Source Title:
Reviews on Environmental Health
|
Volume/Issue:
Volume 30: Issue 4

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

Ghazal Mortazavi 1  and S.M.J. Mortazavi 2 , 3
  • 1 Tangestan Health Network, Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Bushehr, Iran
  • 2 Ionizing and Non-ionizing Radiation Protection Research Center (INIRPRC), Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
  • 3 Medical Physics and Medical Engineering Department, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
Ghazal Mortazavi and S.M.J. Mortazavi
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1515/reveh-2015-0017
|
Published online:
06 Nov 2015

Abstract

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.

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Article information

Corresponding author: Professor S.M.J. Mortazavi, PhD, Medical Physics and Medical Engineering Department, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran, Phone: +98-711-2349332, Fax: +98-711-2349332/+98-711-2289113, E-mail: ; and Ionizing and Non-ionizing Radiation Protection Research Center (INIRPRC), Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

Received:
2015-07-12
Accepted:
2015-10-03
Published Online:
2015-11-06
Published in Print:
2015-12-01

Citation Information: 
Reviews on Environmental Health, Volume 30, Issue 4, Pages 287–292, eISSN 2191-0308, ISSN 0048-7554, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/reveh-2015-0017.

©2015 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston.

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Journal + Issues

Reviews on Environmental Health

Online ISSN:
2191-0308
First published:
01 Jan 1986
Language:
English
Publisher:
De Gruyter

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