Field study on the mercury content of Saliva

Abstract

20 000 subjects were enrolled in a large‐scale field study to determine the concentration of total mercury in saliva. A statistical relationship was found between the mercury concentration in the pre‐chewing saliva and chewing saliva, and the number of amalgam fillings. The mean number of amalgam fillings was 9 and the median mercury concentration was 11.6 μg/1 in the pre‐chewing saliva and 29.3 μg/1 in the chewing saliva, which is considerably higher than reported in most previous publications. Extrapolation to the uptake of total mercury per week has shown that the provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI) value of the WHO is exceeded in at least 30% of the subjects.

Keywords:

• Amalgam
• mercury
• saliva
• chewing
• binding form

Notes

Corresponding Author: Prof. Dr. Peter Krauß, Institut für Organische Chemie, Auf der Morgenstelle 18, 72076 Tübingen, Germany