|
|
 |
|
Reply
| | | From: Rene (Original Message) | Sent: 12/12/2005 6:35 PM |
Heavy Metal Self Defense
Many of us know that mercury is toxic and that we should limit our intake of certain types of seafood because of it. However, what you may not know is precisely how toxic mercury is and how vulnerable we are to exposure to it, in particular through silver-mercury amalgam dental fillings and vaccines.
Is Ignorance Bliss? When it comes to mercury, ignorance is deadly. Mercury is one of the most poisonous naturally occurring substances on the planet, with even the most minute levels of exposure potentially contributing to chronic health problems, warns Tom McGuire, DDS, a leading authority on silver-mercury amalgam fillings and chronic mercury poisoning. Chronic mercury poisoning has a cumulative effect on the body, meaning that if the amount taken in is greater than the body can remove, the difference is stored. As long as it accumulates, over time it can affect your health in many ways. For example, it has been linked with brain disorders including Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis, chronic fatigue syndrome, autism, learning disabilities and chronic neurological dysfunction. Symptoms of low-level poisoning include weakness, fatigue, impaired concentration and memory, persistent headaches, tremors and skin rashes. High doses can be fatal. Dr. McGuire points out that mercury is classified as a toxic heavy metal like arsenic -- in fact, it is far more toxic than arsenic. While arsenic is the poison of choice in mystery novels and no one in their right mind would think of innocently slipping it into your meals on a daily basis, we have somehow grown used to the idea that routine, everyday exposure to mercury is okay. Many of us have silver-mercury amalgam fillings in our teeth... pharmaceutical manufacturers use the mercury-based preservative thimerosal in vaccines... and the larger the fish you eat, the more mercury you ingest. Dr. McGuire talked about these hazards with me and offered helpful advice on how to avoid them. Mercury in Your Teeth There is nary a person in the US who does not have a dental cavity filled. Dentists routinely plug up cavities with silver-mercury amalgam fillings, which are easy to put in and inexpensive. However, Dr. McGuire warns that a tiny amount of mercury vapor is released from these fillings every time you generate friction and heat -- for example, when you brush your teeth or grind them or chew gum or drink hot liquids. The more amalgam fillings you have, the greater your exposure. When I discussed this subject with my own dentist years ago, he told me that the mercury toxins "evaporate" soon after the filling is put in place so there was no need to replace silver-mercury amalgam fillings. According to Dr. McGuire, this is not correct. Mercury comprises approximately 50% of an amalgam filling, and its vapor can be released from these fillings over a period of many decades. Many dentists assume that it forms a complex with zinc and other metals, such as silver and copper, on the surface of the restoration, blocking further mercury vapor release. This is false. Even the mechanism of tooth brushing can cause up to a 10-fold increase in the rate of mercury vapor release. Even though the daily amounts are relatively small, Dr. McGuire believes that exposure to any mercury at any level is a health hazard. When you add the amount of mercury from fillings to the mercury absorbed from your diet or annual flu shot or workplace (mercury has many industrial uses), the exposure from your fillings could be the straw that breaks the camel's back. The first indication would normally be one or more symptoms that are related to chronic mercury poisoning, such as weakness, fatigue, skin rashes, etc. Over time, that could lead to other related symptoms and a worsening of symptoms. Generally speaking, a disease forms when a set of symptoms becomes more or less permanent and are no longer isolated symptoms. This is easier to visualize when you think of one cell being affected, then two and so on. We have a redundant system, and it will take a number of cells dying or being wounded before the first sign of a symptom will appear, but that doesn't mean the damage isn't being done when we are not aware of it. What You Can Do About It Composite fillings are an excellent alternative to amalgams, observes Dr. McGuire. Made from a plastic dental resin combined with porcelain and glass particles, composites are the most natural-looking fillings, and recent improvements have made them stronger and more resistant to temperature changes and decay. Mercury-free dentists (who refrain from using