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Mercury toxicity

Mercury is one of the toxic "heavy metals". Other toxic metals include lead, arsenic, cadmium, beryllium and others. Mercury toxicity is felt to be a possible cause of Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's-like brain failure, heart failure, heart arrhythmias and irregularities, and certain cancers.

Unfortunately, unlike most poisons, which cause illness very soon after ingestion or exposure, mercury toxicity is a chronic, insidious and slowly progressive disorder. Often by the time symptoms occur, there is already a heavy mercury burden in the body with substantial and possibly irreversible damage.

Mercury exposure and toxicity is far more common than most of us tend to think. Once it enters our bodies, mercury is eliminated extremely slowly, so mercury accumulates in our bodies over years, eventually leading to organ damage and potentially serious disease.

The main sources of mercury exposure come from eating large, predatory marine fish (such as swordfish, tuna, mahi-mahi, shark, tilefish and King mackerel) and from large amalgam dental fillings.

What can we do to prevent mercury toxicity?

• Choose smaller fish instead of the large predatory marine fish. These safe and healthy fish include sardines, herring, smelt, mackerel, trout, salmon, pollock, tilapia, catfish, sole, scrod and others. Chunk light (canned) tuna is also low in mercury.
• Limit intake of large fish to once a week (or less if a significant mercury burden is already present). These fish include tuna, swordfish, shark, mahi-mahi, and some large halibut and sea bass. Some shellfish, particularly Gulf coast shellfish may have moderate levels of mercury, also.
• Ask your dentist about mercury-free fillings if any preventive dental work is needed. Be particularly careful about having existing fillings removed, since this can potentially cause more exposure and release of mercury. Any removal of existing mercury fillings must be done only by an experienced dentist.
• Enhance the body's natural elimination of mercury by increasing your intake of fiber, clean water, dark green leafy vegetables, broccoli, and Vitamin C.

To learn more about mercury toxicity click here.