Molin M, Berglund JR & Mackert Jr. Kinetics of mercury in blood and urine after amalgam removal. J Dent Res 74:420 IADR Abstract 159 (1995)

Abstract: "Even though a number of studies have not been able to reveal any correlation between subjective symptoms and amalgam load there still are speculations wether patients with subjective symptoms related by the patients themselves to their amalgam fillings could have a changed pattern of elimination of mercury. The aim of the present investigation was to study the elimination half-time of mercury in plasma. erythrocytes and urine over an extended period of time after amalgam removal in a group of 10 patients with subjective symptoms by the patients themselves reffered to their amalgam fillings and a group of 8 healthy subjects. The average number of occlusal and total amalgam surfaces in the patient group were 13.0 (range 4 - 20) and 44.4 (range 24 - 68), respectively. Corresponding figures in the control group were 12.9 (range 10 - 16) and 40.9 (range 24 - 63). The amalgam removal using rubberdam, water spray cutting and high volume vacuum evacuator, was carried out at one and the same time. Blood and urine samples were collected at two occasions before the amalgam removal, then blood was collected at thirthytwo occasions and urine at forthythree occasions during the following year. The mercury content was analysed by CVAAS technique. The measured P-, Ery- and U-Hg concentrations before amalgam removal were slightly higher in the control group 6.4+/-3.3 nmol/L, 19.4+/-6.6 nmol/L, and 2.7+/-1.3 nmol/mmol creatinine respectively than in the symptom group 5.6+/-1.8 nmol/L, 14.8+/-8.8 nmol/L, and 1.6+/-0.9 nmol/mmol creatinine respectively. The Hg-concentrations did not significantly increase in the two groups after amalgam removal. Six days after the removal the plasma mean concentrationwas significantly decreased at p<0.05 level and ten days after the decrease was at a permanent p<0.005 level. The mean Ery-Hg level was significantly decreased after eleven days (p<0.05) a level that remainedstabel for the rest of the year. The mean U-Hg level was significantly decreased one month after the removal and after six months the mean level was reduced with 80% compared to the initial level in bothgroups. The conclusion to be drawn from the present study is that the symptom group did not have a changed pattern of elimination of mercury compared to the healthy group."

Nielsen-Kudsk F. The Influence of Ethyl Alcohol on the Absorption of Mercury Vapour from the Lungs in Man. Acta pharmacol toxicol 23:263-274 (1965)

"A method for direct, continuos graphical recording of the average concentration of mercury vapour in the expired air is described. By means of this method the effect of the tidal volume on the absorption of mercury vapour from the lungs is demonstrated. The results of the experiments also show that ethyl alcohol, given by mouth in moderate doses, has a distinctly inhibitory influence on the absorption of mercury from the lungs. In volunteers who had consumed alcohol - and only in such persons - food intake caused a secondary inhibition of mercury absorption. The mechanism of this effect is as yet unknown. In view of the reduced absorption of mercury vapour demonstrated in subjects who have ingested moderate doses of alcohol and the demonstration of almost complete absorption of mercury from the alveolar parts of the lungs in normal individuals, coupled with the observation by other authors that this absorption in experimental animals leads to a distinct accumulation of mercury in the brain, it is suggested that it would be reasonable to consider a reduction of the toxic threshold limit value at present accepted for mercury vapour in the air."

NIH Technology Assessment Conference, National Institute of Dental Research, Bethesda, Maryland, August 26-28, 1991. Statement: Effects and Side-effects of Dental Restorative Materials. Adv Dent Res 6:139-144 (1992)

this document is even published as an online-document: gopher://gopher.nih.gov:70/00/clin/tech_conf/items/09.ta-den.fmt.txt

No abstract available. Citation from the text follows: "...When the safety of tooth restorative materials is being considered, several factors must be evaluated. First, exposure potential is different among patients, dental workers, and industrial workers involved in the manufacture of the materials. Second, human factors - such as age, sex, fetal exposure, allergic potential, diet, pre-existing disease, and nutritional status - should be considered. Third, exposure factors - including quantity, route, lenght of exposure, accumulation in tissues, and excretion characteristics - must also be weighed in determination onf the significance of currently available data.. The paucity of reports of systemic toxicity with the use of dental restorative materials could be due to a true "biological inertness" of the materials or could be due to other factors. For example, symptoms resulting from dental treatment might be reported to medical rather than dental personnel, with no correlation thereby being made between dental restorative materials and systemic effects. Also, the amount of potentially toxic residues released from restorations may be too low to cause a clinically detectable effect. In addition, clinical effects might develop over monhts or years rather than immediately after restoration, or might only become manifest in tissues rendered more suspectible by other diseases. Furthermore, most previous studies of restorative materials have involved subjective questionnaires rather than objective physiological and laboratory measurements, and tooth restorative materials generally have not been studied in properly designed longitudional studies..."

Also make sure to read these books: Poison in Your Teeth: Mercury Amalgam (Silver) Fillings...Hazardous to Your Health! and Mercury Detoxification by Tom McGuire