By Sara Russell, Ph.D., NTP March 16, 2017 Silicon Valley Health Institute

1. Effects of Mercury Exposure
throughout the Lifespan
By Sara Russell, Ph.D., NTP
March 16, 2017
Silicon Valley Health Institute

2. Introduction & acknowledgments
A big thank-you to SVHI for the invitation to speak, and to my co-author
Kris Homme, who is also here today.
• The chronic effects of cumulative, low-dose mercury exposure are
under-recognized by both mainstream and alternative health
authorities
• Mercury is an exceptionally insidious toxicant that can cause or
contribute to most chronic illnesses
• Diagnosis of chronic mercury toxicity is often difficult because the
body’s natural defenses may mask or delay symptoms

3. Introduction, continued
• The developmental window from conception through early childhood
is one of extreme vulnerability to mercury
• Mercury toxicity creates a need for extra nutrition, both to repair
damage and to provide ample enzyme cofactors, which can push
blocked enzymes
• Symptoms may manifest differently in each person depending on
exposures, lifestyle, genetics and micronutrient status
• Long latencies may occur, with onset of symptoms sometimes
occurring months or years after the exposure has ceased

4. Erethism – the mercury personality
• Erethism, or reddening, refers to the mercury personality
• Think “mad hatter syndrome”
• Erethism involves a constellation of personality traits including
timidity, diffidence, contentiousness, insecurity, bluntness, rigidity,
excitability and hypersensitivity to criticism and to sensory
stimulation

5. Common sources of mercury exposure
• The public receives mixed messages from health authorities and
agencies about the risks of mercury from routine exposures involving
dentistry, fish and vaccines
• Much exposure is iatrogenic
• For most people, the major sources of mercury exposure are
elemental mercury vapor from dental amalgams and methylmercury
from dietary fish
• Ethylmercury in certain vaccines provides smaller amounts, but these
can be highly toxic during the vulnerable window of gestation and
early childhood

6. Amalgam fillings
• Amalgams are 50% elemental mercury
• They have been in use for the past 150 years
• Every mother with amalgams has passed on a part of her mercury
burden to her unborn children in pregnancy, with each generation
tending to accumulate more amalgam-based mercury than the
previous one
• Even people who have never had amalgams placed often have
amalgam-based mercury for this reason

7. Amalgam, continued
• The World Health Organization estimates that the typical absorbed
dose of mercury from amalgams is 1–22 micrograms per day, with
most values in the range of 1–5 micrograms per day
• These levels can increase to an upper range of about 100 mcg per day
• Factors that can increase the mercury absorbed from amalgam fillings
include gum chewing and bruxism (tooth grinding)
• Certain types of electromagnetic radiation, including from mobile
phones and from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may increase the
release of mercury vapor from dental amalgams

8. Amalgams, continued
• Unsafe amalgam removal can cause acute exposures to mercury
vapor
• The International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology (IAOMT),
a professional dental organization, has developed a protocol and
training program that attempts to minimize the exposure to mercury
vapor to the patient, dentist and staff during amalgam removal
• Removal of amalgam should be timed so as to avoid the 12–18
months preceding conception, as well as pregnancy and
breastfeeding

9. Fish
• The most contaminated fish are large, long-lived fish high in the food chain
• Mercury levels in fish vary widely by species and by individual, ranging
from less than 0.1 part per million (ppm) for salmon and sardines to more
than 1 ppm for some samples of tilefish, shark, swordfish, and king
mackerel
• A typical serving of fish may contain anywhere from a few micrograms to
more than 100 micrograms of mercury
• What you decide to do about fish consumption will depend on a variety of
factors, but many people prefer lower-mercury fish such as wild-caught
Alaskan salmon and wild-caught sardines, herring and anchovies

10. Fish and pregnancy, lactation and early
childhood
• Like other forms of mercury, the methylmercury in fish has the
potential to bio-accumulate
• Developing fetuses, babies and young children are most at risk
• The EPA and FDA maintain guidelines regarding fish consumption
during pregnancy, lactation and early childhood
• The list of fish species most dangerous to this vulnerable population,
according to these agencies, includes king mackerel, bigeye tuna,
marlin, orange roughy, shark, swordfish, and tilefish from the Gulf of
Mexico

11. Vaccines
• No regulatory safety standard exists for ethylmercury.
• Ethylmercury is chemically similar to methylmercury
• Approximate mercury content of 1990s-era vaccines (through 2004): DTP
and DTaP: 4 doses totaling 100 mcg; HIB: 4 doses totaling 100 mcg; and
Hep B: 3 doses totaling 37.5 mcg. Multi-dose influenza vaccines given
annually: 25 mcg. Tetanus vaccine: 25 mcg. First 6 months of life: 187.5
mcg, just over 1 mcg/day
• Vaccine ethylmercury can be compared to the EPA’s safe reference dose for
methylmercury of 0.1 microgram per kilogram of body weight per day for
chronic exposure, equivalent to about 0.3 micrograms per day for a
newborn, and 0.6 micrograms per day for a 6-month-old baby.