mercury of any kind in their practices) specialize in composites and are your best bet to see for this type of filling. Visit Dr. McGuire's Web site at www.dentalwellness4u.com to find a mercury-free dentist in your area. But what if you are one of the 150 million Americans who already have amalgam fillings in your teeth? By all means have them removed, advises Dr. McGuire. To make certain that amalgam fillings are removed in a safe manner that does not expose you to large doses of mercury vapor, Dr. McGuire suggests that you have them removed by a mercury-free dentist. Most follow a mercury-removal protocol established by the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology (IAOMT). If these recommendations are followed, a patient's exposure to mercury vapor is decreased by up to 90%, when compared with the standard removal procedure followed by pro-amalgam dentists. You can find Dr. McGuire's evaluation of the IAOMT protocol at www.dentalwellness4u.com/freeservices/amalremov.html In a majority of cases, people will see an improvement in related symptoms, but in some cases it could take months or years. Mercury in Vaccines The mercury-based preservative known as thimerosal has increasingly come under fire in recent years. It has been implicated in the skyrocketing rate of autism in young children. In Dr. McGuire's opinion, one must take all forms of mercury exposure (from vaccines to a mother's amalgam fillings to environmental pollutants) into account when looking at potential causes of autism. In 2001, the Institute of Medicine recommended that children and pregnant women avoid thimerosal whenever possible. Since then, an effort has been made to remove it from infant vaccines (although it still appears in adult vaccines, such as flu and tetanus shots). Nearly 5,000 lawsuits have been filed urging state and federal legislation to ban thimerosal. (Read more about vaccinations in Daily Health News, February 9, 2004.) What you can do: Although this remains a controversial issue, Dr. McGuire believes that every effort should be made by the government, health organizations, general health-care practitioners, dentists and responsible parents to make sure that mothers and children are not exposed to mercury in any form. Because adult vaccines still contain thimerosal, ask your physician about mercury-free alternatives to standard adult shots, such as flu and tetanus, and consider alternate ways to boost your immune system to prevent the flu without getting a vaccine.
Mercury in Fish
Fish is an excellent source of lean protein and heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids. Unfortunately, nearly all fish are contaminated to some degree with mercury, thanks primarily to industrial pollution that accumulates in oceans and streams. Older, larger, predator fish -- those at the top of the food chain who live longer and spend their lives feeding on the little guys -- contain the most mercury and pose the greatest health risks, especially to pregnant or nursing women and young children. Shark, swordfish, tuna, tilefish and king mackerel top the charts with the highest levels of mercury and should be avoided altogether by people in these high-risk groups. What you can do: Whatever your age and gender, your best bet is to steer clear of fish that have the highest mercury content. Although some purists have sworn off fish altogether, Dr. McGuire does not believe it is necessary to go this far. Fish is still a healthy choice, especially for those who don't eat meat. You simply have to choose the fish that are lowest in mercury. According to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), safer, low-mercury alternatives include shrimp, salmon, pollock and catfish. When it comes to mercury poisoning, the more you know, the more effectively you can avoid it. To learn the mercury content of different fish, visit www.cfsan.fda.gov/~frf/sea-mehg.html. For more information about the safety of locally caught fish and shellfish, go to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Web site at www.epa.gov/ost/fish. And to learn more about mercury concerns in general, visit Dr. McGuire's Web site at www.mercuryfreenow.com. Be well,
Carole Jackson, Bottom Line's Daily Health News, September 6, 2005 Sources: Heavy Metal Self Defense Tom McGuire, DDS, leading authority on dental wellness, silver-mercury amalgam fillings and mercury poisoning. Dr. McGuire is president, Dental Wellness Institute... founder, International Association of Mercury Free Dentists (IAMFD)... and author of Tooth Fitness: Your Guide to Healthy Teeth (DIANE). Visit his Web sites at www.dentalwellness4u.com and www.mercuryfreenow.com.
