Mercury in dental-filling materials -- an updated risk analysis in environmental medical terms
01 Jan 2002-
About: The article was published on 2002-01-01 and is currently open access. It has received 16 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Mercury (element).
Citations
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TL;DR: The issue of diagnostic testing for chronic, historical or low dose mercury poisoning is considered including an analysis of the influence of ligand interactions and nutritional factors upon the accuracy of "chelation challenge" tests.
329 citations
TL;DR: The aim of this review is to survey differences in human exposure and in the toxicology of different forms of mercury to study subclinical effects in population studies.
Abstract: Mercury is ubiquitous in the environment and therefore every human being, irrespective of age and location, is exposed to one form of mercury or another. The major source of environmental mercury is natural degassing of the earth's crust, but industrial activities can raise exposure to toxic levels directly or through the use or misuse of the liquid metals or synthesized mercurial compounds. The aim of this review is to survey differences in human exposure and in the toxicology of different forms of mercury. It covers not only symptoms and signs observed in poisoned individuals by a clinician but also subclinical effects in population studies, the final evaluation of which is the domain of statisticians.
221 citations
TL;DR: It was claimed by the Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks (SCENIHR) in a report to the EU-Commission that "....no risks of adverse systemic effects exist and the current use of dental amalgam does not pose a risk of systemic disease..."
Abstract: It was claimed by the Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks (SCENIHR)) in a report to the EU-Commission that "....no risks of adverse systemic effects exist and the current use of dental amalgam does not pose a risk of systemic disease..." [1, available from: http://ec.europa.eu/health/ph_risk/committees/04_scenihr/docs/scenihr_o_016.pdf].
109 citations
TL;DR: A number of studies are methodically flawed drawing inaccurate conclusions as to the safety of dental amalgam, considering the newest findings on mercury toxicity and metabolism.
101 citations
TL;DR: This review has uncovered no convincing evidence pointing to any adverse health effects that are attributable to dental amalgam restorations besides hypersensitivity in some individuals.
Abstract: There is significant public concern about the potential health effects of exposure to mercury vapour (Hg0) released from dental amalgam restorations. The purpose of this article is to provide information about the toxicokinetics of Hg0, evaluate the findings from the recent scientific and medical literature, and identify research gaps that when filled may definitively support or refute the hypothesis that dental amalgam causes adverse health effects. Dental amalgam is a widely used restorative dental material that was introduced over 150 years ago. Most standard dental amalgam formulations contain approximately 50% elemental mercury. Experimental evidence consistently demonstrates that Hg0 is released from dental amalgam restorations and is absorbed by the human body. Numerous studies report positive correlations between the number of dental amalgam restorations or surfaces and urine mercury concentrations in non-occupationally exposed individuals. Although of public concern, it is currently unclear what adverse health effects are caused by the levels of Hg0 released from this restoration material. Historically, studies of occupationally exposed individuals have provided consistent information about the relationship between exposure to Hg0 and adverse effects reflecting both nervous system and renal dysfunction. Workers are usually exposed to substantially higher Hg0 levels than individuals with dental amalgam restorations and are typically exposed 8 hours per day for 20–30 years, whereas persons with dental amalgam restorations are exposed 24 hours per day over some portion of a lifetime. This review has uncovered no convincing evidence pointing to any adverse health effects that are attributable to dental amalgam restorations besides hypersensitivity in some individuals.
100 citations
Cites background from "Mercury in dental-filling materials..."
...In cause the kidneys are the primary site of Hg2+ accumulation, 2002, a literature review of the health effects of dental amalgam chronic exposures to Hg0 >0.050mg Hg/m3 can result in adverse undertaken for the Dental Material Commission of Sweden[9] effects on renal function....
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...Although other literature reviews of dental serve as sentinels, as they are usually exposed to substantially amalgam have placed emphasis on animal and in vitro studies,[9] higher Hg0 levels than persons with dental amalgam restorations....
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...050mg Hg/m3 can result in adverse undertaken for the Dental Material Commission of Sweden[9] effects on renal function....
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...In addition, the governments of gingivitis, stomatitis, hearing loss, and emotional instability and Sweden and Denmark have banned and are currently phasing out irritability may begin to be observed at air concentrations all mercury-containing materials, including dental amalgam, be- >0.050mg Hg/m3 (urine mercury ≥60µg Hg/g creatinine)....
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References
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TL;DR: It appears that the induction of apoptosis by mercury compounds in immature cells is only an acceleration of a spontaneously occuring process, and that it is not a directly related to the early microglial reaction.
Abstract: The earliest sign of neurotoxicity observed after exposure of three-dimensional brain cell cultures to low concentrations of mercury compounds is a microglial reaction. We hypothesized that an induction of apoptosis by mercury compounds could be an activating signal of the microglial reaction. Aggregating brain cell cultures of fetal rat telencephalon were treated for 10 days with either mercury chloride or monomethylmercury chloride at noncytotoxic concentrations during two developmental periods: from day 5 to 15, corresponding to an immature stage, and from day 25 to 35 corresponding to a mature stage. Apoptosis was evaluated by the TUNEL technique. It was found that both mercury compounds caused a significant increase in the number of apoptotic cells, but exclusively in immature cultures exhibiting also spontaneous apoptosis. Double staining by the TUNEL technique combined with either neuronal or astroglial markers revealed that the proportion of cells undergoing apoptosis was highest for astrocytes. Furthermore neither an association nor a colocalization was found between apoptotic cells and microglial cells. In conclusion, it appears that the induction of apoptosis by mercury compounds in immature cells is only an acceleration of a spontaneously occuring process, and that it is not a directly related to the early microglial reaction. J. Neurosci. Res. 53:361–367, 1998. © 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
40 citations
"Mercury in dental-filling materials..." refers background in this paper
...Monnet-Tschudi (1998) studied the incidence of apoptosis (programmed natural cell death) in cultures of foetal rat brain....
