short-term exposure, is to infants, young children, and pregnant women. A federal study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP) in 1984 estimated that three to four million American children have an unacceptably high level of lead in their blood. Dr. Suzanne Binder, a CDCP official, stated, "Many people believed that when lead paint was banned from housing [in 1978], and lead was cut from gasoline [in the late 1970s], lead- poisoning problems disappeared, but they're wrong. We know that throughout the country children of all races, and ethnicities and income levels are being affected by lead [already in the environment]." In their book, 'Toxic Metal Syndrome', Dr.'s R. Casdorph and M. Walker report that over 4 million tons of lead is mined each year and existing environmental lead levels are at least 500 times greater than pre-historic levels.

In 1989, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reported that more than one million elementary schools, high schools, and colleges are still using lead-lined water storage tanks or lead-containing components in their drinking fountains. The EPA estimates that drinking water accounts for approximately 20% of young children's lead exposure. Other common sources are lead paint residue in older buildings (as in inner cities) and living in proximity to industrial areas or other sources of toxic chemical exposure, such as commercial agricultural land. All children born in the U.S. today have measurable traces of pesticides, a source of heavy metals and chlorine- based chemicals, in their tissues.

Lead is a known neurotoxin (kills brain cells), and excessive blood lead levels in children have been linked to learning disabilities, attention deficit disorder, hyperactivity syndromes, and reduced intelligence and school achievement scores.

Lead is the best-known example of problems associated with chronic low-level toxic element exposure. Studies show that lead toxicity is associated with deficits in central nervous system functioning that can persist into young adulthood. ⁴⁷ Hair lead and cadmium are correlated with both reduced intelligence scores and lowered school achievement scores. ⁴⁸ A recent study of 277 1st-grade children gave some indication of the profound effects of lead on learning and behavior. There was a highly significant (p< .0001) relationship between hair lead and children with a high deficit rating in teacher questionnaires relating to concentration and task completion. ⁴⁹ One study on lead noted a seven-fold increase in failure to graduate from high school. ⁵⁰ The accepted level for lead-engendered neurotoxicity in children has declined steadily over the past decade as more sophisticated studies have demonstrated the harmful effects of much lower levels of lead.

In people with mercury amalgam fillings, measurements of the mercury level in the mouth ranges between 20 and 400 mcg/m3. Keep in mind that this is continuous exposure. The National Institute of Occupation Safety and Health places the safe limit of environmental exposure to mercury at 20 mcg/m3, but that is assuming a weekly exposure of 40 hours (the work week) and the mercury involved is outside the body. The Environmental Protection Agency's allowable limit for continuous mercury exposure is 1 mcg/m3 but, again, that is based on mercury sources outside the body. Neither figure addresses 24-hour-a-day exposure from mercury in one's mouth.

Hal Huggins, D.D.S., a specialist in the effect of mercury amalgams on health, reports that 90% of the 7,000 patients he tested showed immune system reactivity from exposure to low levels of mercury. In 1984, the American Dental Association (ADA), without providing scientific evidence, claimed that only 5% of the U.S. population is reactive to mercury exposure, and that this figure is insignificant. Meanwhile, the ADA mandates that dentists alert all dental personnel to the potential hazards of inhaling mercury vapors. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) goes further, instructing dentists to treat mercury amalgam as a toxic material while handling before insertion, and as toxic waste after removal.

Mark S. Hulet, D.D.S., who conducts research on amalgam fillings, wrote a pamphlet for his patients, in which he cites five categories of pathological reaction to mercury fillings, as identified by dentists, doctors, and toxicologists. The categories are:

- Neurological: emotional manifestations (depression, suicidal impulses, irritability, inability to cope) and motor symptoms (muscle spasms, facial tics, seizures, multiple sclerosis)

- Cardiovascular problems: nonspecific chest pain, accelerated heart beat o Collagen diseases: arthritis, bursitis, scleroderma, systemic lupus erythematosis

- Immune system diseases: compromised immunity

- Allergies: Airborne allergies, food allergies, and "universal" reactors. One of the keys to mercury's effects on health may be its ability to block the functioning of manganese, a key mineral required for physiological reactions in all five categories, notes Dr. Hulet.