FDA list of mercury content of fish, www.cfsan.fda.gov/~frf/sea-mehg.html
See also: Heavy Metal Detoxification Mercury & Immunization |
|
 First
Previous
2-6 of 6
Next
Last
|
|
Reply
| | | From: Rene | Sent: 4/27/2006 10:29 PM |
Dear Reader, Chances are you have a highly toxic substance in your mouth right now.
April 27, 2006:- If you've ever had a tooth cavity treated with a silver filling, then you have mercury in your mouth. Silver fillings contain a mix of silver, zinc, copper and tin, which are amalgamated with mercury. After a cavity is filled, mercury makes up about half of a typical "silver" filling.
Is the mercury a problem? Not according to an Internet Broadcasting Systems (IBS) report published last week under this headline: "Smile! Fillings With Mercury Not Harmful, Study Says"
Ah, but if we had a nickel for every questionable study that was heralded as the "last word," we'd live next door to Bill Gates.
--------------------------------------------
Two for two
-------------------------------------------- In the February 2006 issue of the HSI Members Alert, Kathryn Mays Wright wrote, "Numerous studies conducted in the 1970s and 80s proved conclusively that the mercury from fillings leaks into your body when you chew, ending up in your lungs, heart, stomach, kidneys, endocrine glands, gastrointestinal tract, jaw tissue, and brain."
That unsettling list is almost as bad as the list of health issues that have been associated with mercury exposure: neurological problems, immune system suppression, birth defects, high blood pressure and chronic fatigue, to name a few.
The research mentioned in the IBS report is actually just one of two very similar studies that appeared in a recent issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. Both studies examined more than 500 children to assess the effects of amalgam fillings. And in both studies, about half of the children received amalgam fillings, while the others received resin composite fillings.
One study, which followed the kids for seven years, found that amalgam was not associated with any neurobehavioral problems. The other, which followed the subjects for five years, found no adverse neuropsychological outcomes, no effect on IQ scores and no kidney problems among children with amalgams.
In the world of research, five years qualifies as a long-term study. But how long have you had amalgam fillings in your mouth? Decades? So how can these studies possibly be conclusive after just five and seven years?
Simply put: These studies don't offer enough evidence to make sweeping claims like, "Fillings With Mercury Not Harmful." --------------------------------------------
Toxic reputation
-------------------------------------------- I had a feeling that HSI Panelist Allan Spreen, M.D., would have some choice words about these new studies. When I checked in with him, he sent me these comments.
"They can do all the studies they want, but there has never been an argument, from ANY source, government or otherwise, concerning the toxicity of mercury. It is an EXTREMELY toxic substance. Those ubiquitous mercury thermometers have been OUTLAWED, for Pete's sake! Even dentists are taught special handling techniques concerning the substance for their own safety (forget the patient).
"Mercury has an extremely high vapor pressure that lasts for years. And federal guidelines will close down work sites that have experienced a mercury spill.
"Mixing mercury with silver does nothing to cancel out mercury's toxicity. No one has ever offered a mechanism by which silver mixing 'detoxifies' the stuff. So how come it's so safe all of a sudden once it's jammed into a person's mouth?
"Also, isn't it funny that the ADA (American Dental Association) has quietly stopped pushing the use of dental amalgam? New dentists almost exclusively use the 'unnecessary' composites now. Can you imagine the liability suits if anyone officially admitted the dangers of a highly toxic substance that a national professional organization has been promoting for a hundred years (and pumping into millions of mouths)?
"The studies in question are awfully short for looking at something like IQs and nerve damage (even assuming they weren't biased)."
If we could fast-forward to 2046 and assess IQs and neuropsychological outcomes of those 1,000+ subjects, we might have a much more realistic picture of amalgam effects. Meanwhile, there are two things that everyone with amalgam fillings can do that may minimize their mercury exposure: avoid excessive intake of hot beverages, and, if possible, overcome bruxism (grinding of teeth, usually during sleep).
