review of mercury by distinguished chemistry professors

May 23, 2002

The following message about mercury, posted on another list, is provided

with no changes, as pertains to mercury's affects on the kidneys and liver.

~

Review of Baratz testimony before the Florida Dental Board by 2

distinguished Chemistry Professors and Researchers

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Review of Dr. Baratz testimony before the Florida Dental Board by Dr. Ralph

Dougherty, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Florida State Univ.

850-644-5725

" I have qualified as an expert witness in chemistry and toxicology in both

federal and state courts. I have conducted extensive research in analytical

toxicology. I have more than 100 papers published in refereed journals. "

" To allege that there is no mercury in mercury amalgam as Dr. Baratz has

done in his sworn testimony before the Florida Dental Board is either a

reflection of ignorance, or intent to deceive. "

Sincerely,

Ralph Dougherty

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Dr. Boyd E. Haley

Chair, Department of Chemistry

University of Kentucky

www.altcorp.com

3 January 2002

The following is my comments on the content and specific statements made in

the Sept. 29th Florida Dental Board where the FDA presented " Amalgam Related

Material " to support their proposed rule. Please feel free to share it with

whomever you wish and especially the Florida Dental Board (FDA). Sincerely,

Boyd Haley

With regards to statements made by Dr. Baratz. First, to be an esteemed

academic as claimed one should hold an academic position and publish

articles in refereed journals on his subject of expertise. I have been

unable to find a single research article on mercury or amalgams or about

anything authored by Dr. Baratz. I further could not find any source of

academic appointments in tenure leading positions. With my personal

knowledge of numerous outstanding and productive academic research

scientists available to the FDA for consultation I am somewhat perplexed

that they would select someone with such weak credentials---unless they were

searching for someone who would adamantly support their preconceived

position of amalgams being totally safe. Dr. Baratz is evidently well known

for taking that position. Finally, statements made by Dr. Baratz concerning

amalgams and chemistry in general are so pathetic that they almost defy

sensible analysis. I WOULD CHALLENGE THE FDA TO TRY TO GET THE DEPARTMENT

CHAIRS OF CHEMISTRY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA AND FLORIDA STATE

UNIVERSITY TO AGREE WITH DR. BARATZ'S COMMENTS REGARDING THE CHEMISTRY OF

AMALGAMS AND MERCURY. However, knowing this is unlikely I will deal as best

I can with Dr. Baratz's statements one at a time in order of presentation.

Page 6, line 27-28. Dr. Baratz has no published basis for making this

statement. Absence of proof is not proof of absence. How can Dr. Baratz say

that a patient on a kidney dialysis program is not further injured by

additional mercury (a potent kidney toxicant) exposure from their amalgams?

I don't think such a study has ever been undertaken. When exposing a person

to years of a chronic level of toxic mercury it is the responsibility of the

pro-amalgam group to prove it does no harm, not vice-versa. Can Dr. Baratz

or the FDA confirm that the 22,000-fold increased mercury levels in the

hearts of inter-city young men who die of Idiopathic Dialated Cardiomyopthy

did not come from dental amalgams? { Frustaci, A., Magnavita, N., Chimenti,

C., Caldarulo, M., Sabbioni, E., Pietra, R., Cellini. C., Possati, G. F. and

Maseri, A. Marked Elevation of Myocardial Trace Elements in Idiopathic

Dilated Cardiomyopathy Compared With Secondary Dysfunction. J. of the

American College Cardiology v33(6) 1578-1583, 1999,}

Page 6, lines 31-32. One grain of standard sucrose does not weigh near one

milligram. Therefore his visual aid is totally misleading and indicates that

he has not, or does not, remember experiments where weighing small amounts

was involved.

Page 6, lines 37-41. Sodium metal when added to water burns violently, but

it does not explode when added to a glass of water. I have done this as a

demonstration so I know the results first-hand. No one would be killed or

even injured unless they touched the burning metallic sodium. Yes, chlorine

gas is toxic and is a man-made material (as is metallic sodium) that does

not exist naturally. Dr. Baratz wants to claim that metallic sodium and

chlorine gas are toxic but become non-toxic on conversion to a compound,

sodium chloride, and therefore, mercury in an amalgam is not toxic because

it is surrounded by other (toxic) metals that he feels produces something

that is not mercury. This is banal.

Reactivity and biological compatibility is the essence of the amalgam issue.

Human blood contains about 140 millimolar chloride anion and 124 millimolar

sodium cation. This ions are not toxic because they are not very reactive

with biomolecules. These ions are used to perform many biological functions

necessary for life, including maintaining the ionic gradient and electrical

potential across cell membranes. However, mercury is not found to serve any

useful purpose in human tissues and is a well known inhibitor of many

enzymes, including the enzyme that transports sodium across cell membranes.

In contrast to sodium cation, mercury cation, produced from mercury vapor by

a blood enzyme, is very reactive and inhibits almost every biological

pathway or enzyme driven function in man. To compare amalgam material to

sodium chloride in the manner Dr. Baratz has chosen to reveals a total

misunderstanding of chemistry and biochemistry of heavy metal toxicity.