12. Vaccines, continued
• Between 1999 and 2004, thimerosal began to be phased out of
pediatric vaccines. Thimerosal continues to be used in the
preparation of some of these vaccines (such as the multi-dose DTaP
and the DTaP/Hib combination vaccines) and remains in trace
amounts
• Influenza vaccines administered to pregnant women may be a source
of thimerosal to the fetus. The flu vaccine remains a significant source
of mercury exposure during gestation, infancy and early childhood
• Immunoglobulins are a source of thimerosal

13. Other exposures (partial list)
• Compact fluorescent lamps
• Some OTC products (such as nasal and ear drops, hemorrhoid
creams)
• Some cosmetics (most notably mascara)
• Occupational exposure: dental offices, gold mining, high-pressure
gauges, chemistry labs
• Geographic proximitity to crematoria, coal-fired power plants and
present/past gold-mining areas

14. Sources of exposure currently banned in US
(partial list)
Bannned in 1998
• Teething powders (calomel)
• Merbromin was once widely used as an antiseptic under the trade
name Mercurochrome
• Mercury thermometers
• Contact lens solutions

15. Less common sources (partial list)
• Cinnabar/vermillion mineral used in:
• art (including tattoos in the past)
• jewelry
• Some Chinese medicine formulations not legal for manufacture in or
importation to US but nonetheless available
• Some religious and folk healing rituals, including some Santeria rituals
• note that elemental mercury is sold in «Botanicas» shops in Latino
neighborhoods throughout the US

16. Preconception/epigenetic toxicity
• The developmental period spanning from conception through early
childhood is a window of vulnerability in which both epigenetic and
neurological damage can occur at exposures far lower than those
known to cause toxicity in adults
• Epigenetics refers to the alteration of gene expression (turning genes
on and off), usually via environmental factors, without alteration of
the DNA nucleotide sequence itself, in a manner that can be passed
to offspring
• Mercury is a potent epigenetic toxicant of alarming scope, with both
direct and indirect effects on gene expression

17. Mechanisms of epigenetic toxicity
• Mercury directly targets the cysteine that comprises the DNA-binding
sites on most gene transcription factors
• Mercury targets the cysteine in DNA methyltransferase enzymes,
which play a role (DNA methylation) in normal gene expression
• Indirectly, mercury promotes severe oxidative stress — and early-life
stressors are known to induce changes in gene expression that set the
stage for disease in later life
• When either parent is exposed to mercury, even prior to conception,
the child’s own genetic expression can be affected

18. Implications of epigenetic/prenatal toxicity
• Epigenetic damage may range from mild to severe, and the resulting
phenotype may include characteristics such as dental deformities,
myopia, asymmetries of the face, and disproportions of the body
• By depleting micronutrient stores in the mother and developing fetus,
mercury induces structural and functional damage throughout the
body from conception onward, and post-natal exposure perpetuates
that damage

19. Genetic/Epigenetic susceptibility to toxicity
• Several common genetic variants that convey increased susceptibility to
mercury toxicity have been documented in human studies
• Hundreds of additional variants are likely to exist, because mercury attacks
sulfur in proteins, and since the body has tens of thousands of genetically
determined sulfur-containing proteins, many of these are likely to include
variants that contribute to susceptibility
• Candidate genes are involved not only in methylation and detoxification,
but in vitamin and mineral (i.e., enzyme cofactor) absorption, transport
and metabolism
• A few isolated court cases in the US and elsewhere have recognized post
facto that a limited number of well-documented genetic susceptibilities
including some mitochondrial disorders have caused certain children to
suffer permanent neurological damage

20. Pregnancy
• Fetal neurons are more sensitive to the toxic effects of mercury than
any other cell type
• Mercury from the mother’s body readily crosses the placenta and
accumulates in the fetus, as revealed in post-mortem human and
animal studies
• Mercury levels in amniotic fluid, cord blood, placental tissue and
breast milk are significantly associated in a dose-dependent manner
with the number of maternal dental amalgams
• Human and animal studies show increased rates of miscarriage,
neonatal death, low birth weight, and developmental disorders
associated with mercury exposure

21. Bio-accumulation during the lifespan, and
generation after generation
• Epigenetic vulnerability, in-utero exposure and post-natal exposure
set up a vicious cycle of nutritional deficiencies and impaired
detoxification
• This vicious cycle leads to the further accumulation of mercury
toxicity throughout the lifespan
• Additionally, during pregnancy, the accumulated mercury is passed on
to the next generation
• Until our society and legislation truly address the dangers of mercury
and the sources of exposure, each generation will be more toxic than
the previous one.

