excerpted from........
FEAT DAILY NEWSLETTER
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August 3, 2001 Search
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[Letter in Medscape Pediatrics from Arnold Wendroff, PhD,
who is a medical sociologist and a research associate in the Geology Department
of Brooklyn College, City University of New York, New York, NY. =A9 2001 Medscape,
Inc.] http://www.medscape.com/medscape/pediatrics/journal/2001/v03.n04/mpe0731.wen/mpe0731.wend.html
There are subpopulations within the United States, as well
as in nations in Latin America and the Caribbean, who are routinely exposed to levels
of elemental mercury orders of magnitude greater than those from pediatric
vaccines, dental amalgam, or eating fish. Their exposures result from their use
of elemental mercury for magico-religious and ethnomedical purposes.
If the adverse health effects suspected of emanating from
thimerosal pediatric preservative are in fact due to their mercury content,
then it would seem likely that individuals conceived, gestated, born and raised
in atmospheres laden with mercury vapor would be at least as liable to suffer from
these same adverse health effects.
It is not clear whether they do (or do not), because
almost no health studies of these ritualistic health exposures have been done.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is
going to investigate the health effects arising from these exposures in New
York City, as well as in another city (most likely Miami or Chicago), at the
end of this year or at the beginning of 2002. Contact Carol Rubin, DVM, of the CDC’s
National Center for Environmental Health at 404-498-1373 for details.
The Mercury Poisoning Project has a Web site devoted to
this issue at http://www.mercurypoisoningproject.org or,
alternatively, at http://www.geocities.com/awendroff.
A recent article in Pediatrics by Goldman and Shannon (2001;108(1):197-205)
concluded that “Pediatricians need to be aware of traditional folk uses of
mercury like in Santeria or in ethnic remedies ... Public health agencies, community organizations, pediatricians,
and other child health providers should work together to identify the diverse
cultural practices that may lead to mercury exposure.” [p.203]
[Question: could injecting
mercury directly into the blood stream, as with thimerosol, be qualitatively
different in toxicity than exposure from the ingestion of mercury from tainted
food - are we comparing poison apples and oranges? Jabbing poisons directly into the circulation system may be bypassing
natural body defense mechanisms. Also, there are known naturally occurring
chelating agents in the environment.
Perhaps something in the salsa or the aquardiente could be protecting
the natives, s=ED? -LS]
Lenny Schafer, Editor Catherine Johnson PhD
Ron Sleith Kay Stammers
Editor@feat.org Edward Decelie CALENDAR: Michelle Guppy events@feat.org
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