In the e-Alert "Quicksilver" (12/19/02), HSI Panelist Richard Cohan, D.D.S., M.S., M.B.A., shared his opinion that people who grind their teeth incessantly, or others who drink hot beverages throughout the day, may be releasing unhealthy amounts of mercury from their fillings. To Your Good Health, Jenny Thompson
Sources:
"Smile! Fillings With Mercury Not Harmful, Study Says" Internet Broadcasting Systems, 4/18/06, thewbalchannel.com
"Neurobehavioral Effects of Dental Amalgam in Children" Journal of the American Medical Association, Vol. 295, No. 15, 4/19/06, jama.ama-assn.org
"Neuropsychological and Renal Effects of Dental Amalgam in Children" Journal of the American Medical Association, Vol. 295, No. 15, 4/19/06, jama.ama-assn.org
"Can Mercury-Silver Fillings Cause Disease? King James Medical Laboratory, Inc., dentalwellness.net
"Ginkgo (Ginkgo Biloba)" InteliHealth, intelihealth.com
Copyright (c)1997-2006 by www.hsibaltimore.com, L.L.C. The e-Alert may not be posted on commercial sites without written permission.
|
|
Reply
| | | From: Rene | Sent: 11/23/2006 8:51 PM |
Mercury Mysteries Often a naturopathic doctor's job is to diagnose -- and treat -- the seemingly undiagnosable. Generally these mystery cases involve patients with symptoms that seem like a straightforward issue on the surface and so medical doctors treat with medication that solves the problem for only as long as the medication lasts. On other occasions, doctors can find no medical reason for the symptoms, even after running a series of tests. Such was the case when a 60-year-old woman went to see Mark Stengler, ND, editor of Bottom Line's Natural Healing newsletter, because she was plagued by nausea, weakness and a burning sensation over her entire body, including her head. She also reported that she was salivating profusely. These symptoms were severe enough that she had sought medical help at an emergency room (ER) several times. However, the doctors there, after performing blood work and determining that the results were "normal," told her there was nothing they could do for her. Interestingly -- and tellingly -- several months before the onset of her symptoms, this patient had had 11 amalgam (mercury-containing) fillings removed in a series of appointments, a practice that has become relatively common as concern about the mercury content in these fillings has grown. After the patient told Dr. Stengler about the filling removal, she explained that the ER doctors had said her symptoms were not related to that. Dr. Stengler disagreed, especially when he discovered that the patient did not go to a dentist specially trained in removal of mercury fillings, and so had not taken critical precautions in the removal of such fillings, including a rubber dam in her mouth and continuous suction to prevent any of the material from escaping into her body. Her symptoms made him suspect mercury toxicity because this can cause both a burning sensation and increased salivation. When her urine analysis came back, Dr. Stengler says he wasn't surprised to see that it listed elevated mercury levels. TREATMENT Treatment for any heavy metal poisoning including mercury requires chelating, a process that employs certain medications and/or natural substances to bond to the metals "floating" in the body, and remove them. This is complex and takes place over time under the supervision of a trained health professional. (For more on chelation therapy, see Daily Health News, February 10, 2005 http://link.dhn.bottomlinesecrets.com/h/DKD3/KSIC/FW/Z80PE As support for the chelation therapy, Dr. Stengler also prescribed Lycopodium, a homeopathic remedy that would help reduce her nausea. He then had her begin treatment to rid her body of the mercury, using a combination of vitamins and minerals. To give support to his patient's liver and kidneys during the cleansing process, Dr. Stengler added milk thistle in a blend that included bearberry. Sometimes, DMSA, which contains sulfhydryl and is orally administered, can be used as part of the chelation process. However even though DMSA has been in widespread use for chelating for more than 50 years, not all patients react well to it. For this patient, it created a negative reaction -- gastric upset and headache -- probably because it was detoxing her too rapidly, and so Dr. Stengler took her off of it. Three weeks into treatment, he added homeopathic sulphur to her treatment to address the continuing problem of burning pains. After three months Dr. Stengler reports she is doing well and that all of her symptoms have been greatly reduced. He says that she will probably need treatment for another two to four