22. Symptoms and illnesses associated with mercury
• This is a complicated issue, for many reasons
• Mercury can cause or contribute to most chronic illness via nutrient
depletion, epigenetic toxicity, enzyme impairment and more
• The conditions that mercury can cause and/or contribute to can also
have other causes
• In other words, the illnesses that mercury can cause and contribute to
are for the most part non-specific
• The time lag between exposure to mercury and onset of symptoms
varies from person to person and depends on a number of factors

23. Illnesses, continued
• Some factors affecting the latency period between exposure and
symptoms are:
• Epigenetic factors
• Total allostatic load prior to exposure (note that we start out accumulating
mercury in utero, in variable amounts depending on maternal toxicity and
parents’/fetus’s epigenetic status)
• Nutritional status: the more robust our nutritional status is, the longer it will
take to deplete our natural defense systems
• Overall functional health status: the more robust our health, the more
equipped we are to deal with any stressor, including toxicants

24. Illnesses, continued
• That being said, mercury is often involved in the following illesses.
The list isn’t complete.
• Autism
• ADHD
• Learning and cognitive difficulties throughout the lifespan (lead
exposure can exacerbate mercury’s cognitive effects tremendously)
• Autoimmune illnesses: MS, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, rheumatoid
arthritis, Ménière’s disease, etc.

25. Illnesses, continued
• Rheumatological/neuromuscular conditions: mixed connective tissue
disease, connective tissue disorders (overlap of genetic predisposition
+ mercury exposure can greatly amplify symptom expression),
fibromyalgia, etc.
• Neurological conditions: Parkinson’s, migraines
• Cognitive decline – exacerbation of all forms of cognitive decline via
accumulation in brain, impairment of neuron functionality,
impairment of glucose regulation and oxidative stress
• Premature aging – the oxidative damage caused by mercury can be
indistinguishable from symptoms of premature aging

26. Illnesses, cont’d
• Digestive disorders, including insufficient hydrochloric acid
production, dysbiosis, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO),
malabsorption, IBS, parasitic infections
• Immune dysfunction: autoimmunity, poor immune function, frequent
infections, allergies, mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), increased
susceptibility to Lyme Disease, mold illness, ME/CFS, chronic viral
infections (EBV, etc.)
• Mitochondrial dysfunction, mitochondrial toxicity
• Autonomic nervous system dysfunction (POTS, vasovagal syncope,
dysautonomia, etc.)

27. Illnesses, cont’d
• Osteoporosis, osteopenia, stress fractures
• Endocrine imbalances: blood sugar regulation, HPA axis, thyroid
problems, etc.
• And much more!

28. Nutritional needs
• Mercury exposure increases the need for a nutrient-dense diet for
three main reasons
• Address nutritional depletion caused by mercury
• Repair oxidative damage
• Support impaired enzyme system
• Because the nutrient depletion patterns caused by mercury are to a
great extent unique to the individual, bio-individual nutritional
support is preferable to a general protocol.

29. Nutritional needs, continued
• Common nutrients depleted in mercury-affected people include:
• Vitamin C
• Vitamin E
• Vitamins A, D & K2 – which can become depleted/imbalanced to varying
degrees
• Magnesium
• Potassium
• Zinc and sometimes copper – these two minerals can become imbalanced in
varying and unpredictable ways
• Selenium, lithium and molybdenum
• Vitamin B6, B12, biotin and other B vitamins

30. Nutrition, continued
• Most people with mercury poisoning fare better on a diet that is
higher in fats and lower in starches than the standard American diet.
• Food sensitivities are common, with gluten and casein topping the list
and with soy, salycilate, free thiols, free glutamate and oxalate
sensitivities relatively common as well.

31. Testing
• There is no perfect test to detect mercury poisoning
• Urine challenge tests should be avoided because the chelator can
cause oxidative stress, redistribution of mercury and kidney damage
• Blood, hair and urine mercury is often low in people with chronic
mercury poisoning
• If properly performed, a porphyrin panel may be helpful
• A hair elements test, when properly interpreted, can reveal patterns
of mineral dysregulation associated with mercury toxicity even when
mercury is not actively excreted in the hair.

32. Some cautions
• Amalgam fillings should be removed properly by a dentist following
the protocol of the IAOMT (International Academy of Oral Medicine
and Toxicology)
• No chelator should be taken by anyone who has amalgams, ongoing
mercury exposure, is pregnant or breastfeeding, or planning to
become pregnant. These include alpha lipoic acid (even if
recommended for other purposes), DMSA, DMPS and cilantro.
• Chelation is controversial. Frequent, low-dose chelation is likely safer
than traditional chelation.
• While very popular, chlorella and cilantro supplements may do more
harm than good

33. To learn more
• http://townsendletter.com/Jan2017/mercury0117.html
• http://noamalgam.com/
• https://mercuryfreebaby.org/
• https://iaomt.org/
• http://buildnurturerestore.com/htma/
• http://buildnurturerestore.com/services-for-professionals/