"Mercury exposure from mercury dental fillings, also known
as "silver" fillings and "amalgams", is a life long threat.
When a person chews, drinks, swallows and breathes, mercury
released from dental fillings is absorbed by the lungs and
the linings of the digestive system into the bloodstream. As
they corrode, mercury fillings release ionized mercury into
the saliva, tooth pulp, and gum tissues leading to the
digestive system and bloodstream.
Measurements of momentary mercury levels in breath have been
scientifically collected in multiple studies. There has been
much debate about the potential safety hazard because
mercury vapor levels measured in the mouth are not always
above the standards set for exposure in the workplace.
Overlooked has been the amount of mercury in feces, which
demonstrates both exposure and excretion from the blood and
tissues by the liver. The levels measured by Osterblad et.
al. in the article "Antimicrobial and mercury resistance in
aerobic gram-negative bacilli in fecal flora among persons
with and without dental amalgam fillings" published in
Antimicrobial Agents & Chemotherapy, 39(11):2499-502 1995
Nov; are disturbing, and clearly demonstrate that human
mercury exposure is dominated by the presence of mercury
dental fillings.
Osterblad found that on average people with mercury dental
fillings had 17 times more mercury in their feces than did
people who had never had mercury dental fillings, and had 11
times more mercury in feces than did people who had all of
their mercury dental fillings removed. The group with
mercury dental fillings had more than 1 part per million
mercury in their feces.
At the first standard deviation, the difference between
these populations becomes more dramatic. People with mercury
dental fillings had nearly 4 parts per million mercury in
feces, 39 times more mercury than did people who never had
the fillings.
Osterblad's data indicates that 1 person in 1000 with
mercury dental fillings will have 10 parts per million
mercury in their daily feces, 170 times more mercury than
the average person who has never had such a filling.
The safe limit of mercury allowed by the EPA in drinking
water is 2 parts per billion (see ASTDR ToxFAQ CAS# 7439-97-
6) . What Osterblad found in the feces of people with
mercury dental fillings was an average concentration 500
times higher than would be allowed in minimally safe
drinking water."