Page 6 line 42 to page 7 line 2. Since all of the metal components of

amalgam are basic metallic elements with no charge how can someone make the

inept statement that there is no mercury in amalgams. It is an " element " and

the fact that elements cannot be broken down or changed is a basic tenant of

chemistry. The metals in amalgams have no net charge and therefore form only

metallic bonds. Mercury is a liquid at room temperature and quite volatile

because it forms weak metallic bonds with itself. This makes mercury unlike

all other metals. The metallic bonds formed between mercury and other metals

in amalgams are stronger and a solid phase is produced---but the bonds

between mercury and, say silver, are weaker than silver-silver metal bonds

and therefore break easier releasing elemental mercury vapor at a regular

rate. This is why you can heat a gold ring covered with mercury and rapidly

make it gold again and why dimes made silvery with mercury soon resort to

their old form. The bottom line is that inclusion of mercury into an amalgam

reduces its vapor pressure but it does not reduce it to the point that

mercury cannot be significantly emitted.

Dr. Baratz states that if you detect traces of mercury from amalgams it is

because that material has been decomposed by heat and friction. How does he

explain the observations of the release of 43.5 micrograms mercury per cm2

surface area per day for two years straight in a test tube without

additional heat and no friction? {Chew, C. L., Soh, G., Lee, A. S. and Yeoh,

T. S. Long-term Dissolution of Mercury from a Non-Mercury-Releasing Amalgam.

Clinical Preventive Dentistry 13(3): 5-7, May-June (1991).} Bottom line is

that it is quite easy to demonstrate mercury release from a dental amalgam.

I suggest the FDA not believe either Dr. Baratz or myself but instead make

20-30 amalgams and send them to the state universities in Florida and have

them determine how long a single amalgam must be in a gallon of water before

the water is considered unsafe to drink by OSHA or EPA standards. Then the

FDA can then make a decent decision on the mercury release and toxicity of

amalgams using data from an unbiased source.

Page 7, lines 10-13. Sodium chloride intake is necessary for life. Mercury

is toxic to every type of cell. Dr. Baratz's comparison amalgams to sodium

chloride is ridiculous. Amino acids contain carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen

and so does cyanide but the difference is how these molecules react in the

body---one is a food and the other a lethal toxin. Amalgams release mercury

and other metal ions and solutions in which amalgams are soaked are

cytotoxic! { Wataha, J. C., Nakajima, H., Hanks, C. T., and Okabe, T.

Correlation of Cytotoxicity with Element Release from Mercury and

Gallium-based Dental Alloys in vitro. Dental Materials 10(5) 298-303, Sept.

(1994)}

Page 7, lines 15-18. Yes, everything is toxic if an overdose is

obtained---that is common sense. However, mercury has no food or biological

function and is toxic at concentrations much lower than even most other

toxicants. Low levels of mercury have been shown to inhibit the same

enzymes/proteins that are found inhibited in Alzheimer's diseased brain. {

Pendergrass, J.C. and Haley, B.E. Mercury-EDTA Complex Specifically Blocks

Brain -Tubulin-GTP Interactions: Similarity to Observations in Alzheimer " s

Disease. pp98-105 in Status Quo and Perspective of Amalgam and Other Dental

Materials (International Symposium Proceedings ed. by L. T. Friberg and G.

N. Schrauzer) Georg Thieme Verlag, Stuttgart-New York (1995). Pendergrass,

J. C., Haley, B.E., Vimy, M. J., Winfield, S.A. and Lorscheider, F.L.

Mercury Vapor Inhalation Inhibits Binding of GTP to Tubulin in Rat Brain:

Similarity to a Molecular Lesion in Alzheimer's Disease Brain.

Neurotoxicology 18(2), 315-324 (1997). Pendergrass, J.C. and Haley, B.E.

Inhibition of Brain Tubulin-Guanosine 5'-Triphosphate Interactions by

Mercury: Similarity to Observations in Alzheimer's Diseased Brain. In Metal

Ions in Biological Systems V34, pp 461-478. Mercury and Its Effects on

Environment and Biology, Chapter 16. Edited by H. Sigel and A. Sigel. Marcel

Dekker, Inc. 270 Madison Ave., N.Y., N.Y. 10016 (1996)}

Later research with neurons in culture nanomolar (10-9M) levels of mercury

caused cell destruction and formation of three of the widely accepted

diagnostic hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease. { Olivieri, G., Brack, Ch.,

Muller-Spahn, F., Stahelin, H.B., Herrmann, M., Renard, P; Brockhaus, M. and

Hock, C. Mercury Induces Cell Cytotoxicity and Oxidative Stress and

Increases -amyloid Secretion and Tau Phosphorylation in SHSY5Y Neuroblastoma

Cells. J. Neurochemistry 74, 231-231, 2000. Leong, CCW, Syed, N.I., and

Lorscheider, F.L. Retrograde Degeneration of Neurite Membrane Structural

Integrity and Formation of Neruofibillary Tangles at Nerve Growth Cones

Following In Vitro Exposure to Mercury. NeuroReports 12 (4):733-737, 2001.}

Therefore, being unnecessarily exposed to continuous low doses of mercury

for scores of years is an unhealthy situation. Does the FDA operate with the

mantra of allowing itself to do this and eliminate any disagreement by

posturing that no one has proven mercury toxic when indeed this has been

done over and over. Due to the overall difficulty and complexity there is

not one epidemiological study showing any major negative effects of mercury

from amalgams, but there are none showing it to be safe either. With all of

the data on animal cell culture studies showing mercury toxicity showing

concern and eliminating all long-term exposures to mercury is justified.

