Dental amalgam fillings are one of largest sources of atmospheric emission

[philb]

Dental Amalgam fillings are one of the largest sources of atmospheric emissions

Dental Amalgam has been documented to be the largest source of mercury exposure in most people with dental amalgam fillings(9).
But Dental Amalgam is also documented to be a major source of emissions to the atmosphere in all countries, in addition to being the largest source of mercury into sewers and a major source into water bodies(1.2).

In the U.S.dental amalgam is the largest source of mercury in sewers or septic tanks, and similar in many countries(1,2). Using data from EPA on the number of dentists and data from test data from studies on average level of mercury release from dental offices, estimates of the amount released from dental offices into sewers range from 12 to 25 tons per year(3-7,1). An additional 3 to 6 tons per year is excreted into sewers, mainly by those with amalgam fillings who are documented from medical lab tests to excrete from 5 to 10 times as much mercury as those without(1). The majority of mercury in sewers ends up in sewer sludge. Since mercury is a vapor at room temperature and vaporization from liquid or solid state mercury is continuous, high levels are emitted to the atmosphere by sewer plants, sludge drying beds, and from both land spread and landfilled sewer sludge(which according to studies by Oak Ridge National Lab is methylated by soil bacteria and outgased both as mercury vapor and methyl mercury). Virtually all mercury in sewers is released into the environment(water bodies, crops, or atmosphere). (1)

Large amounts dental amalgam waste from fillings removed by dental offices go into landfills or biomedical red bags to be incinerated(2). When incinerated most of the mercury is emitted to the atmosphere, while that that goes to landfills provides significant emissions both to ground water and the atmosphere. Soil bacteria convert elemental mercury to methyl mercury which along with elemental mercury vapor is outgased primarily when the sun shines. The amounts are likely comparable to those released to sewers, perhaps higher.

Dental amalgam is also a major source of atmospheric emissions in most countries due to emissions at crematoriums from those with amalgam fillings. Crematoria now contribute 16% of all the mercury released by industry and power plants in Britain(10). The amount of mercury from crematoria in UK is projected to be more than that from coal/power/industry plants within a few years(10b). Mercury emissions from crematoriums in the U.S. amount to over 3 tons per year and are increasing since the percentage of people being cremated is increasing.

Since the emission levels from U.S. coal plant emissions is estimated by EPA as 50 tons per year, the level of emissions from dental amalgam is seen to be comparable to emissions from coal plants.

1. DAMS, Dental Amalgam is a major source of mercury in the environment and has significant effects on everyone. http://www.home.earthlink.net/~berniew1/damspr2f.html
2.MPP, The Uncontrolled Release of Dental Mercury in the Environment, Mercury Policy Project and Healthcare Without Harm, June 2002, http://www.mercurypolicy.org/new/documents/DentistTheMenace.pdf
& “Taking a Bite Out of Mercury Pollution: The 2005 Report Card on Dental Mercury Use and Release Reduction”, http://www.mercurypolicy.org/new/documents/NEZMC_Report_Card_on_Dental_MercuryFINAL.pdf.
3. Calais, M.D.; Ovsey, V.G.; Mihailova, C.;Naleway, C.: Batch, H.; Fan, P.L.; Chou, H-N; Stone, M.; Mayer, D.; Ralls, S.; Roddy, W. “Physico-chemical Properties of Dental Wastewater,” Water Environment Federation, 67th Anuual Conference & Exposition, Chicago, Illinois, 1994.
4. Drummond, J.L., et al, 1995, “Dental Waste Water: Quantification ofConstituent Fractions, Proceedings from Transaction Adademy Dental Materials,” San Diego , California 1995, 112.
5. Arenholt-Bindslev, D.; Larsen, A.H. “Mercury Levels and Discharge in Waste Water from Dental Clinics,” Water Air Soil Pollution, 86(1-4):93-9, 1996.
6. Water Environment Federation, “Controlling Dental Facility Discharges in Wastewater, Alexandria, VA,” 1999; “Management of Hazardous Dental Wastes in King County, 1991 – 2000,” King County Department of Natural Resources, Hazardous Waste Management Program, Water and Land Resources Division, 2000.
7. Trip, L., et al, 2001, “Canada-wide Standards: A Pollution Prevention Program for Dental Amalgam Waste”, Journal of the Canadian Dental Association, May 2001.
8. U.S. EPA, Controlling Power Plant Emissions, http://www.epa.gov/mercury/control_emissions/technology.htm
9. DAMS, Sources and levels of mercury exposure to people: cites to peer-reviewed studies, medical lab tests, government studies, http://www.home.earthlink.net/~berniew1/damspr1.html
10. Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, UK , Oct 2005
(b) Mercury emissions from crematoria, Defra/WAG/SE , July 2004,
UK Environment Agency’s Local Authority Unit, http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/crematoria/index.htm
www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/current.htm

[channa18]

1. Great post.

i learned something.

