I think this discussion thread has drifted off the initial subject: Does
mercury cause allergic reactions? Of course it does. But the real question
is: Are the panorama of symptoms described in the intitial post consistent
with what is known about mercury toxicity (I would guess not--but then I am
not a "mercury" toxicologist). In order to have an allergic condition there
must be some componenent of the immune system that is activated or
inactivated as a response to a toxicant. For example, are there anti-Hg
antibodies or Hg-activated T cells in the persons exhibiting the range of
"symptoms" described. If not (or if it is not known), then how does this
qualify as Hg-induced allergy? We need to take a more mature approach--less
fingerpointing and name calling and more references to legitimate research
(e.g., work of F. Lorschider, T. Clarkson, etc.) if this question is to be
answered.
Chuck
Dr. Charles A. Miller III, rellim at mailhost.tcs.tulane.edu
Dept. Environmental Health Sciences, SL29
Tulane-Xavier Center for Bioenvironmental Research and
Tulane Univ. School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine
1430 Tulane Ave.
New Orleans, LA 70112
(504)585-6942, fax (504)584-1726
Bionet.toxicology newsgroup: http://www.bio.net/hypermail/TOXICOLOGY
