Mercury

Mercury in electronics

One of the commonest and little known sources of mercury contamination can be your smart phone, tablet and/or laptop computer. These devices contain a lot of mercury and as they heat up with prolonged use the mercury can degas to be absorbed into the eyes, mouth and nose. Many people are addicted to their phones and larger devices and spend many hours with them close to their face.

This is creating a new epidemic of mercury toxicity. There is little recogniton of this problem although major players like Apple say they have been phasing mercury and other toxic materials out of their phones and devices for some time.

Mercury in cosmetics

Another issue with mercury is its use as a preservative in many cosmetics and hair products. The allowable levels are very low, however the last thing the consumer wants to find is a colony of furry mould growing on top of their expensive potion. Cosmetic companies are very image conscious and mould could threaten the reputation and viability of an entire brand. So perhaps a little more mercury is being used by manufacturers. In fact the FDA in the USA found many cosmetic products it tested were contaminated. As the amount used is small manufacturers do not have to mention it on the label so you cannot easily tell if the product contains it. You may need to have your products tested by a practitioner with skils in bioresonance medicine or kinesiology. If you are unsure it may be safer to use certified organic skin and hair care products. The legislation concerning heavy metals in hair dyes varies between countries, and it may be safer to use dyes manufactured in countries with more stringent regulations such as the UK and Europe.

Mercury in pharmaceuticals

Despite years of public discussion about its potential dangers, mercury continues to be added to many vaccines, including the influenza vaccine. The mercury is in the form called thimerosal. A mercurial compound called phenylmercuric may be added as a preservatve to pharmaceuticals and cosmetics.

Mercury in the ocean

The amount of mercury in the North Pacific ocean has risen by 30 percent in the past 20 years so that even smaller fish caught there may be significantly contaminated. This is thought to be caused by the smoke and dust from coal-fired power generation settling in the ocean. The main source of environmental mercury toxicity is thought now to be this dust. It suggests that people living near such power stations should be wary of their local fish catch.

Researchers have found that the mercury content of the top 100 metres of our oceans has more than tripled since the start of the Industrial Revolution due mainly to the burning of fossil fuels.

The main ocean-caught fish being consumed are species like shark, salmon and tuna. Health regulators in the USA are currently recommending that women and children do not eat shark, swordfish, king mackerel and tilefish. They advise also that the consumption of albacore (white) tuna should be no more than one meal of 6 ounces (170gm) and no more than two serves of fish like salmon, shrimp, and "light tuna" each week.

Mercury in the food chain

Most of the fish sold by retail outlets nowadays in developed countries comes from farmed fish stocks. What are these fish being fed? Mostly fish meal derived from the remains of the previous generation of fish after filleting off the main muscle bulk. These remains include the organs and tissues where heavy metals are known to accumulate such as the brain and liver. There are regulations in western countries about the allowable mercury content of fish meal however most of the farmed fish and fish meal are coming from countries where producers may not be subject to regulation. In 2008 the European Food Safety Authority found that around 8% of fishmeal fed to farmed fish contained excessive mercury.

There are also toxicity issues with the addition of fish meal to the feed of farm animals like poultry, swine and cattle. We are mostly not told when we buy these products if the birds and animals have been fed fish meal.

Further to this is the increasing use of fish meal in fertilisers. Farmers use fish blood and bone or fish emulsion on crops like tomatoes to prevent spots forming on the skins. Michael has seen bags of citrus fertiliser sold with warnings about high cadmium, mercury and lead content with the suggestion that repeated use of the product may contaminate the soil.

Nut farmers may also be using fish meal to fertilise their trees so you may need to be wary of buying imported nuts grown in developing countries as there may be little or no regulation.