[NVMojo]

2. scary.

[Silverhair]

3. Then it is obviously a non-problem.

If dental amalgam is such an extreme source of mercury, then it must be an extremely major source of mercury for those will fillings. But that is most of the adult population. If the danger were that great, then we should all be dropping dead from amalgam fillings. But we aren't dropping dead at that rate, therefore there is no danger. IT IS ALL HYPE.

[RC]

5. Thank you. You are correct.

Crap like posted in the thread starter doesn't even sound reasonable on its face. No wonder the neo-cons had such an easy time taking over this country.

Where is your critical thinking folks.

[Massacure]

6. I wouldn't say no danger, but there is certainly plenty of hype.

Mercury isn't terribly bad by itself as we can rapidly get rid of it from our body; it is when mercury gets into bogs and becomes methyl mercury that it becomes extremely dangerous.

It's been a year since I've taken environmental science, I hope I remember that right.

[philb]

14. You got it wrong. Old myths. Check out the science.

All forms of mercury are extremely toxic. Mercury at room temperature is a liquid that is vaporizing to a gas continuously.
And the mercury vapor is extremely dangerous to breath, as mercury vapor is the form that most readily crosses the blood brain
barrier and cell membranes, and is documented to be the form of mercury that causes adverse effects at the lowest level of exposure.
But methyl mercury(such as found in fish) is also extremely neurotoxic and also crosses the blood brain barrier.
Mercury vapor has the lowest Gov't health standard levels. See URL previously posted.
Years ago people played with liquid mercury, not knowing that it was vaporizing. But now when a thermometer breaks in a school they evacuate the whole area until its cleaned up- since they know have dangerous mercury is now.

But also note that mercury vapor from amalgam in oral air or saliva is methylated by bacteria in the mouth to methyl mercury,
so you get both mercury vapor and methyl mercury exposure from dental amalgam. And yeasts and methyl donars in the intestines also
convert other mercury forms to methyl mercury.

What you may remember is that inorganic mercury taken orally does not cause as much adverse effects as methyl mercury or mercury vapor; but its not that it isn't as toxic- rather that inorganic mercury doesn't cross the blood brain barrier and cell membranes as readily as the other forms- so oral exposure doesn't cause as much acute neurological effects.
But the other forms that cross the cell membranes readily form inorganic compounds in the brain and other organs and thus become stuck there, bioaccumulating over time. Its the inorganic mercury forms that cause most of the harm in the body, though it didn't start out as inorganic. The half life of mercury in the brain can be 20 years, and accumulates over time if there is chronic exposure, unless something is done to change that.

Organizations like DAMS, ACAM(med. assoc.), IAOMT(med/dental assoc.)Clinics, etc. can provide information on options to deal with this.

[philb]

7. Dental amalgam is documented to commonly cause over 40 chronic conditions

DAMS, Inc. is a patient supports organization for people with chronic health conditions related to toxic effects of dental work.
DAMS has coordinators in most states and several countries that work with thousands of chronically ill patients, mostly with mercury toxicity effects. DAMS has compiled research from over 4000 peer-reviewed medical studies or Gov't studies that document the mechanism by which mercury from dental amalgam causes over 40 chronic health conditions. Mercury is extremely neurotoxic(commonly causes degenerative neurological conditions including Parkinson's, Alzheimers,etc.), immunotoxic(commonly causes immune and autoimmune conditions including MS, Lupus, Rheumatoid arthritis, scleroderma, OLP,eczema), endocrine disrupting(commonly causes hormonal effects to all hormone functions/organs including hypothyroid, thyroiditis, etc.), cytotoxic(kills cells), blocks cellular enzymatic and metabolic processes(changes cell wall permeability causing calcium efflux and essential mineral imbalances and block sulfation processes), and is a reproductive toxin(commonly causing birth defects and infertility).
http://www.home.earthlink.net/~berniew1/indexa.html

