Heavy Metals Toxicity

and Health Effects

Mining in Indonesia, 1997.
Lead - Sources
Common sources include lead
paint and lead contained in water
and soil.
Some children may eat or swallow
chips of paint (pica) which
increases their risk of exposure to
lead.
Lead-based petroleum products
(gasoline)
Lead
LEAD EXPOSURE IN CHILDREN
AFFECTS BRAIN AND BEHAVIOR
6% of all children ages 1-2 years and
11% of black (non-Hispanic) children
ages 1-5 years have blood lead levels
in the toxic range.
Rapidly developing nervous systems
are particularly sensitive to the
effects of lead.
Class Blood level
conc.(g/dl)
Comments

IIA 10-14 Many children (or a large proportion of children) with
blood lead level in this range should community wide
childhood lead poisoning prevention activities. Children in
this range may need to be screened more frequently.
IIB 15-19 A child in Class IIB should receive nutritional and
educational interventions and more frequent screening. If
the blood lead levels persist in this range, environmental
investigation and intervention should be done.
III 20-44 A child in Class III should receive environmental evaluation
and remediation and a medical evaluation. Such a child may
need pharmacologic treatment of lead poisoning.
IV 45-69 A child in Class IV will need both medical and
environmental interventions, including chelation therapy
V = or <70 A child in Class V lead poisoning is a medical emergency.
Medical and environmental management must begin
immediately

Lead Effects
Even when exposed to small
amounts of lead levels, children
may appear inattentive, hyperactive
and irritable.

Children with greater lead levels
may also have problems with
learning and reading, delayed
growth and hearing loss.

At high levels, lead can cause
permanent brain damage and even
death.
Lead Poisoning Symptoms
These include nausea, sluggishness,
vomiting, painful gastrointestinal irritation,
diarrhea, loss of appetite, colic, weakness
and dehydration. These symptoms are
common to many disorders and can often
lead to inaccurate diagnosis.
More severe cases of poisoning can produce
symptoms including convulsions, "wrist drop"
or external limb paralysis, coma and
ultimately death.
Lead Poisoning Symptoms
Some symptoms more specific to human
poisoning include discoloration of the lips
and skin attributed mild secondary anemia,
a lead line on the gums, developmental
disorders, sterility and abortion. There
have also been some preliminary reports
indicating that chronic lead poisoning can
also lead to chronic nephritis and
premature development of arteriosclerosis.
Mercury
Exposure to mercury can cause
immune, sensory, neurological, motor,
and behavioral dysfunctions similar to
traits defining or associated with
autism, and the similarities extend to
neuroanatomy, neurotransmitters, and
biochemistry.
Occurrence of Mercury?
Mercury is found naturally in the
environment in several forms. In its
elemental form, mercury is a shiny, silver-
white, liquid metal used in thermometers
and some electrical switches.
It can be combined with other elements to
form inorganic compounds. Mercury can
evaporate to form colorless, odorless
mercury vapors.
Mercury can combine with organic material
to form organic compounds such as methyl-
mercury (MeHg), which is produced
primarily by bacteria and is the form which
poses the greatest concern for
environmental exposure.
Sources of Mercury
Gold Mining
Paper and Pulp Mills
Natural Releases
Coal residues

Exposure Pathways (Hg)
People are most likely to be exposed to
metallic mercury from mercury released from
dental fillings; however the amount of
mercury released from dental fillings is
generally not considered to be high enough
to cause adverse health effects.
Exposure may also result from industrial
processes or from breathing in air
contaminated with vapors from metallic
mercury spills.
Sources of Mercury
Mercury is persistent, mobile and bioaccumulative in
the environment, meaning it is retained in
organisms.

Most of the mercury found in the environment is
inorganic mercury that can enter the air from several
sources. Examples of sources include emissions of
coal-fired power plants, burning municipal and
medical waste, and natural processes such as erosion
of ores and volcanic activity.