Page 7 lines 15-34. This paragraph should convince everyone that Dr. Baratz

is way off base. I had to replace all of the mercury thermometers in the

teaching labs in our department of chemistry because of the OSHA/EPA

restrictions where the spill of one thermometer could create a toxic

in-building situation and the possible wash-out into the sewage stream

caused an unacceptable environmental hazard. Dr. Baratz seems unaware of the

long-term affects of mercury accumulation. Sure, he could ingest liquid

mercury a single time and walk away but how many industrial workers have

been seriously injured by less severe but continuous mercury exposures?

Also, if he did ingest liquid mercury then he could pay a severe price later

on in his life but he doesn't seem to know this. Why does he think the

government has outlawed the sale of mercury thermometers to the general

public?

In this paragraph Dr. Baratz states that mercury is not absorbed from the

gut. This is totally incorrect. Mercury vapor is rapidly absorbed into all

hydrophobic areas of the body. Where is the publication to support his

absurd contention? He is further incorrect in his statement that the amount

that comes off of an amalgam is equivalent to the amount you get every day

by breathing air, drinking water and eating food. In a 1998 NIH study on

1,127 US military personnel it was shown that the blood/urine mercury levels

were much higher in individuals with dental amalgams and the amount of

mercury was correlated with the number of amalgams surfaces. The average

amalgam bearer had 4.5 times the urine mercury level of individuals who were

amalgam free. { Kingman, A., Albertini, T. and Brown, L.J. Mercury

Concentrations in Urine and Whole Blood Associated with Amalgam Exposure in

a US Military Population. J. of Dental Research v77(3): 461-471, 1998.}

Dr. Baratz states that even the most ardent anti-amalgamist have virtually

the same amount of mercury in their bodies as does the members of the

Florida Board of Dentistry. That would be true only if all of them are free

of amalgams. In a published report removing amalgam fillings dropped the

level of mercury in the urine in the patients by about 5-fold at a

subsequent date. { Begerow, J., Zander, D., Freier, I. And Dunemann, L.

Long-term Mercury Excretion in Urine after Removal of Amalgam Fillings. Int.

Arch. Occup. Environ. Health v66 (3), 209-212, 1994.}

Neither Dr. Baratz nor I have the right to make sweeping statements without

providing the scientific literature on the subject that backs up our

statements. Under adjudication many of his statements, now on record, such

as given on page 7 line 19, " So to say that dental amalgam has mercury in it

is false. It has what used to be mercury. " will provide a feast for the

opposing lawyers. I am very surprised that Dr. Baratz has chosen to pass

himself off as an amalgam expert with no publications in the area and this

is compounded by what appears to be total ignorance of the relevant

literature.

Page 8 lines 1 to 10. My comment is that the EPA and OSHA government units

don't think the amount of mercury released from amalgams is safe. If indeed

the groups listed by Dr. Baratz say amalgams are safe (are amalgams listed

on the Food and Drug Administration list of safe dental materials?) where

are the scientific studies that back their claims. Who represents the NIH

and says amalgams are safe? I challenge Dr. Baratz to find a single research

article where experimental protocols are used that provide proof of safety

of dental amalgams. It is easy to compose a " committee mainly pro-amalgam

dentists " and have them proclaim amalgams safe, but have them show the

relevant basic research that proves this is another thing. Does he really

have publications from the Multiple Sclerosis and Alzheimer's Associations

that claim amalgams are safe? I would really like to see him produce these

documents.

Page 8, line 30. Keeping or bringing science into the dental profession is

my goal also. This means both Dr. Baratz and I have to back our statements

with refereed scientific publications, not wild, unjustified claims or

opinions. I would like to challenge Dr. Baratz to produce the research

papers that back his many claims.

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Talknternational.com

http://www.talkinternational.com

VISIT OUR LEGAL REGISTRY AT:

http://www.talkinternational.com/legal_registry.htm

International Listing of Mercury Free Dentists

http://www.talkinternational.com/MFDSindex1.htm

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May 24, 2002

;

Bravo! I think this one article summed up all the information I have in one

fell swoop. This was excellent!

I liked a number of the points of argument presented but I thought the

Doctor's one point of sending amagams to various research facilities at

Florida's universities and putting them in water, to see how long it would

take before the water would be considered unsafe by OSHA or EPA standards,

was excellent;

>>>>>Dr. Baratz states that if you detect traces of mercury from amalgams it

is