DAMS has also documented over 60,000 cases of recovery from these chronic conditions after amalgam replacement.
http://www.home.earthlink.net/~berniew1/hgremove.html
DAMS coordinators are volunteers who provide their information service due to the fact that all have recovered from serious chronic health conditions, and now desire to alert others to the problem and help them recover. DAMS provides documentation on causes of chronic health problems from the medical literature, information on doctors, dentists, and clinics with special training and demostrated experience at effectively dealing with mercury related problems. Also infomation on tests for mercury exposure and mercury toxicity. http://www.home.earthlink.net/~berniew1/indexd.html

There are tests done by medical labs(and information on medical lab sites) for assessing toxic exposures and toxic effects such as
immune reactivity/autoimmune effects(blood immune reactivity test from labs like www.melisa.org)
toxic metabolic effects- extent and likely cause(fractionated porphyrin urine test-many labs)
liver toxicity effects(comprehensive liver detox test- www.gsdl.com)
toxic metal exposure and essential mineral imbalances(hair element test)
mercury body burden(urine challenge test with chelator such as DMSA or DMPS)(but be careful that proper protocol, protection, and nutritional support is used as more mercury can be released than weakened immune or neurological systems can deal with)

It should be noted that mercury exposure level is not the only factor in mercury effects. Susceptability plays a major role. Factors that affect mercury effects include genetic related ability to excrete mercury, immune reactivity, other synergistic toxic exposures, etc. http://www.home.earthlink.net/~berniew1/suscept.html

Also note that a study by the National Academy of Sciences found that 50% of all pregnancies during the 1990s resulted in birth defects or developmental conditions, such as autism, ADHD, learning disabilities, eczema, asthma, chronic allergies, or other developmental conditions. It has been documented in the medical literature that the majority of these were due to prenatal toxic exposures to the parents or neonatal exposures such as vaccines(which contain high levels of mercury, aluminum, formaldehyde).
Conditions such as autism increased over 1000% during the last decade due to the increase number of vaccinations required and increased toxic eposures(mostly to mercury/toxic metals). The 3 toxics with the largest number of people adversely affected according to EPA/DOE(ATSDR) are mercury, arsenic, and lead, with other toxic metals close behind(nickel,cadmium,aluminum,etc.)
http://www.flcv.com/tmlbn.html
http://www.flcv.com/kidshg.html

[philb]

8. Mercury vapor(from amalgam) is form of mercury that causes damage at lowes

lowest level of exposure, and the form that most readily crosses the blood brain barrier and accumulates in the brain and other
major organs(autopsy studies,etc). The heart rapidly pumps mercury vapor to all parts of the body, and mercury vapor rapidly enters cells-mostly in the major organs that receive the most blood(brain,heart,lungs,liver,kidneys)and is converted to other forms of highly toxic mercury compounds that are locked in these cells and cause major adverse effects.
http://www.home.earthlink.net/~berniew1/damspr13.html
http://www.home.earthlink.net/~berniew1/amalg6.html (average time of mercury vapor in blood-10 seconds-Magos)

Because mercury is a gas at room temperature, mercury from dental mercury fillings continuously vaporizes so that a test by a mercury probe in the mouth will usually find levels of mercury in oral air above the EPA or OSHA health standards for occupational exposure. Likewise a saliva test will demonstrate that all with amalgam fillings have high levels of mercury in the saliva, and a feces test will find extremely high levels excreted in feces. (see previous URL) EPA and Municipal Sewer Agencies have confirmed test results by researchers and medical labs(millions of tests) that those with several mercury amalgam fillings average excreting over 30 micrograms per day of mercury. EPA drinking water standard is 2 parts per billion and similar for level in people, adverse effects have been documented at levels near the EPA health standard- far below common levels of exposure from amalgam.
http://www.flcv.com/damspr2f.html

[Mnemosyne]

4. It's a Mad Hatter's World after all!

Damn it. :(

[mom cat]

9. Thanks for the info.

[Kablooie]

10. Well, if people'd just keep their dang mouths shut ...

[philb]

12. Most people don't realize how important to take care of the teeth

Once you get cavities,etc. there are no perfect solutions.
So a lot of effort should be put into avoiding them.
But mercury is the most toxic non-radioactive element and causes adverse effects at extremely low levels,
and since its vapor pressure causes it to vaporize and become a gas at room temperature, its impossible
not to get high exposures if you are exposed to liquid or solid elemental mercury. They vaporize continuously,
as can be easily verified by mercury probe or testing saliva- both oral air and saliva of those with dental amalgams
are easily seen to have high levels of mercury- which then goes throughout the body and accumulates in the main
body organs that use a lot of blood- the brain, heart, liver, kidneys, lungs,
as documented by autopsy studies. And is documented to cause major damgage to all these organs and chronic health effects.
http://www.flcv.com/amalg6.html

[mistertrickster]

11. Both my father and my brother are dentists. I'm sure they would say

this is not a serious problem. BUT that's not my point. My point is that better dental materials have been available for years--a plastic "light bond" material not only looks better than the dark amalgam, but it helps maintain tooth integrity by "gluing" it together.