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TL;DR: It is reported here that Hg impairs host resistance to malaria infection at exo-erythrocytic stages, and affects immunologic parameters that are known to be involved in host response to malaria infections.
Abstract: Malaria has re-emerged in Amazonia over the past two decades. Many factors have been proposed for this, among them changes in population distribution, failures of vector control and pharmacologic management, and local as well as global environmental changes. Among the latter factors, we have studied the potential role of increasing exposures to the immunotoxic metal mercury, which is widely used in Amazonia for artisanal extraction of alluvial gold deposits. We report here that Hg impairs host resistance to malaria infection at exo-erythrocytic stages. Hg exposed mice have higher parasitemia following infection with sporozoites, but not after transfusion of infected red cells. In mice inoculated with irradiated sporozoites, Hg blocks acquisition of immunity. In addition Hg affects immunologic parameters that are known to be involved in host response to malaria infection. These results have potential implications for the incidence and prevalence of malaria among populations exposed to mercury from ...
40 citations
"Mercury in dental-filling materials..." refers background in this paper
...Both mercury-sensitive and mercury-resistant mice show reduced immunity against malaria protozoa after injection of subtoxic doses of HgCl2 (Silbergeld et al. 2000)....
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TL;DR: Evidence is provided of a pro-oxidant role of the amalgam Hg chronically released in saliva, for the first time, that is used as an index of oxidative stress in salivary total antioxidant activity (TAA).
39 citations
"Mercury in dental-filling materials..." refers background in this paper
...In determining mercury concentrations in amalgam bearers saliva, Pizzichini et al. (2001, 2002) found a significant correlation between mercury in saliva and the number of amalgam fillings in both men and women....
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...As discussed above (3.1), TAA in saliva was found to be significantly inversely correlated with mercury concentration in saliva in women, but not in men (Pizzichini et al. 2001, 2002)....
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TL;DR: A human fetal hepatic cell line (WRL‐68) was used as a model to study the damage produced by mercury and mitochondria were found to be the major target for mercury in this cell line, indicating that mercury does not affect directly the mitochondrial respiratory chain.
Abstract: A human fetal hepatic cell line (WRL-68) was used as a model to study the damage produced by mercury. The Hg(II) uptake by WRL-68 cells was found to be in a biphasic manner with a rapid initial uptake phase lasting about 5 min, followed by a sustained phase of slower accumulation. Distribution of mercury was studied and mitochondria were found to be the major target for mercury in this cell line (48%), followed by nuclei (38%), cytosol (8%) and microsomes (7%). Mitochondrial morphological damage after mercury treatment was observed by transmission electron microscopy. To determine if the toxic effect of mercury on mitochondrial bioenergetics was direct or indirect, mitochondria were isolated from WRL-68 cells after 1 h of pre-incubation with 0.5 µM HgCl2. Oxygen consumption was quantified in two sets of experiments: in the presence of classical mitochondrial respiratory inhibitors; and in the presence of oligomycin. No significant difference was found in respiration with classical inhibitors, indicating that mercury does not affect directly the mitochondrial respiratory chain. However, mitochondria of Hg-treated cells were not inhibited when oligomycin was added, probably due to an uncoupling effect. This effect was prevented with dithiothreitol (DTT) treatment. A possible explanation for mercury's effect on mitochondria and its relation with oxidative stress is presented. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
39 citations
"Mercury in dental-filling materials..." refers background in this paper
...Königsberg et al. (2001) studied the effect of 0.5µM on mitochondrion function in a foetal liver-cell line....
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Journal Article•
TL;DR: The demonstration that necrozoospermia decreases with increased sperm transport through the epididymis, when combined with the observation of normal testicular sperm morphology, represents the basis for the disorder termed epididcyal necrozosospermias, however, to date the nature of the spinal canal pathology causing this disorder remains obscure.
Abstract: This review describes the role of the epididymis in human infertility, by analysing the results of epididymovasostomies which confirm that the more distal the site of obstruction the greater the chance of fertility. The use of epididymal spermatozoa for in vitro fertilization (IVF) yielded poor results in contrast to intracytoplasmic sperm injection using either epididymal or testicular spermatozoa. The nature of the pathology causing obstructive azoospermia is examined reviewing in particular the possible role of mercury toxicity in Young's syndrome. This review describes the results of studies that show that the level of obstruction within the epididymis is correlated with the presence of sperm antibodies and distal obstructions are associated with the presence of sperm antibodies. The demonstration that necrozoospermia decreases with increased sperm transport through the epididymis, when combined with the observation of normal testicular sperm morphology, represents the basis for the disorder termed epididymal necrozoospermia. However, to date the nature of the epididymal pathology causing this disorder remains obscure.
37 citations
"Mercury in dental-filling materials..." refers background in this paper
...Clinical observations have prompted suspicions of associations between acrodynia (Pink Disease) and epididymis obstruction (de Kretser et al. 1998)....
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