An individual with 8 amalgam filings in their mouth will release 8 to 87 mcg of
elemental mercury vapor per day. It is estimated that 80% of this mercury vapor will be absorbed into the body. Ref:
1.
Some of this
elemental mercury from amalgam fillings may get converted to the more toxic
methylmercury by oral and intestinal bacteria (methylmercury is 100 times more toxic to neurons than elemental mercury).
But look at the mercury content of these high-mercury fish in the table below.
These fish contain mercury primarily in the much more toxic
methylmercury form. Methylmercury is also more easily absorbed by the body than elemental mercury.
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FISH ............... MERCURY PER 200 GRAM PORTION
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Tilefish ........... 290 mcg
Swordfish .......... 199 mcg
Shark .............. 196 mcg
King mackerel ...... 146 mcg
Restaurant sushi ... 100 to 200 mcg
Grouper ............ 90 mcg
Bass (Chilean) ..... 71 mcg
Fresh tuna ......... 29 to 138 mcg
Canned tuna ........ 40 mcg
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Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4
————————————————————————————————————————————————————
Since these fish have mercury in the
methylmercury form, which is 100 times more toxic that
elemental mercury, as far as as far as toxicity as concerned, you would have to multiply the above fish figures by 100 to compare them to the amount of elemental mercury coming from dental amalgam fillings.
These figures suggest that eating these high methylmercury content fish is a more serious problem than the elemental mercury coming from amalgams. But a lot depends on how much elemental mercury from amalgams gets converted into methylmercury by gut and oral bacteria.
Staphylococci, streptococci, Escherichia coli, and yeasts in the human gut can synthesize methylmercury. In contrast, few strains of obligate anaerobes could do so. Ref:
1. Candida albicans and Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast can convert elemental mercury into methylmercury. Ref:
1
But paradoxically, another study found that antibiotics, by killing gut bacteria, may increase the amount of methylmercury absorbed in the gut . Ref:
1
Notes:
Inorganic mercury compounds are formed when mercury (symbol Hg) combines with elements other than carbon, such as chlorine, sulfur, or oxygen.
Elemental mercury (pure mercury) is a form of inorganic mercury.
Organic mercury compounds (sometimes called organomercurials) are those containing covalent bonds between carbon and mercury.
Methylmercury is a form of organic mercury.