Mercury filing should just be done away with, like using ether for anesthesia.

[philb]

13. dentists and dental staff have high mercury exposure and adverse effects

dentists and dental staff who use mercury amalgam are documented to have high mercury exposures compared
to the general population, and to have common adverse health effects including
neurological effects, more mood disorders, reproductive effects, and effects on their children:
http://www.home.earthlink.net/~berniew1/dental.html

it is dangerous both to the patient and hygenist to polish amalgam fillings, and some state hygenists assoc.
advise against it, since polishing, brushing, chewing, hot liquids all release high levels of mercury vapor.


But there are things that can be done to reduce the problems. Lots of detox methods, but knowledge and care is important.
I think everyone should get a hair element test every couple of years to assess toxic metal exposures and essential mineral
imbalances. A blood scan which most people get periodically is also useful to look at with the hair test.
But note that while the hair test is a reliable indicator of most toxic metals like lead, arsenic, cadmium, nickel, antimony, aluminum- which people commonly have high exposures of- its not a reliable measure of mercury body burden since poor excreters
(genetic blood allele APOE-4) do not show high levels of mercury in hair even though the body is accumulating high levels in
the major organs. But the test is useful even for mercury, if one has high mercury body burden it causes changes in cell membrane
that causes essential mineral imbalances, patterns shown by the test. Which can be followed up by other tests.
But if you have exposure(such as mercury amalgam fillings or eat a lot of predator fish) you know that you have high body burden.

[MrMonk]

15. For seven years, I was a consultant in the HazMat field.

From before that time to beyond, I had mercury amalgam fillings. I also handled samples visibly contaminated with metallic mercury and environmental samples that showed high concentrations of elemental mercury, most likely in the methylated form. Neither my entrance or exit hair test showed any detectable mercury, nor did my biannual blood, urine and saliva tests. Considering that I had each amalgam filling in my mouth for 10 - 20 years before they gave out, I suspect that my body burden at any time was very low. I would also expect my case to be the norm rather than the exception, because I see nothing abnormal in my life or condition that would put me outside of the norm, aside from a greater opportunity for exposure.

I realize that this is anecdotal information, but I have a strong tendency to judge a situation based on my own knowledge and experience.

[philb]

17. There have been millions of tests and the results are consistent

Those with several amalgam fillings have mercury levels 5 to 10 times those without amalgam. Obviously, amalgam is by far the
largest source of mercury in those with amalgam fillings. And those with amalgam fillings(all) get high levels of exposure- some get more than others, depending on number of fillings, number of metal crowns over amalgam, whether chew gum, whether drink hot drinks, amount of EMF exposure, etc.
A large NIDH study of the U.S. military population(49) with an average of 19.9 amalgam surfaces and range of 0 to 60 surfaces found the average urine level was 3.1 ug/L, with 93% being inorganic mercury. The average in those with amalgam was 4.5 times that of controls(feces has much more mercury than urine): www.home.earthlink.net/~berniew1/amalg6.html The results are so consistent a regression equation acurately estimates one's urine level based on the number of fillings(1 microgram/L in urine for each 10 surfaces)(and feces level is higher but estimable)

A large study was carried out at the Univ. Of Tubingen Health Clinic in which the level of mercury in saliva of 20,000 persons with amalgam fillings was measured(199). The level of mercury in unstimulated saliva was found to average 11.6 ug Hg/L, with the average after chewing being 3 times this level. The article above gives the levels for each number of fillings, rapidly increasing.