Levels of methylmercury in fish are typically 100,000
times those in the water in which they swim.
Mercury Poisoning Symptoms
Depends on DOSE and EXPOSURE TIME
Exposure to high levels of elemental mercury vapor can
result in nervous system damage including tremors, and
mood and personality alterations.
Exposure to relatively high levels of inorganic mercury
salts can cause kidney damage.
Adult exposure to relatively high levels of
methylmercury through fish consumption can result in
numbness or tingling in the extremities, sensory losses
and loss of coordination.
Exposure of the developing fetus through maternal
intake of contaminated fish can result in neurologic
developmental abnormalities in cognitive and motor
functions.
Methylmercury
Methylmercury is quickly taken up into higher
organisms through the food chain and is retained
in their bodies. It reaches the highest levels in
large predatory fish and in birds and mammals
which consume fish.
These animals may then be eaten by people.
Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
regulations prohibit the sale of commercial fish
that are found to have high concentrations of
methylmercury. Also, state and federal
authorities issue public health advisories to warn
people about eating fish caught from local waters
that are contaminated with mercury.
Household Sources of Mercury
Thermometers (including broken one)
Dental Amalgam
Gauges & Manometers
Thermostats
Mercury Switches and Relays
Fluorescent Lamps, Mercury vapor
lamps, High Pressure Sodium Lamps,
Neon Lamps & Metal Halid Lamps
Minamata Disease
Minamata Bay, Japan (Hg)
Since the early 1950s, hundreds of
Japanese from the Minamata Bay area
have died after eating mercury-tainted
fish. Others suffered spasms and blurred
vision, and babies of poisoned mothers
were born with gnarled (twisted) limbs.
The government officially recognizes
2,265 victims of the industrial dumpings
at southern Japan's Minamata Bay, where
chemical maker Chisso Corp. had been
pouring tons of mercury compounds since
in the 1930s.
Minamata, Japan
Levels of methylmercury chloride were
very high: up to 50 ppm in fish and 85
ppm in shellfish from the contaminated
areas.
121 people were poisoned from eating
the contaminated fish, 46 of which died.
Dogs, cats, pigs, rats, and birds that were
living around the bay also showed the
signs of mercury poisoning, and many
died.
Minamata Disease in Fetuses
Minamata disease, or methylmercury
poisoning, was first discovered in 1956
around Minamata Bay, Kumamoto
Prefecture, Japan. A similar epidemic
occurred in 1965 along the Agano River,
Niigata Prefecture, Japan.
Nervous system lesions have a
characteristic distribution. In the
cerebral cortex, the calcarine cortex was
found to be involved in all cases of
Minamata disease.
The destruction of nerve tissue was
prominent in the anterior portions of the
calcarine cortex.
Minamata Disease in Fetuses
Occasionally, the visual and visual association
areas (internal sagittal stratum) showed
secondary degeneration in prolonged cases
after acute onset.
Postcentral, precentral, and temporal
transverse cortices showed similar changes,
though they were less severe.
In the cerebellum, the lesions occurred
deeper in the hemisphere. The granule cell
population was most affected.
In the peripheral nerves, sensory nerves were
more affected than motor nerves.
Arsenic

Animal feed

Automobile exhaust

Colored chalk

Herbicides

Household detergents

Industrial dust

Insecticides


Rat poisons

Seafood

Wallpaper dye/plaster

Water/city and well

Wine

Wood preservatives
Arsenic is a highly poisonous metallic element registered
with the Chemical Poisoning and Environmental Toxicity
Centers. Inorganic arsenic deposits in the hair, skin, and
nails, and once within the hair follicles, as with most
toxic metals, it will stay for years.
Arsenic
Arsenic is a carcinogen, and those
with high levels of arsenic within
their tissues are at a high risk for
skin, scrotal, liver, lymphatic, and
lung cancer.
Aluminum
Aluminum is a popular metal used in the
manufacturing of pharmaceuticals to
cookware.
Aluminum salts are soluble in water and
are, therefore, easily assimilated into
the body.
Unwanted aluminum is deposited in the
brain and nervous system tissues, and
will continue to accumulate there.
It is commonly known that aluminum is
related to Alzheimer's disease.
Aluminum Sources
Alum
Aluminum cans
Aluminum cookware
Aluminum dust
Aluminum foil
Aluminum
phosphate
Aluminum silicate
found in Kaopectate
Animal feed
Antacids
Automotive parts
Automotive exhaust
Baking powder
Beer
American cheese


Construction material
Dental amalgams
Deodorants
City drinking water
Insulated wiring
Nasal spray
Medical compounds
Milk products
Pesticides
Table salt
Tobacco smoke
Toothpaste
Vanilla powder
Ceramics
Cigarette filters
Aluminum Toxicity
Aluminum toxicity is commonly elevated in
children and adults with low zinc and
behavior/learning disorders. High levels of
aluminum are found in many colloidal
mineral products.

Aluminum poisoning can lead to symptoms
similar to Alzheimer's and osteoporosis, such
as phosphate depletion and softening of the
bones.