months at which time she should be if not completely symptom free, certainly close to it. LESSONS LEARNED The danger of mercury in amalgam dental fillings continues to be the subject of controversy. On one side are experiences such as the one described above. On the other are reports such as the recent National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announcement of its safety. (Stay tuned for an upcoming article on the NIH's announcement.) Fortunately there are new mercury-free filling options for your teeth. For more on the issues surrounding mercury, see Daily Health News, September 6, 2005 http://link.dhn.bottomlinesecrets.com/h/HEQB/KSIC/FW/Z80PE And as for those "mystery symptoms," keep digging. Sometimes the tests are right. Sometimes the tests are wrong. And, sometimes individual sensitivities create symptoms for some and not for others. Often a naturopathic physician can help resolve the mystery given his/her bird's-eye methodology of analyzing cases. Be well, Carole Jackson, Bottom Line's Daily Health News Sources: Mercury Mysteries Mark A. Stengler, ND, is a naturopathic physician and leading authority on the practice of alternative and integrated medicine. He is director of the La Jolla Whole Health Clinic, La Jolla, California, and associate clinical professor at the National College of Naturopathic Medicine, Portland, Oregon. He is author of the newsletter Bottom Line Natural Healing (800-234-3834, www.DrStengler.com Andrew L. Rubman, ND, adjunct professor of clinical medicine, Florida College of Integrative Medicine, Orlando, and director, Southbury Clinic for Traditional Medicines, Southbury, CT. |
|
Reply
| | | From: Rene | Sent: 11/25/2006 11:15 PM |
Mercury Misgivings You gotta love the FDA. Leave it to them to objectively weight out all the evidence, look at a health problem from every side and from all angles, dissect, extrapolate, scrutinize and quantify it... Then issue exactly the WRONG recommendation. Again. This time, it's with regard to mercury amalgam dental fillings. According to a September article run by the Associated Press, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has reviewed 34 recent research studies that have NOT swayed them from their long-time position that mercury fillings in teeth pose no measurable threat to patients, except in rare instances of allergic reactions. Of course, this comes as no surprise, at least not to me. The FDA knows which side its bread is buttered on: The side that ensures the profitability of, and insulates from liability, what's currently accepted in mainstream medicine (or dentistry). Keep in mind that this is the same agency that almost always sides with Big Pharma over the safety of prescription drugs - even though by some estimates they kill over 300,000 Americans every year... Among the unspecified "research" the FDA reviewed were no doubt a pair of child studies that made headlines back in April of this year - one from Portugal and another from New England. I wrote to you about these studies on May 5. They were, in my opinion, methodologically worthless. Neither study had more than around 500 hundred subjects, and neither tracked these kids for very long (seven years at the longest). Well, mercury poisoning isn't terribly common to begin with. In any given group of 500, you likely won't have a single case! Besides this, the symptoms of mercury poisoning don't tend to manifest for many years, except in severe cases. So I ask the FDA and the medical establishment that trumpeted the April studies with such glee: What good are small-scale, short-duration studies in determining the true effects of mercury amalgam fillings? I wonder how many of the 34 studies the FDA reviewed were similarly worthless. What we really need is a long-term analysis of, say, 500,000 subjects - like the Danish study on vaccination and autism rates that forced me to re-think my position on mercury-based preservatives in childhood vaccines (Daily Dose, 5/5/2006). Don't get me wrong: I'm still against the over-vaccination of children, but not because of the mercury/autism risks. But I digress, keep reading... Even in the absence of a mammoth study specifically targeting mercury amalgam fillings, there's plenty of evidence out there damning them. I've written about some of it before in the Daily Dose - including one I've cited in the past that shows dental fillings to be the greatest single source of mercury exposure in humans. A lifetime's exposure to the vapors emitted by these fillings has been linked to serious autoimmune diseases like Lupus and MS. And as I wrote in my May 5 Daily Dose, when you add this together with...