Based on thosands of medical tests & supported by similar clinical tests by other labs in peer-reviewed studies,

Results from many thousands of tests by DoctorsData Lab, on average those with amalgam fillings have 10 times as much
mercury in the feces as those without. Documentation from their medical lab web site:
(the references which have similar results can be found in NLM Medline)

METALS Reference RANGE mg/kg(68th percentile)
Mercury <.05 w/o amalgams*
Mercury < .5 with amalgams*

Analysis of elements in feces provides a comprehensive evaluation of environmental exposure, accumulation and endogenous detoxification of potentially toxic metals. For several toxic elements such as mercury, cadmium, lead, antimony and uranium, biliary excretion of metals into feces is the primary natural route of elimination from the body. Studies performed at DDI demonstrate that the fecal mercury content and number of amalgam surfaces are highly correlated, as is the case for post-DMPS urine mercury levels and amalgam surface area.
Results are reported as mg/kg dry weight of feces to eliminate the influence of variability in water content of fecal specimens. The reference values that appear in this report have been derived from both published data and in-house studies at DDI. *Due to exposure to mercury in the oral cavity, people with dental amalgams typically have a considerably higher level of mercury in the feces than individuals without dental amalgams; therefore, two reference ranges have been established for mercury.
To provide guidance in interpretation of results, patient values are plotted graphically with respect to percentile distribution of the population base. Since this test reflects both biliary excretion (metals to which the patient is exposed may not be absorbed) and exposure, it may not correlate with overt clinical effects. Further testing can assist in determining whether the metals are from endogenous (biliary excretion) or exogenous (oral exposure) sources.
1. Bjorkman, L, Sandborgh-Englund, G, and Ekstand, J,. Mercury in Saliva and Feces after Removal of Amalgam Fillings. Toxicology & Applied
Pharmacology 144: 156-162 (1997)
2. Zalups, R, Progressive Losses of Renal Mass and the Renal and Hepatic Disposition of Administered Inorganic Mercury. Toxicology & Applied
Pharmacology 130: 121-131 (1995)
3. Adamsson, E., Piscator, M., and Nogawa, K., Pulmonary and Gastrointestinal Exposure to Cadmium Oxide Dust in a Battery Factory.
Environmental Health Perspectives, 28: 219-222 (1979)
4. Smith,J., et al., The Kinetics of Intravenously Administered Methyl Mercury in Man. Toxicology & Applied Pharmacology 128:251-256 (1994)
5. Bass, D., et al., “Measurement of Mercury in Feces”, Poster presentation 1999 AACC
http://www.doctorsdata.com/docs/pdf/fecal.pdf

DOCTOR’S DATA, INC. y ADDRESS: 3755 Illinois Avenue, St. Charles, IL 60174-2420 y LABORATORY DIRECTOR: James T. Hicks, MD, Ph.D., FCAP TOLL FREE: 800.323.2784 y TEL: [phone] y FAX: [phone] y EMAIL: [e-mail] y WEBSITE: WWW.doctorsdata.com

[MrMonk]

16. And all this time, I thought that the greatest sources were

mercury batteries and mercury switches. Is there a significant number of dentists who still use amalgam? My current dentist says no (at least in the U.S. and Canada), which is in alignment with the word of my previous dentist who told me years ago that amalgam was on its way out. Since amalgam fillings give out after some 10 to 20 years, I would expect that mercury contamination from amalgam would become a non-problem in the near future, even if it were a problem at this time.

[philb]

18. Majority of dentists still use amalgam regularly, though many demand

non-mercury fillings(white) for health or esthetic reasons. Dentists in U.S. use about 40 tons per year of mercury,
which is one of the largest sources of mercury in the environment, as I've noted before.
Large source in sewers, water bodies, fish, atmosphere- as well as the largest source of mercury in most people with amalgam,
as seen clearly my the millions of medical lab tests of those with and without amalgam. (feces,urine,saliva,hair) tests

Most dentists in European countries such as Germany, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland and Japan and etc. don't use mercury amalgam.
But the U.S. is far behind those countries in a lot of things dental due to the fact special interests strongly control the U.S.
dental establishment and the U.S. Gov't agencies. More so than most places. Most modern countries have warnings about the danger of amalgam fillings, and several U.S. states have such warnings. But the federal agencies are still controlled by special interests like the ADA, which was formed to promote amalgam fillings and has a patent on amalgam I believe.

While amalgam fillings tend to decay and crack teeth(requiring crowns) like you say in 10 or so years, as long as there is mercury in the fillings a person gets exposure. Since mercury is a gas at room or mouth temperature, the mercury in amalgam continuously
vaporizes in one's mouth providing high exposures to oral air and saliva- as easily testable and as seen from large numbers of tests. But as long as there is mercury left, you will get some exposure. And the exposure isn't all by vaporization.
Because mixed metals in an electrolyte(saliva) produce electrical/galvanic currents, there are high galvanic currents produced in the mouth that pump mercury into the body. This can be measured by an ampmeter from Radio Shack- one post on amalgam or metal crown over amalgam and the other solid on the top of the mouth palate. And if you have a big filling, you can look in the mirror and see where the mercury is being pumped into the gums and jawbone and blood vessels and nerves. You will see a blue/grey area at the base of the tooth, called an amalgam tattoo. The galvanic effects and amalgam tattoo/accumulation in oral area(from which it also goes to the brain,etc.) is documented in www.home.earthlink.net/~berniew1/galv.html

