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How Does Mercury Poisoning Affect Your Health?
Mercury metal is a highly useful element, number 80 on the Periodic Chart of the elements. It is the only heavy metal that is a liquid at room temperature, one of only four elements that is so. Its qualities as a liquid and a heavy metal have made it both useful and deadly in history. Other metals on the Periodic Chart with similar characteristics are gold, silver, cadmium, and lead. Of these, only gold is denser.
Mercury was known in ancient China and India and was found in Egyptian tombs placed there 3500 years ago. Mercury metal comes from cinnabar, or mercury sulfide. Most of the world's supply comes from California, Texas, Spain, and Italy. It has been used for years in sphygmomanometers, thermometers, and barometers because the column of liquid can be 13 times shorter than if it were water. The problem is that mercury, mercury vapor, and all soluble salts of mercury are extremely poisonous.
In spire of its poisonous nature, mercury has been used in a wide variety of ways. Street lights with a blue tinge are generally mercury vapor lights. Vermillion, which is really mercury sulfide, is used as a ship paint to reduce the problem of barnacles. Mercury has also been used in fluorescent lights. If they are broken indoors, the powder coming out contains enough poisonous mercury vapor to be a health risk. Mercury is also used in dental amalgams and some cosmetics though some claim no health risk has ever been proven. When the author growing up, it was common to paint mercurochrome on a wound with a glass rod to keep the wound from being infected. Today it is outlawed.
Researched has heightened awareness of the far reaching negative effects of heavy metals on health. The fact is, mercury, lead, cadmium and other heavy metals are not needed by the body. Indeed, their presence is nearly always negative. We ingest them in a variety of ways. The abundant use of mercury in the past has now poisoned water, land, and seas. Today mercury poisoning in tuna and swordfish is a serious health risk and must be monitored continually.
These are a few common products containing mercury in some form. Each poses a threat to cause mercury poisoning: algaecides, body powders, calomel lotions, dental amalgams, felt, germicides, insecticides, manufacture of paper and chlorine, paper products, polluted water, skin lightening creams, and tanning leather.
Consider these selected complications caused by mercury poisoning: alopecia, birth defects, cerebral palsy, jerky movements, dermatitis, drowsiness, gum bleeding and soreness, memory loss, migraines, retinitis, schizophrenia, etc. etc. Heavy metals can indirectly or directly damage the very DNA code thus increasing the risk of cancer.
Symptoms like those above often include sensory impairment such as vision, hearing, or speech problems, lack of coordination, and disturbed sensation. The type of symptom and the degree of the problem will depend on the individual, the metal causing the poisoning, and the duration of the exposure.
The sheer number of products that have used mercury in the past means it is in most every landfill in the country. From there, mercury can leach into the soil and end up in produce or in the water system. Most city water systems will remove it but if you use well water in cooking or drinking, you might be in danger of mercury poisoning.
The facts are alarming. The affects of these metals may not be seen for years but they are doing their damaging work just the same in yourself and your children. Of course, we can do nothing to eliminate the damaging compounds dumped in landfills in the past. Neither can we deal with present products that are health concerns. But we can limit or eliminate the intake of these metals in ourselves and our families. One sure way to do this is to filter all drinking or cooking water. As an example, an effective activated charcoal filter promises through adsorption, to remove 95% of any mercury and other heavy metals in the water. A low cost activated charcoal filter will not only lower the risk of future problems, but can give present peace of mind. That would be a worthwhile investment!
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