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Heavy Metal Toxicity

Minerals that can Poison the Body and Cause Chronic Illness

Mar 16, 2009 Melissa Peterson

Many heavy metals are classed as toxic causing a wide array of heavy metal poisoning symptoms and disrupting human health.

Everyday numerous hazardous heavy metals are inhaled and absorbed. The major concern with heavy metals is their ability to accumulate in the environment. Acute heavy metal toxicity is rare; however, chronic low-grade toxicity may be more damaging long-term, contributing to chronic illness.

According to the fourth edition of Mosby’s Medical, Nursing & Allied Health Dictionary (Mosby, 1994) a heavy metal is “a metallic element with specific gravity five or more times that of water.”

Heavy metals include:

Antimony
Arsenic
Cadmium
Cerium
Chromium
Cobalt
Copper
Gallium
Gold
Iron
Lead
Manganese
Mercury
Nickel
Platinum
Silver
Tellurium
Thallium
Tin
Uranium
Vanadium
Zinc

Nutritional health requires heavy metals such as chromium, iron, manganese, and zinc. They are not toxic unless taken in large amounts. Other heavy metals such as mercury, arsenic, and lead are toxic heavy metals, even at low levels.

Aluminium, although having a toxicity risk to humans, is not a heavy metal.

Heavy Metal Poisoning

Heavy metals and other toxins may alter, remove, or impair the production of specific molecules needed in the body. They may alter the structure of various entities such as the mitochondria or a cell nucleus. Heavy metals may create disturbances in the cell-to-cell communication occurring between inflammatory mediators, nerve cells, or hormones.

Toxic heavy metals target sites such as membrane or structural proteins, enzymes, or DNA molecules. Once at the target site, they can displace an important mineral from its binding site and “pretend” to be this mineral. This is called ‘”molecular mimicry”; however, they cannot perform the mineral’s function and so inhibit any activity at the binding site, affecting cellular function.

Symptoms of Heavy Metal Toxicity

Heavy metals can be hard to diagnose, however, due to the wide variety of ambiguous symptoms associated with heavy metal toxicity. Heavy metal toxicity symptoms may include:

Headache
Fatigue
Muscle pains
Indigestion
Tremors
Constipation
Anaemia
Pallor
Dizziness
Poor concentration

Heavy Metal Analysis

Blood, hair and urine are the most common forms for heavy metal analysis. However, each toxic metal has different attributes and may require more than one test for accuracy. For example, hair analysis will provide more reliable information on the level of mercury from seafood sources (methylmercury) than for mercury from dental amalgam fillings (elemental mercury). A urine test clarifies methylmercury toxicity and tests for elemental mercury. This involves providing a urine sample then ingesting a chelating agent, which moves the mercury from the tissues, and then following up with another urine test. This measures the level of mercury before chelation and after.

Heavy metal toxicity may be a “silent” threat. As people age they accumulate more heavy metal but are also more susceptible to the toxic effects. Toxicity can cause a wide range of subtle symptoms, but the damage is profound. More frequent testing for heavy metal toxicity may benefit human health in the long term.

References:

Bock, S. (1999). Diagnosis and treatment of heavy metal toxicity. International Journal of Integrative Medicine, 1(6), 7-12.

Bralley, J. A., & Lord, R. S. (2001). Laboratory Evaluations in Molecular Medicine. Norcross GA: The Institute for Advances in Molecular Medicine.

Crinnion, W. J. (2000). Environmental medicine, part three: long-term effects of chronic low-dose mercury exposure. Altern Med Rev, 5(3), 209-223.

Pizzorno, J. E., & Murray, M. T. (Eds.). (2005). Textbook of Natural Medicine, 3rd ed: Churchill Livingstone.

The National Academy of Sciences (Ed.). (2000). Toxicological Effects of Methylmercury. USA: The National Academy of Sciences.

The copyright of the article Heavy Metal Toxicity in General Medicine is owned by Melissa Peterson. Permission to republish Heavy Metal Toxicity in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Increasing Heavy Metal Poisoning