Many of the researchers who research mercury and its adverse effects believe that the overall effects of mercury from amalgam are as much as the health effects from smoking. Support for this case can be found in the over 4000 medical studies cited at:
http://www.home.earthlink.net/~berniew1/indexa.html which document the mechanism by which mercury causes over 40 chronic and degenerative health conditions and that the majority of those with many of those serious chronic conditions recover after amalgam replacement/detox. http://www.home.earthlink.net/~berniew1/hgremove.html

In other words millions have been and are adversely effected, and while its possible to usually recover most don't know what causes their conditions or what to do about it.

[philb]

19. mercury exposure is a cause of the majority of chronic health conditions

I think it depends on the population being considered, but many researchers believe this is the case
and it surely appears to be the case for some populations, based on large numbers of medical study/clinical case evaluations.

The following is a sample of 1500 clinical cases out of a larger population of over 60,000 such clinical cases from
DAMS files showing that the majority of people who replaced their amalgam fillings recovered or were significantly improved
after amalgam replacement. A significant portion of the following study cases were peer-reviewed studies:
http://www.home.earthlink.net/~berniew1/hgremove.html

This is consistent with DAMS coordinators experience with thousands of patients throughout the U.S.
and other countries, and that of similar organizations in Europe. About half of the following sample were from the FDA.


the statistics listed below were compiled by the Foundation For Toxic- Free Dentistry (FTFD) on 1569 patients from 6 different reports. The statistical analysis involves a total of 1569 patients in six different studies: 762 patients utilized the FTFD Patient Adverse Reaction Report to individually report changes in their health directly to the FDA and the FTFD; Dr. Mats Hanson, Ph.D. reported on 519 Swedish patients; Henrik Lichtenberg, D.D.S. of Denmark reported on 100 patients; Pierre LaRose, D.D.S. of Canada reported on 80 patients; Robert L. Siblerud O.D., M.S. reported on 86 patients in Colorado as partial fulfillment of a Ph.D. requirement; and Albert V. Zamm, M.D., FACA, FACP reported on 22 of his patients. FTFD SYMPTOM ANALYSIS OF 1569 PATIENTS

% of total, SYMPTOM, No., No. improved or cured, % of cure or improvement
14% ALLERGY 221 196 89%
5% ANXIETY 86 80 93%
5% BAD TEMPER 81 68 89%
6% BLOOD PRESSURE PROBLEMS 99 53 54%
5% CHEST PAINS 79 69 87%
22% DEPRESSION 347 315 91%
22% DIZZINESS 343 301 88%
45% FATIGUE 705 603 86%
15% GASTROINTESTINAL PROBLEMS 231 192 83%
8% GUM PROBLEMS 129 121 94%
34% HEADACHES 531 460 87%
3% MIGRAINE HEADACHES 45 39 87%
12% INSOMNIA 187 146 78%
10% IRREGULAR HEARTBEAT 159 139 87%
8% IRRITABILITY 132 119 90%
17% LACK OF CONCENTRATION 270 216 80%
6% LACK OF ENERGY 91 88 97%
17% MEMORY LOSS 265 193 73%
17% METALLIC TASTE 260 247 95%
7% MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS 113 86 76%
8% MUSCLE TREMOR 126 104 83%
10% NERVOUSNESS 158 131 83%
8% NUMBNESS ANYWHERE 118 97 82%
20% SKIN DISTURBANCES 310 251 81%
9% SORE THROAT 149 128 86%
6% TACHYCARDIA 97 68 70%
4% THYROID PROBLEMS 56 44 79%
12% ULCERS & SORES (ORAL CAVITY) 189 162 86%
7% URINARY TRACT PROBLEMS 115 87 76%
29% VISION PROBLEMS 462 289 63%

the first group of reports were compiled by a Swedish patients support organization like DAMS of people contacting them with
chronic health problems and the results when amalgams were replaced. the others are combination of reports to FDA, and by dentists
and doctors working with patients who underwent amalgam replacement. although the largest source of problems affected by amalgam replacement would be related to mercury, dental fillings and metal crowns often have other toxic metals like nickel, palladium, etc.