Mercury in Air Pollution: A Link to Autism?

http://www.healthsentinel.com/news.p...st_item&id=693

Daniel DeNoon, "Mercury in Air Pollution: A Link to Autism?", Web MD,
March 18, 2005,
Link:
http://my.webmd.com/content/Article/...000_1000_qd_01

Can mercury in air pollution cause autism? Nobody knows. But a new
study suggests it's worth a look.

Mercury is one heck of a toxic substance. A fraction of a teaspoon can
render all the fish in a 20-acre lake unsafe to eat.

A recent Institute of Medicine study found no link between the tiny
amounts of mercury in childhood vaccines and autism.childhood vaccines
and autism. But the jury is still out on whether prenatal exposure to
mercury might affect brain development.

Could environmental exposure to mercury affect autism rates? Raymond F.
Palmer, PhD, and colleagues at the University of Texas Health Science
Center explored the issue. They looked at EPA figures on industrial
mercury release -- most of which comes from coal-fired power plants --
in 254 Texas counties. They compared these figures to autism rates from
the counties' 1,184 school districts, taking into account other factors
linked to autism.

Mercury Dumping, More Autism

"We found that for every 1,000 pounds of mercury released by industry,
there was a 17% increase in autism," Palmer tells WebMD. "This is one
of the most highly toxic [nerve-damaging substances] on earth. So when
we talk about 50 pounds, 1,000 pounds, 2,000 pounds released into the
environment, this is a tremendous amount of potential exposure. But we
do not know how these exposures get into the body."

The findings are scheduled to appear in the journal Health & Place.

No Proof Mercury Pollution Causes Autism

Palmer is quick to point out that this kind of study does not prove
mercury pollution causes autism.

"We show a significant relationship between mercury release into the
environment and autism. But that does not prove causation," Palmer
says.

Palmer's team is planning a long-term study to see whether actual fetal
mercury exposure can be linked to autism.

"The ultimate goal of this work is to help us think about what we want
to let out in the environment," Palmer says. "Is there an acceptable
risk for mercury exposure? We don't know. We would like to affect
political action, but we need harder data to do that. This study is
just a first step."

Philip W. Davidson, PhD, is studying the effects of mercury exposure
from eating mercury-contaminated fish on child development. He's
professor of pediatrics and chief of the Strong Center for
Developmental Disabilities at the University of Rochester School of
Medicine and Dentistry in New York.

"The question is, if a fetus is exposed to mercury, does that raise the
threshold for autism? Nobody knows," Davidson tells WebMD. "As far as I
know, no study has isolated symptoms of autism in individuals exposed
to methyl mercury [the most dangerous form of mercury]. ... We think
autism comes from prenatal sources. Does mercury trigger autism? Who
knows? We don't yet have any evidence."

Women, Fish, and Mercury

Davidson and colleagues are studying mercury exposure in pregnant women
and their offspring in Seychelles, where the diet contains large
amounts of fish. He warns, however, that the study of mercury is very
complex. Studies must take into account the form of mercury, the dose
of mercury, and the time of life a person is exposed to mercury.

So far, he says, the data suggest that fetal exposure to mercury is
more likely to be harmful than mercury exposure during childhood.

To protect developing babies from high levels of potentially
brain-damaging mercury, the government issued guidelines in March 2004
to warn womenwarn women who are pregnant, nursing, or even considering
having children to eat no more than two servings of fish each week.

SOURCES: Palmer, R.F. Health & Place, published online Feb. 17, 2005.
Raymond F. Palmer, PhD, associate professor, University of Texas Health
Science Center, San Antonio. Philip W. Davidson, PhD, professor of
pediatrics and chief, Strong Center for Developmental Disabilities,
University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester,
N.Y.

Excellent post Roman. Thanks.

You might want to look at this too.

NEW 5 min. video (Windows Media):
Rapid Degeneration of Neurons in the Presence of Mercury:

