With each year of doing hair tissue mineral analysis (HTMA) one trend is very clear and it is disturbing: mercury (Hg) levels within humanity are on the rise!
While the main source might have been mercury amalgam fillings, these are being phased out and no longer a significant source of Hg contamination fro most people in New Zealand. As the industrialised world continues to pour mercury wastes into our oceans, mercury is increasingly concentrated in the food chain. Human Beings are at the apex of this concentrating of mercury as are dolphins and whales.
Mercury is one of the most toxic substances in the Universe for higher organisms. Mercury interferes with just about every biological process. It is a potent neurotoxin.
Mad as a Hatter
Mercury was used in the stiffening of the felt fro top hats. The workers often went crazy, hence the term, "Mad as a Hatter".
Read all about it here:
I quote from the article:
" Acute mercury exposure has given rise to psychotic reactions characterized by delirium, hallucinations, and suicidal tendency. Occupational exposure has resulted in erethism, with irritability, excitability, excessive shyness, and insomnias the principal features of a broad-ranging functional disturbance. With continuing exposure, a fine tremor develops, initially involving the hands and later spreading to the eyelids, lips, and tongue, causing violent muscular spasms in the most severe cases. The tremor is reflected in the handwriting which has a characteristic appearance. In milder cases, erethism and tremor regress slowly over a period of years following removal from exposure. Decreased nerve conduction velocity in mercury-exposed workers has been demonstrated. Long-term, low-level exposure has been found to be associated with less pronounced symptoms of erethism, characterized by fatigue, irritability, loss of memory, vivid dreams, and depression"
If we want to hasten the extinction of the human race, all we have to do is keep poisoning the environment with more mercury:
"Mercury can alter the shape, movement of sperm and decrease its quantity and quality. In men exposed to Hg, a reduction in erection, quality of sexual acts and ejaculation was found. Research indicates that Hg influences the levels and function of oestrogen and reduces fertility in women".
The scary thing is this: If we were to stop entirely the pouring of mercury into the oceans today, levels of mercury in humanity will continue to rise for the next 50 years! Its a bit like climate change, the rate of change from the date of implementation is glacial.
Mercury can be safely and effectively chelated out of the body but there two things that must be done first:
Complete an HTMA to determine whether there is an issue with mercury contamination, then, if there is a problem:
Identify the source to ensure you are not putting more in. There is no point of trying to treat the so-called burn if your hand remains on the hot plate - got the idea.
What about doing a urine test instead?
Do not bother about a urine provocation test for mercury. Do the HTMA instead. Read this for more information about urine tests for heavy metals such as Hg.
Here:
and here:
What fish should I be eating, if any at all?
I love to eat fish and I have always recommended eating fish for health, but that is changing. It is tragic that most fish are now contaminated with mercury. This includes fish from New Zealand and even Antarctica which are about as far from the sources of mercury as one can get.
Here is an article I wrote after it was a family of four, all suffering various vague chronic ill-health, were identified to have mercury toxicity after consuming fish:
Use this search to learn more about which fish to avoid and which ones are perhaps the safer ones to be eating:
As a general rule of thumb, the larger the fish, the older the fish and the higher it is up the food chain, then the more likely it is high in mercury. Sardines are low in mercury and safe to eat, whereas swordfish is very high in mercury and best never eaten.
Get tested!
If this pandemic has taught us anything, get tested then act! Without testing any intervention is doomed to fail. But, of equal importance which the pandemic has also taught us, make sure it is an accurate test that is testing for the right thing. In the case of toxic elements this is the best test:
Get it done then act!