Another study, from the University of Texas, showing a clear relationship between atmospheric mercury vapors inhaled by expectant mothers and a 17% increase in autism rates (Daily Dose, 6/7/2005) among their newborns.
The repeated FDA and state Fisheries Management bureau warnings regarding the hazardous mercury content of fresh-caught fishes in our nation's streams, rivers, lakes and coastal waters. Currently, 43 of 50 states have issued such cautions against eating many varieties of otherwise healthy and delicious game fish.
...What you end up with is a pretty persuasive picture that mercury ingestion is a bad scene, health-wise - whether it's inhaled (like from coal-plant emissions or MERCURY FILLINGS), or eaten in our foods.
But if you've been with me for a while, you've heard all this before. My greater point for today's essay is that just because the FDA says something's safe (read: Vioxx, Prozac or Prempro) doesn't mean that's what the evidence really shows - it often just means that's the recommendation that stands to profit the medical (or dental) establishment the most. In my experience, the agency is not above the blatant cover-up of sketchy health findings. After all, imagine what chaos would ensue if the FDA's findings had shown mercury amalgam fillings to be deadly - there'd be lawsuits against the agency, investigations, Congressional hearings, perhaps even a trial in the Supreme Court... And all that hubbub just would not be good for business. Always "filling" you in on the bottom line, William Campbell Douglass II, MD http://www.healthiertalk.com
|
|
Reply
| | | From: Rene | Sent: 4/9/2007 11:38 PM |
Mercury Present in Many FDA-Regulated Drugs
The FDA has been sued over the use of mercury in medicine. The lawsuit, originally filed in August 2006 by the Coalition for Mercury-free Drugs (CoMeD), asked the court to force the FDA to comply with laws and regulations by providing proof of the safety and efficacy of mercury in drugs. The suit was initially filed because the FDA failed to answer issues raised in a citizen petition filed by CoMeD. On October 27, CoMeD filed an amended complaint, disputing the FDA's response, which defended the use of mercury in medications. Mercury is present in at least 45 prescribed or over-the-counter drugs, including eye ointments, nasal sprays, and vaccines. Mercury-containing flu vaccines are administered both to children and to pregnant women. In a 1999 internal FDA e-mail, an official wrote that the agency's failure to properly evaluate the effects of mercury in medicine would " ... raise questions about FDA being 'asleep at the switch' for decades" because they would be allowing a "potentially hazardous compound" to remain present in medications.
Association of American Physicians and Surgeons November 13, 2006 [http://www.aapsonline.org/nod/newsofday357.php]
Dr. Mercola's Comment:
The FDA's defense of the hugely debatable safety of mercury is particularly galling in the wake of this week's obscene push for vaccines. In fact, Jeffrey Shuren, the FDA's acting commissioner for policy, called the Coalition for Mercury-Free Drugs' main assertion -- that the agency had no substantive evidence that would verify the safety of mercury -- "stunning."
What's stunning is that a known neurotoxin like mercury is found in at least 45 prescription or over-the-counter drugs, including ointments, vaccines and nasal sprays. And that's just the tip of the iceberg -- as if you needed any more evidence proving you can't trust the FDA or anybody else connected with conventional medicine to protect your health. You must take more responsibility to protect it yourself. You may not realize that you can now comment AND vote on articles at Vital Votes. Your participation will actually help select the articles that are sent out in this newsletter. And if your comments are good enough they will be posted in the newsletter. If you aren't registered make sure you do so. Register now at Vital Votes. You have a chance of having your comment posted like Millie, who is a researcher that attests to the pervasiveness of the chemical: "In the spring of 2006, when I visited the optometrist for a routine eye exam, I asked him to write down the ingredients contained in the drops which are used to dilate the pupil. Well, guess what one of the ingredients was ... good ol' mercury." A reader from Sister Lakes, Michigan tells a frightening story from her own experience: "My son had severe reactions to a vaccination (DPT) in 1981. Afterwards, he did not sleep, or very little for a 5 month old. I discontinued the vaccinations until age 16. He needed a physical for school soccer. The nurse came out and said that all was well except he wasn't up to date on vaccinations and had given him one without me giving my permission. He had the same reaction at 16 as at 5 months, his muscles were rock hard. He could barely walk for 3 days and hobbled like an old man. Luckily, he was not affected in other ways (that we know of). I've been hesitant of the medical community for 25 years now." Makes you wonder how many kids are even less lucky, doesn't it? Is mercury really something you want in your child's body? I think most parents, if asked, would respond with a resounding No!