http://www.virtustate.com/stories/storyReader$1352

~~~~~~~~~~~~


On 21 Mar 2005 17:01:05 -0800, "Roman Bystrianyk"
wrote:

http://www.healthsentinel.com/news.p...st_item&id=693

Daniel DeNoon, "Mercury in Air Pollution: A Link to Autism?", Web MD,
March 18, 2005,
Link:
http://my.webmd.com/content/Article/...000_1000_qd_01

Can mercury in air pollution cause autism? Nobody knows. But a new
study suggests it's worth a look.

Mercury is one heck of a toxic substance. A fraction of a teaspoon can
render all the fish in a 20-acre lake unsafe to eat.

A recent Institute of Medicine study found no link between the tiny
amounts of mercury in childhood vaccines and autism.childhood vaccines
and autism. But the jury is still out on whether prenatal exposure to
mercury might affect brain development.

Could environmental exposure to mercury affect autism rates? Raymond F.
Palmer, PhD, and colleagues at the University of Texas Health Science
Center explored the issue. They looked at EPA figures on industrial
mercury release -- most of which comes from coal-fired power plants --
in 254 Texas counties. They compared these figures to autism rates from
the counties' 1,184 school districts, taking into account other factors
linked to autism.

Mercury Dumping, More Autism

"We found that for every 1,000 pounds of mercury released by industry,
there was a 17% increase in autism," Palmer tells WebMD. "This is one
of the most highly toxic [nerve-damaging substances] on earth. So when
we talk about 50 pounds, 1,000 pounds, 2,000 pounds released into the
environment, this is a tremendous amount of potential exposure. But we
do not know how these exposures get into the body."

The findings are scheduled to appear in the journal Health & Place.

No Proof Mercury Pollution Causes Autism

Palmer is quick to point out that this kind of study does not prove
mercury pollution causes autism.

"We show a significant relationship between mercury release into the
environment and autism. But that does not prove causation," Palmer
says.

Palmer's team is planning a long-term study to see whether actual fetal
mercury exposure can be linked to autism.

"The ultimate goal of this work is to help us think about what we want
to let out in the environment," Palmer says. "Is there an acceptable
risk for mercury exposure? We don't know. We would like to affect
political action, but we need harder data to do that. This study is
just a first step."

Philip W. Davidson, PhD, is studying the effects of mercury exposure
from eating mercury-contaminated fish on child development. He's
professor of pediatrics and chief of the Strong Center for
Developmental Disabilities at the University of Rochester School of
Medicine and Dentistry in New York.

"The question is, if a fetus is exposed to mercury, does that raise the
threshold for autism? Nobody knows," Davidson tells WebMD. "As far as I
know, no study has isolated symptoms of autism in individuals exposed
to methyl mercury [the most dangerous form of mercury]. ... We think
autism comes from prenatal sources. Does mercury trigger autism? Who
knows? We don't yet have any evidence."

Women, Fish, and Mercury

Davidson and colleagues are studying mercury exposure in pregnant women
and their offspring in Seychelles, where the diet contains large
amounts of fish. He warns, however, that the study of mercury is very
complex. Studies must take into account the form of mercury, the dose
of mercury, and the time of life a person is exposed to mercury.

So far, he says, the data suggest that fetal exposure to mercury is
more likely to be harmful than mercury exposure during childhood.

To protect developing babies from high levels of potentially
brain-damaging mercury, the government issued guidelines in March 2004
to warn womenwarn women who are pregnant, nursing, or even considering
having children to eat no more than two servings of fish each week.

SOURCES: Palmer, R.F. Health & Place, published online Feb. 17, 2005.
Raymond F. Palmer, PhD, associate professor, University of Texas Health
Science Center, San Antonio. Philip W. Davidson, PhD, professor of
pediatrics and chief, Strong Center for Developmental Disabilities,
University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester,
N.Y.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationwo...s-ap-tophealth

IQ Loss Linked to Mercury Costs $8.7B

By DEVLIN BARRET

Associated Press Writer

February 28, 2005

WASHINGTON - Lower IQ levels linked to mercury exposure in the womb
costs the United States $8.7 billion a year in lost earnings
potential, according to a study released Monday by researchers at a
New York hospital.

The Mount Sinai Center for Children's Health and the Environment
combined a number of previous studies to determine hundreds of
thousands of babies are born every year with lower IQ associated with
mercury exposure.

Using work examining the effects of lead exposure on IQ, researchers
determined that even a 1.6 point drop in IQ could cost a person
$31,800 in lifetime earnings because of missed educational
opportunities or jobs.

Peter McCaffery, a scientist at the University of Massachusetts
Medical School who studies the brain, said the Mount Sinai
researchers did a reasonable job piecing together a wide range of
possible reactions to mercury exposure.

"Some people are not going to be affected by mercury, and some people
are, just based on their genetic disposition," McCaffery said. The
journal Environmental Health Perspectives published the Mount Sinai
study. The findings are derived in part from statistics from the
Centers for Disease Control, which studied the frequency of high
mercury levels in women of childbearing age.

The Food and Drug Administration has warned that high levels of
mercury in albacore tuna and some other fish can pose a hazard for
pregnant women. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that
about 8 percent of American women of childbearing age have enough
