Mercury
The new leader over lead as the most widespread neurotoxin in modern society, and the one causing the most concern, mercury (the beautiful, shiny quicksilver) is found in nearly all seafood as well as in dental fillings, cosmetics, pesticides, and fungicides. Both hair and blood analysis offers a screening for body mercury levels.
Key uses of mercury:
- Serious problems can result from acute mercury poisoning. However, most of the concern is with slow, chronic exposure, which can cause generally poor health with headaches, fatigue, loss of appetite and other gastrointestinal upset, loss of sex drive, and poor memory and other neurologic symptoms.
- Treatment of mercury toxicity may require the same kind of chelation therapy used to treat lead toxicity. Mercury is difficult to eliminate from brain tissue. Increased intake of vitamin C, selenium, and the fibers pectin and alginate (from seaweeds) can lower absorption and help eliminate mercury from your body.
How to avoid mercury toxicity: Prevention of mercury toxicity involves avoiding exposure by eating organic foods (which are grown without fungicides), limiting or rotating seafood intake, and using a safer material for dental fillings. Today, some dentists are refusing to use mercury filling materials and will even take your present fillings out. Unstable dental amalgams can release daily levels of mercury into the blood, which are then stored in the tissues. In Sweden and other countries, authorities have already banned mercury fillings.