Related Articles:
Mercury, Vaccines and Medicine
How the Mercury in Vaccines Can Kill Your Baby Autism and Mercury
For more see: mercola.com/2006/nov/30/mercury-present-in-many-fda-regulated-drugs.htm |
|
Reply
| |
Mercury release rate dangerous, report says
July 19, 2007:- By Elizabeth Miller - Dangerous levels of mercury are still being released into the environment and are winding up on dinner plates across America, a report revealed yesterday.
The report said five chlorine plants are emitting hundreds of pounds of mercury into the air every year using outdated technology to produce chlorine, a chemical used in everything from swimming pools to plastic tents.
On average, these five plants release four times more mercury per plant than the average coal-burning power plant, one of the world's other largest sources of mercury emissions, according to the report released by Oceana, an environmental advocacy group.
When mercury is released in the air, it settles into water or onto land where it can be washed into water. There, some microorganisms change it into methylmercury, a highly toxic form that builds up in fish, shellfish and animals that eat fish, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
Once mercury enters the body, often through consumption of seafood, it acts as a neurotoxin and attacks the central nervous system.
According to EPA data from 1999, coal-fired electric power plants are the largest source of human-caused mercury air emissions in the United States, accounting for about 40 percent of total U.S. man-made mercury emissions. But other large sources are industrial boilers, the burning of hazardous waste and chlorine production.
"The focus on mercury has really been around the power plants because there are more power plants than chlorine factories ... but we identified a source that had been flying under the radar," said Jacqueline Savitz, director of Oceana's Campaign to Stop Seafood Contamination. "On average, these plants release 880 pounds of mercury through the air and these guys are big sources of mercury. They're the number-one source in Tennessee and Wisconsin."
The five plants are: Ashta Chemicals in Ashtabula, Ohio; Olin Corporation's two plants in Charleston, Tenn., and Augusta, Ga.; PPG Industries in Natrium, W.Va., and ERCO Worldwide in Port Edwards, Wis.
The report studies 115 chlorine plants that are shifting or have shifted to mercury-free technology to produce their chemicals and even shows how the remaining "filthy five" U.S. plants can increase profits by modernizing their production technology and becoming mercury-free.
The report said the companies argue that mercury use is necessary to create high-quality caustic soda to be used in the manufacturing process of some fibers such as rayon, but mercury-free technology is now being used to create high-quality caustic soda and is being used in India.
One Wisconsin plant, ERCO, released a statement saying it was considering switching to mercury-free technology in 2006, but after failing to leverage a special electric rate in exchange for stopping the mercury releases with the state, it made no committed, Miss Savitz said.
More than 90 percent of the chlorine produced in the United States is made with mercury-free technology, and the report says that number is growing with two mercury-based plants converting to non-mercury-based technology by 2008.
[http://takeaction.oceana.org/content.jsp?content_KEY=2985] From: [http://www.washingtontimes.com/article/20070719/NATION/107190066/-1/RSS_NATION_POLITICS] This is a printer friendly version of an article from [www.washingtontimes.com]
|
|
|
First
Previous
2-6 of 6
Next
Last
|
|
|
Free Forum Hosting
Important Announcement
Return to �?Toxins �?/A> 
