Mercury’s Effect
On Biochemistry
MERCURY: Influences on Body Chemistry
Mercury Sources (partial list):
Natural Sources: volcanoes, some stone
Deliberate Sources: mining of silver, lead, and coal; curing of plastics; fireworks (pharoah’s serpents and bengal green lights); anatomical specimen preservatives; fungicides and pesticides (golf courses); laboratory tests in slide preparations and reagants; dental amalgams; thimerosol; certain drugs; thermometers; fluorescent lights; certain button-sized batteries; coal burning.
Reproductive effects: infertility, miscarriage and prematurity. Mercury lowers progesterone levels, which is needed to allow the uterus to support pregnancy. Progesterone insufficiency can be associated with low libido (sex drive) and premenstrual syndrome (PMS). Low progesterone levels can lead to infertility. In fact, PMS and infertility are common among many young female dental workers due at least in part to their mercury exposure.
Male dental workers also have a relatively high incidence of infertility. Mercury also leads to lower testosterone (male hormone) levels. Both progesterone and testosterone production are zinc dependent. Mercury interferes with zinc metabolism and thereby indirectly affects hormone production.
Mineral Displacement: mercury (usually with a +2 charge) can grab the biological spaces that should be filled by another essential mineral. As a result, there may be plenty of the mineral found in the blood, urine, hair, etc. but due to the displacement at the active site, mercury interferes with the activity of the essential mineral. Symptoms that can be caused by a deficiency of minerals displaced by mercury include:
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Magnesium: irregular heartbeat, chocolate cravings, cramps, PMS, receding gums, elevated blood pressure, etc.
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Iron: anemia, fatigue, etc.
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Copper: anemia, thyroid dysfunction, impaired digestion, liver enzymes are all copper-dependent, easy bruising, etc.
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Zinc: anorexia nervosa, loss of taste and smell, loss of appetite, low libido, PMS, impaired growth, acne and other skin disorders, etc.
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Iodine: thyroid dysfunction, thickened bile, etc.
Digestive effects: mercury acts as an antibacterial and has been used in some medicines (vaccines, eye drops, etc. as a preservative). Mercury could be an important cause of bowel yeast or parasite overgrowth due to killing off beneficial bacteria which normally repel parasites and aid in digestion. Yeast overgrowth with its attendant symptoms of fatigue, sweets cravings and vaginal infections is often traced to the antibiotic effect of dental mercury. Suspect this as a root cause when yeast is a continuing problem in spite of repeated treatment. The symptom (yeast overgrowth) will not likely go away until the root cause (mercury) is dealt with. The effect of dental mercury on normal gut flora is well documented.
Thyroid problems: such as low body temperature often improve when mercury-containing amalgams are removed. Normal body temperature is about 98.6 F orally. Those with a temperature range of 96.2 to 97.6 degrees are often considered to have hypothyroid (low thyroid function). It has been observed that their temperature can rise to 98.2 in as little as one day after amalgam removal and to 98.6 soon afterward. It is plausible that a low body temperature, which can be a sign of low thyroid function, is another symptom caused by mercury. Of course it would be far better to correct the cause of the apparent thyroid malfunction by removing the fillings or other cause responsible for the low body temperature, rather than prescribing thyroid hormone.
Brain and Learning: Birth defects involving the brain and learning ability can be caused by mercury, as the metal can passes through both the placental barrier into the fetus and the blood-brain barrier. There is a sheep study documenting that the fetus actually accumulates and concentrates mercury from the mother!
Accumulation in the brain leads to mental and nervous system effects such as brain fog, depression, vision difficulties, and others as listed above. Mental effects are among the most common due to mercury’s strong affinity for the brain. Mercury inhibits the effects of certain neurotransmitters:
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Dopamine: controls pain, well-being
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Serotonin: relaxation, sleep, well-being
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Adrenaline: energy and stamina
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Noradrenaline, melatonin: sleep cycles
Inhibition of these neurotransmitters by mercury can account in part for the feelings of depression and loss of motivation.
Other mental/neurological symptoms include:
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General neurological symptoms
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Mental illness
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Demyelinization, which can lead to such diseases as multiple sclerosis (MS)
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Developmental problems
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Cerebral palsy
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ALS (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s disease)
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Alzheimer’s disease
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Psychological problems, including loss of function and memory, anger and emotionality, and timidity
There is an excellent on-line movie clip that you can see right on your computer. You may require a standard plug-in video program called QuickTime to run it but it is well worth viewing. Go to www.commons.ucalgary.ca/mercury
Mercury effect on energy: Mercury binds to nitrogen and sulfur in proteins, oxygen from the lungs, sulfur from the liver’s detoxification systems, and selenium from the colon.
Lower levels of body tissue oxygen due to mercury’s binding may lead to:
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Fatigue caused by low blood sugar secondary to low blood oxygen
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Parasite infestation by setting up an anaerobic (less oxygen) environment, and by lowering the level of the good bacteria which fight off parasites
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An anaerobic environment also favors the development of yeast infections and cancer, since yeast is a fermenting spore and cancer is a fermenting cell rather than a normal respiratory (oxygen using) cell.
Mercury binds with hemoglobin, which is located inside the red blood cell and carries oxygen for transport to tissues. Mercury bound to hemoglobin results in less oxygen carrying capacity of the red blood cell and therefore less oxygen will reach the tissues. The body senses the need for more oxygen and may attempt to compensate for this by increasing the production of hemoglobin. A normal or increased hemoglobin level combined with symptoms of lack of oxygen (fatigue, weakness, appearing pale, rapid heart rate, shortness of breath, etc) could indicate mercury toxicity. This can confuse the doctor since the patient seems like they are anemic but in fact the blood counts seem fine.
Copper is also required to prevent anemia, and mercury can compete for copper’s binding sites. In this case, a lowered hematocrit (red blood cell count) can be indicative of lowered blood copper levels.
The terms hematocrit and hemoglobin, found routinely on blood test printouts, can be confusing. If blood is compared to a train carrying oxygen to where it is needed, hematocrit is a measure of the number of boxcars on the train (red blood cells), while hemoglobin is a measure of the carrying capacity of each boxcar, or red blood cell. When there is a low hematocrit (less boxcars), it is called anemia.
The activity of other minerals on metabolism and energy production can be reduced by mercury’s tendency to fight for site. A deficiency of the function of minerals can lead to fatigue and other symptoms:
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Cobalt, calcium, magnesium, potassium, and sodium are all required for energy.
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Zinc is needed for the manufacture of adrenaline.
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Cobalt, a component of vitamin B12 prevents pernicious anemia, which can cause fatigue.
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Mercury blocks magnesium and manganese transport required for memory, resulting in lowered ability to concentrate.