mercury in their blood to put a fetus at risk.

Mount Sinai pediatrician and lead researcher Leonardo Trasande
estimated that between 316,588 and 637,233 children are born each
year with umbilical cord blood mercury levels linked to IQ loss. The
research found the IQ losses linked to mercury range from one-fifth
of an IQ point to as much as 24 points.

As an example, Trasande said about 4 percent of babies, or about
180,000, are born each year with blood mercury levels between 7.13
and 15 micrograms per liter. That level of mercury, the group
concluded, causes a loss of 1.6 IQ points.

Mercury levels, Trasande said, are probably lower generally than they
were in years before limits were placed on emissions from medical
waste and municipal incinerators.

"We've made great progress in reducing mercury emissions over the
past decade, and this is likely to have reduced the number of
affected children and to have reduced costs by a similar amount,"
Trasande said.

Leonard Levin, a scientist at the Electric Power Research Institute,
said no group has yet to produce solid data defining the impact of
mercury on intelligence.

Mount Sinai released its findings in hopes of influencing the debate
over legislation before Congress, known as Clear Skies, that would
change how the government regulates emissions from power plants and
other sources.

The study was supported by a grant from the National Institute of
Environmental Health Sciences, and with financial support from the
Jennifer Altman Foundation, Physicians for Social Responsibility, and
the Rena Shulsky Foundation.

* __ On the Net: Environmental Health Perspectives:
http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/

Mount Sinai Center for Children's Health and the Environment:
http://www.childenvironment.org/

Electric Power Research Institute: http://www.epri.com/

Copyright 2005 Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationwo...s-ap-tophealth

IQ Loss Linked to Mercury Costs $8.7B

By DEVLIN BARRET

Associated Press Writer

February 28, 2005

WASHINGTON - Lower IQ levels linked to mercury exposure in the womb
costs the United States $8.7 billion a year in lost earnings
potential, according to a study released Monday by researchers at a
New York hospital.

The Mount Sinai Center for Children's Health and the Environment
combined a number of previous studies to determine hundreds of
thousands of babies are born every year with lower IQ associated with
mercury exposure.

Using work examining the effects of lead exposure on IQ, researchers
determined that even a 1.6 point drop in IQ could cost a person
$31,800 in lifetime earnings because of missed educational
opportunities or jobs.

Peter McCaffery, a scientist at the University of Massachusetts
Medical School who studies the brain, said the Mount Sinai
researchers did a reasonable job piecing together a wide range of
possible reactions to mercury exposure.

"Some people are not going to be affected by mercury, and some people
are, just based on their genetic disposition," McCaffery said. The
journal Environmental Health Perspectives published the Mount Sinai
study. The findings are derived in part from statistics from the
Centers for Disease Control, which studied the frequency of high
mercury levels in women of childbearing age.

The Food and Drug Administration has warned that high levels of
mercury in albacore tuna and some other fish can pose a hazard for
pregnant women. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that
about 8 percent of American women of childbearing age have enough
mercury in their blood to put a fetus at risk.

Mount Sinai pediatrician and lead researcher Leonardo Trasande
estimated that between 316,588 and 637,233 children are born each
year with umbilical cord blood mercury levels linked to IQ loss. The
research found the IQ losses linked to mercury range from one-fifth
of an IQ point to as much as 24 points.

As an example, Trasande said about 4 percent of babies, or about
180,000, are born each year with blood mercury levels between 7.13
and 15 micrograms per liter. That level of mercury, the group
concluded, causes a loss of 1.6 IQ points.

Mercury levels, Trasande said, are probably lower generally than they
were in years before limits were placed on emissions from medical
waste and municipal incinerators.

"We've made great progress in reducing mercury emissions over the
past decade, and this is likely to have reduced the number of
affected children and to have reduced costs by a similar amount,"
Trasande said.

Leonard Levin, a scientist at the Electric Power Research Institute,
said no group has yet to produce solid data defining the impact of
mercury on intelligence.

Mount Sinai released its findings in hopes of influencing the debate
over legislation before Congress, known as Clear Skies, that would
change how the government regulates emissions from power plants and
other sources.

The study was supported by a grant from the National Institute of
Environmental Health Sciences, and with financial support from the
Jennifer Altman Foundation, Physicians for Social Responsibility, and
the Rena Shulsky Foundation.

* __ On the Net: Environmental Health Perspectives:
http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/

Mount Sinai Center for Children's Health and the Environment:
http://www.childenvironment.org/

Electric Power Research Institute: http://www.epri.com/

Copyright 2005 Los Angeles Times

Maybe that explains why many have the attention span of a hamster,
clearly they cannot think outside the box. One cannot be rational, in
their right mind so to speak and vote a 2nd time for a president whose
agenda is to keep this country purged in war indefinetly creating more
enemies around the world.
Mercury that is released from amalgam fillings in the mouth is
certainly having an impact on thousands of americans and brain fog is
one of them.