Mercury: A Potential Contaminant

Introduction: A 15 year old boy suddenly became sick and he experienced fatigue, headache, tingling, weakness and weight loss. The only information provided indicates that he has been using acne prescribed by a dermatologist to treat skin irritation and commercial "cosmetic cream". The doctor could not find the reason for the sickness of the boy, but, interestingly, the boy found a heavy metal in his urine. It may be a heavy metal, it could cause such a serious reaction.

Thimerosal / Mercury: Thimerosal is a mercury-containing compound used as a preservative for multiple-dose vials. Its intended purpose is to prevent bacterial contamination. Exposure to mercury can damage the kidneys and the brain and is associated with inflammatory diseases such as autoimmune diseases. Aluminum salts: Salts such as aluminum hydroxide, aluminum phosphate and other mixed salts are added to the influenza vaccine to stimulate the body's immune response, thereby producing antigens against the virus. It has been clinically proven that aluminum can cause local adverse reactions including autoimmunity, neurological diseases including multiple sclerosis, and fatigue and muscle pain at the injection site.

Mercury contamination is a problem as elemental mercury (inorganic mercury) can be converted into organic mercury (methyl mercury). This type of mercury can be absorbed by the biological accumulation of organisms and organic tissues. The bioaccumulation of mercury is problematic as it threatens fish resources and they can harm people if they consume contaminated fish. Exposure to methylmercury is common, but infants and young children in the uterus are at high risk of exposure, and are subjected to unbalanced influences such as nerve injuries. This is due to the lack of development of the blood brain barrier in infants. Exposure to methyl mercury may adversely affect cognitive thinking, memory, attention, language, motor skills, visual ability.

Sea water pollution, overfishing of fish and shellfish, quality of aquaculture industry, potential adverse effect of certain fishing methods against wildlife, and exposure to fish pollution (especially mercury) Personal concern Fortunately, for the United States Two agencies evaluate all of the above problems and provide practical advice on fish selection based on these issues. We encourage you to take advantage of the resources provided by both organizations. The first organization is Monterey Bay Seafood Watch (www.seafoodwatch.org).