From: Ellie Gioumousis [elliegms@znet.com]
Sent: Monday, September 04, 2006 3:43 PM
To: Dockets, FDA
Subject: Hearings on Mercury, Docket No. 2006N-0352

for Docket No. 2006N-0352

To the Food  and Drug Administration,

I understand that there is to be a hearing on a possible ban of mercury 
fillings for teeth. 

I had heard some concern about ten years ago and asked my dentist about 
them. He replied that the ADA tells us it is safe and that the mercury is 
firmly bound and does not escape and so that is what we are to tell our 
patients. I was not sure about this and my husband , who is a chemist by training, 
said he was surprised since it is not a compound that they use but only 
an amalgam but he, like I, was willing to accept their word.

Some years later we read several books which describe the results of two 
Canadian researchers and also dentists who actually tested fillings on 
sheep and checked to see if any mercury was released in their mouths. 
Apparently there was a new electronic device that could now measure 
vaporized mercury.

To their surprise they found very high concentrations of mercury vapor 
in the breaths of the sheep, much more so after they had eaten and 
chewed their food. They then checked human volunteers with so called silver fillings and 
found the same thing.The vapor released went much higher yet after 
drinking hot liquids such as coffee. People working in industry are required to be protected 
form such vapors but people with fillings are just exposed.
Mercury is well known to be dangerous and a potent neurotoxin. It should 
not be allowed to be placed in people's mouths, especially pregnant 
women and children.

The use of the word silver fillings is also very misleading. Most people 
assume that silver is safe but there is very little silver in the fillings;
over half is mercury and another third or more is other metals such as 
copper that are also potentially harmful in large doses.

There is also a problem with the disposal of the excess amalgam as a lot 
of it goes down the drain at the dentist's offices and ends up in lakes 
and other water bodies. We are all concerned about the mercury in fish and this is one of the 
least controlled sources of contamination.

We would urge you to ban the use of mercury in dentistry entirely as 
there are now many other materials that are far safer and also much more 
attractive. There is no reason to continue this archaic and harmful practice.

Sincerely yours,

Elfrid Gioumousis

(also George Gioumousis, PhD, Theoretical Chemistry, University of Wisconsin, 1955)


992 Loma Verde Avenue
Palo Alto CA 94303

650 494-6276
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