Mercury Blood levels

lemonpink

. I am 20 week pregnant and had to get an amalgam filing removed last week due to bad decay. The dentist used a dental dam and high suction and reassured me that this would not affect my baby. He then replaced it with a temporary filing. However when I came home I started googling and apparently mercury exposure to fetus is very dangerous and can cause adverse neurological affects. I went to my gp the following day and they took blood from me to send away to lab for mercury testing. The results came back as 0.5 ug/l Can anyone translate these results for me. Are my levels worrying in terms of affects to my baby and what is the normal mercury blood level for the average person?
Would be grateful for feedback from lab technician or anyone in the know. Thanks

bduffy

That works out at 0.5ppb (parts per billion) which would be probably the lowest detectable level that's reportable and is considered a background signal.
Normal levels for non exposed humans are between 5 and 10 ppb.

amen

Sorry OP but why did your GP not explain these levels to you ?

FISMA

lemonpink wrote: »

I am 20 week pregnant ... The dentist ... reassured me that this would not affect my baby.

The dentist is correct, listen to him/her.

lemonpink wrote: »

However when I came home I started googling

... oh no! Why, oh why?:rolleyes:

lemonpink wrote: »

... and apparently mercury exposure to fetus is very dangerous and can cause adverse neurological affects.

As long as you are not boiling buckets of Mercury at home or spraying tiny little droplets of elemental drops of Mercury about the house, you probably have more to worry from a mouthful of fish than a mouthful of amalgum fillings.

First, your fillings were not pure Mercury, but amalgun. They contained Mercury, Silver, tin, and copper.

The posts you are reading are probably talking about elemental mercury or, some of the nastier Mercury compounds, NOTHING, like that used in fillings.

Additionally, your sources were probably talking about vaporized Mercury, not solid or liquid.

Names may sound similar, but the chemical differences can be worlds apart.

As an example, when was the last time you worried about table salt (Sodium Chloride) exploding, catching fire, or giving off dangerous gasses? Never, and rightly so, even though sodium, is flammable and potentially explosive and chlorine gas used in chemical warfare.

As another analogy, most Barium salts are poisonous as they dissolve in water. However, anyone that has ever had a CT scan will tell you that their Barium Sulphate drink tasted like chalk. Barium Sulphate - ! Barium Sulphide - :mad: will poison or kill you.

lemonpink wrote: »

The results came back as 0.5 ug/l Can

Your results look grand. Normal Mercury levels are under 10.ug/L which is 20 times higher than your 0.5ug/L.

lemonpink wrote: »

Can anyone translate these results for me.

The results are saying that you have one half of a millionth of a gram of mercury in one liter of blood.

If there are any sources that are still worrying you feel free to cite them here and I'll try to give them the once over to set your mind at ease.

Good to see that you are interested in all aspects of the baby's development. I have always said that it is better to have over-protective parents than under-protective parents!

Best of luck!

lemonpink

FISMA ,thank you so much for such a clear translation of my results and for your kind words. My doctor is one holidays for the next week and that it why he hasn't been able to explain the results to me. It was he secetary who sent me out thee blood test results.
I know that my results were only 0.5 ug/ l and anything over 10.0 ug/ l would suggest mercury exposure but some of the articles I have read have confused me and worried me. Would I be correct in saying that ng/ml is another way of measuring mercury blood levels.
One article I read online said " Some studies suggest that children of mothers with blood mercury levels as low as 30 to 40 ng/ ml may exhibit delayed development and subtle nervous system effects during early childhood. Blood mercury levels above 100 ng/ml have been reported to be associated with clear signs of mercury poisoning in some individuals. ......nervous system effects such as altered memory, attention and language development in children have been associated with increases in exposure to mercury in the womb or soon after birth. "
This is what I am worried about . Can you explain to different ways of measuring blood mercury levels and in particular the difference between ug/l and ng /ml.
Thanks in advance

FISMA

lemonpink wrote: »

Would I be correct in saying that ng/ml is another way of measuring mercury blood levels.

Correct, a ng/ml is just another way of expressing the same measurement.

lemonpink wrote: »

Can you explain ... the difference between ug/l and ng /ml.

There is no difference, they are equal.

0.5 ug/l = 0.5 ng/ml and 1.2345 ug/l = 1.2345 ng/ml. Here's a nice calculator to verify the conversion or to perform other conversions.

Without getting too in to unit conversions. A ug/l is one millionth of a gram per one liter. A ng/ml is one billionth of a gram per one thousandth of a liter. Blah, blah, blah, they are the same measurement. A lot like saying six or one half dozen! Call it what you like, they are the same.

lemonpink wrote: »

Some studies suggest that children of mothers with blood mercury levels as low as 30 to 40 ng/ ml may exhibit delayed development and subtle nervous system effects during early childhood.

First, note the use of the words "suggest" and "may". The author is not stating a cause-effect relationship, but suggests the two are related.

Second, note the levels are 60-80 times greater than yours. The order of magnitude difference between your level and what they suggest may be a problem is 100. That's a huge difference.

lemonpink wrote: »

Blood mercury levels above 100 ng/ml have been reported to be associated with clear signs of mercury poisoning in some individuals. ......

This level is 200 times more than what you have. I would not be concerned at all.

Also, clear signs in some individuals?

Anyhow, again I do not believe you have anything to worry about. We all have Mercury in our system, probably mostly because of eating fish.

It wasn't too long ago that the Scientists were telling us: to not eat butter, but margarine, to avoid eggs at all cost, that food cholesterol was bad for us, and that all fat was bad.

Now they tell us to eat butter, not margarine, eggs are great, food cholesterol doesn't matter at all, and that there is beige fat, which is probably good for us!

Listen to your Doctor and Dentist on this one... They know best!

lemonpink

FISMA, thank you so much for your reassurance. It really means a lot. I think I understand the meaurements now and Its fair to say that my results are very low and I am now going to stop worrying.
Thanks again.

SOL

Yeah, none of what has gone before is medical advice but merely help with units, none the less, it is important that we dont stray anywhere near giving medical advice - your doctor/dentist is the person to ask, not strangers on the internet!

Thanks,

Cormac