Increased mercury release from dental amalgam restorations after exposure to electromagnetic fields as a potential hazard for hypersensitive people and pregnant women

Abstract

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>Over the past decades, the use of common sources of electromagnetic fields such as Wi-Fi routers and mobile phones has been increased enormously all over the world. There is ongoing concern that exposure to electromagnetic fields can lead to adverse health effects. It has recently been shown that even low doses of mercury are capable of causing toxicity. Therefore, efforts are initiated to phase down or eliminate the use of mercury amalgam in dental restorations. Increased release of mercury from dental amalgam restorations after exposure to electromagnetic fields such as those generated by MRI and mobile phones has been reported by our team and other researchers. We have recently shown that some of the papers which reported no increased release of mercury after MRI, may have some methodological errors. Although it was previously believed that the amount of mercury released from dental amalgam cannot be hazardous, new findings indicate that mercury, even at low doses, may cause toxicity. Based on recent epidemiological findings, it can be claimed that the safety of mercury released from dental amalgam fillings is questionable. Therefore, as some individuals tend to be hypersensitive to the toxic effects of mercury, regulatory authorities should re-assess the safety of exposure to electromagnetic fields in individuals with amalgam restorations. On the other hand, we have reported that increased mercury release after exposure to electromagnetic fields may be risky for the pregnant women. It is worth mentioning that as a strong positive correlation between maternal and cord blood mercury levels has been found in some studies, our findings regarding the effect of exposure to electromagnetic fields on the release of mercury from dental amalgam fillings lead us to this conclusion that pregnant women with dental amalgam fillings should limit their exposure to electromagnetic fields to prevent toxic effects of mercury in their fetuses. Based on these findings, as infants and children are more vulnerable to mercury exposures, and as some individuals are routinely exposed to different sources of electromagnetic fields, we possibly need a paradigm shift in evaluating the health effects of amalgam fillings.</jats:p>

Assessment of Occupational Exposure to Mercury Concentrations in Hair and Nail of Dental Staff at Some Dental Clinics in Makkah Region

“…subjects although the difference was not statistically significant. these results were the same found in other studies that reported no statistical significance found between dental staff either exposed or non-exposed to amalgam [15][16][17][18]. Interestingly, the study found measurable amount of mercury concentrations in both hair and nail of control subjects with and without amalgam restorations (2.04 µg/l, 1.5 µg/l, 1.9 µg/l and 1.6 µg/l respectively) most probably due to environmental exposures and dietary habits.…”

The impact of the use of amalgam in dental treatment on the prevalence of restless legs syndrome in older people

“…Therefore, current findings should be corroborated in future studies assessing other aspects of Hg toxicity from the dental amalgam. For example, the relatively new data about an increased mercury release after exposure to electromagnetic fields (as those generated by mobile phones or MRI) [36,39]. Identifying them is a major challenge and worthy of investigation.…”

Comments on ‘Prenatal exposure to dental amalgam and pregnancy outcome’ by Lygre and colleagues (2016)

“…Moreover, Kursun et al have reported that exposure to X-rays, an ionizing component of the broad spectrum of electromagnetic radiation, can increase the mercury release from dental amalgam restorations 4 . These findings have recently been reviewed by Mortazavi and Mortazavi 5 . As a shortcoming of the study conducted by Lygre et al, these researchers have not considered the issue of the release of mercury from dental amalgam restorations after exposure to EMFs.…”