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Heavy gum chewers
risk breaking down the amalgam in their dental fillings and
having dangerously high
levels of mercury in their
blood and urine as a result, a study published in the Stockholm
newspaper Aftonbladet on Friday said.
The study was undertaken
by the Sahlgrenska university hospital in Gothenburg, west
Sweden.
"In our study
we found out that people who chewed gum for at least five
hours per day had significantly higher mercury levels
in their urine and blood," medical researcher Gerd Saellsten
was quoted as saying.
The test group
included 17 people with at least five amalgam fillings who
chewed gum an average of five hours per day, and consumed
seven pieces of gum.
The test group
was compared with a control group of equal size comprising
people with the same number of fillings, but who chewed gum
only 30 minutes per week on average.
A comparison of
quicksilver levels between the two groups yielded clear
differences.
The heavy gum chewers
had twice the amount of mercury
in their blood and three times the level in their urine
and breath exhalation than did the infrequent chewers.
The mercury levels
rose in proportion to the number of amalgamfillings the subjects
had, the study showed.
Mercury damages
the following in humans:
- brain
- central
nervous system
- kidneys
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