Heavy metals (most commonly lead, cadmium, mercury, and arsenic) are persistent in the environment and have the potential for serious health consequences. Heavy metal toxicity may damage your central nervous system, cardiovascular system, gastrointestinal system, your lungs, kidneys, liver, endocrine glands and bones.
Risk Factors for Toxic Metal Exposure
Lead: lead-containing plumbing, lead-based paints, foods grown in lead-rich soil
Mercury: eating fish or shellfish contaminated with methylmercury (includes shark, swordfish, king mackerel, tile fish, bass, walleye, pickerel), breathing contaminated workplace air or skin contact during use in the workplace, release of mercury vapor from dental amalgam fillings
Cadmium: tobacco smoke, eating foods containing cadmium (levels are highest in grains, legumes, and leafy vegetables, fish and shellfish), contact with cadmium from household products (electric batteries and solar panels)
The signs and symptoms of heavy metal toxicity may not be immediately recognized because they are non specific: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, central nervous system dysfunction, heart problems and anemia.
We diagnose heavy metal toxicity by performing one or all of the following: Blood testing, Urine testing, Hair and nail analysis
Conventional Therapies: Chelation therapy, which enhances the elimination of metals (both toxic and essential) from the body, including: DMPS, an oral medication for arsenic, cadmium, and mercury toxicity, Succimer (DMSA), an oral medication for mild-to-moderate lead, arsenic and mercury toxicity, Calcium-disodium EDTA for lead encephalopathy and lead poisoning.
Novel and Emerging Therapies: Toxicogenomics, the study of gene expression changes by toxin exposure, and new chelation therapies, including polygamma-glutamic acid-coated superparamagnetic nanoparticles that have a high specificity for metal toxins.
Dietary and Lifestyle Changes: Avoid or replace mercury amalgam dental fillings with mercury-free composite material, maintain nutrient sufficiency, as adequate intake of essential trace minerals may reduce toxic metal uptake, limit consumption of high-mercury fish to no more than 1 serving/week.
Vitamins and Supplements Useful in Reducing Heavy Metal Toxicity
Selenium: Selenium is an inhibitor of mercury accumulation and increases excretion of mercury and arsenic.
Vitamin C: A free-radical scavenger that has been shown to reduce lead levels in humans.
Folate: Higher blood folate levels in pregnant women are associated with lower blood mercury and cadmium levels.
Garlic: Garlic can lower lead levels in the blood of industrial workers as effectively as the chelator.
Alpha-Lipoic Acid and Glutathione: They may reduce the levels of lead, cadmium and copper in the blood
It is not possible to completely avoid exposure to toxic metals. Even people who are not occupationally exposed carry certain metals in their body as a result of exposure from other sources, such as food, beverages, or air. It is, however, possible to reduce metal toxicity risk through lifestyle choices that diminish the probability of harmful heavy metal uptake, such as dietary measures that may promote the safe metabolism or excretion of ingested heavy metals.
Blood testing can be performed for toxic metals, such as lead, cadmium, mercury and arsenic, as well as essential metals that are toxic above certain thresholds, such as iron or copper.
Urine testing. Because of differences in the rates of excretion for toxic metals, urine tests are indicative of cumulative exposure/total body burden for some metals (eg, cadmium) and recent exposure for others (eg, mercury). Urinary arsenic can be elevated following seafood consumption, limiting its diagnostic value in some cases.
Hair and nail analysis. Hair and nail analysis can be used to determine cumulative exposure to cadmium, lead, arsenic, and methylmercury.
At Genlife Regenerative Medicine we perform, when indicated, a Comprehensive Urine Elements Profile, a toxin exposure test which measures urinary excretion of 15 nutrient elements and 20 toxic metals. These include classic toxins such as lead, mercury, and arsenic, as well as newer technology toxins such as niobium. This is an ideal toxic exposure test for patients suspected of toxic metal exposure as well as potential nutrient mineral wasting. It offers an advanced, comprehensive assessment of toxic and potentially toxic elements excreted in urine. In addition to measuring classic elemental toxins, this profile includes elements used in the medical, aerospace, nuclear, and high-tech electronics industries.
Chronic toxic element exposure can adversely affect:
Risk of cancer
Neurological development and function
Respiratory, cardiac, hepatic, and immune functions
Cognitive and emotional health
Accumulations of elemental toxins can occur in the human body in response to occupational exposures or to environmental exposures from toxic release in air, soil, or industrial waste systems. These sources include:
Plating and parts manufacturing in aerospace and machine tool industries
Fabrication of nuclear reactor fuel assemblies
Electronics and computer manufacturing
According to the EPA, the US has the largest electronics(including computer) workforce in the world. Exposures to the measured elements can occur in other occupations as well, including:
Welding and metal shaping
Military or police service (with weapons use)
Handling of disposal of wastes
Manufacturing of pigments and coatings
The Comprehensive Urine Elements Profile assesses urinary excretion of toxic elements acquired through chronic or acute exposure.We can effectively monitor the progress of detoxification regimens and nutrient element status during treatment using this profile.