Mercury surprise: Rice can be risky

reply to post by speculativeoptimist

Okay, back with another crazy thought. So Mercury is not magnetic, but it is highly conducive to electricity, so, is there a way to "electrocute" our food so that it burns it(mercury) up without burning the food?/ I know, I'm reaching a bit here, but I keep trying to think of a way of removing it from food...

It's nearly impossible to avoid mercury exposure. The fact that it's in Tuna, a fish out in the middle of the ocean, goes to show how widespread mercury is. Trace amounts of it exist in High Fructose Corn Syrup, it's found in compact fluorescent light bulbs, the ones they market as being environmentally friendly. But the fact is if you drop one of those bulbs you are supposed to open a window and leave the room for 20 minutes to let the mercury vapor dissipate. And even then you aren't bringing your exposure down to zero, you're just lessening it. You are also supposed to dispose of those light bulbs at a place specifically equipped to make sure the mercury doesn't escape into the atmosphere. But this stuff isn't publicized. You throw the bulb in the regular trash, it breaks, the mercury seeps down through the landfill and ends up in the water supply.

You may think it's no big deal, the human body is exposed to toxic substances all the time. The reason why it is a big deal however is because it only takes a small amount of mercury to have an effect on the human body. Considering how the human race has allowed this stuff to be as prevalent as it is, you just need to live your life and hope that the amount of mercury in your body right now never approaches a level that produces a measurable effect.

Boy this post sounds all Doom and Gloom!

reply to post by danj3ris

It's nearly impossible to avoid mercury exposure.

PDF File - Total mercury detected in 55 brand name foods and beverages high in HFCS

It's possible and advisable to avoid obvious exposure routes: .2-1ppm mercury "mercury cell high fructose corn syrup", high HFCS foods, broken fluorescent bulbs, thimerosal in vaccines.

It's also possible to get mercury out. Oral R-Alpha Lipoic acid is not bad at grabbing mercury slowly. There are more effective routes of chelation therapy, but you really ought to go to a qualified professional for those.

S+F danj3ris and OP


[edit on 21-4-2010 by elusive1]

Here is more information on Mercury for those that need to better understand it:

The effects & How to reduce the risk of exposure to mercury
ToxFAQs for Mercury

Additional Information:

Toxicological Profile Information

Source:

Mercury
Link

FDA
Link

CDC
Link

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
Link

Department of Health Washington state
Link

[edit on 30-4-2010 by millicake]