Stanford University hosts a translated version of an interesting paper from 1926 titled, “The Dangerousness of Mercury Vapor.” Originally penned by Alfred Stock in Berlin, the paper natively titled “Die Gefaehrlichkeit des Quecksilberdampfes” outlines his personal experience suffering from mercury poisoning.

From the paper:

While my physical ability, e.g. mountain climbing, did not seem to have been weakened, the ability to work mentally suffered a little, although not in as devastating a fashion as had been the case with memory. Added to that were depression, and a vexing inner restlessness, which later also caused restless sleep. By nature companionable and loving life, I withdrew moodily into myself, shied away from the public, stayed away from people and social activity, and unlearned the joy in art and nature. Humor became rusty. Obstacles, which formerly I would have overlooked smilingly (and am overlooking again today), seemed insurmountable. Scientific work caused great effort. I forced myself to go to the laboratory without being able to get anything useful accomplished in spite of all efforts. Thought came laboriously and pedantically. I had to deny myself working on solutions to questions beyond the nearest tasks at hand. The lecture that used to be a pleasure became a torture. The preparations for a lecture, the writing of a dissertation, or merely a simple letter caused unending effort in styling the material and wrestling with the language. Not seldom did it happen that I misspelled words or left out letters. It was not nice to be aware of these shortcomings, not to know their cause, not to know a way to their elimination, and to have to fear further deterioration.

It’s a long read, but worth the time.

A friend shared with me the video below, where the creators test the mercury vapor levels of different fluorescent lightbulbs. They take multiple readings before and after the bulbs are broken to show you what you may expect if one of these lights are broken in your environment.

I just discovered “Mercury Undercover”, another documentary on the dangers of dental amalgam fillings. From their site:

“Mercury Undercover” exposes the cause and effect of the well-hidden evidence of mercury contamination as seen through the eyes of doctors, scientists, environmental experts and mercury-poisoned survivors. This film exposes the nature of people and the terrible things that some do just for the sake of money. It is a gripping tale that will make you think twice before you eat your next catch-of-the-day or plan your next visit to the dentist’s office.

The documentary is available via Amazon Instant Video, DVD or for a $1.99 rental fee on YouTube. It would be nice if this was also listed on Netflix or iTunes.

Update: I just noticed that it will be available on iTunes on December 10^th, 2013. It doesn’t show whether it will be available for rent.

The documentary “You Put What In My Mouth?” aims to inform the public about the dangers of dental amalgams and how the ADA and FDA seems content on ignoring the issue. Although the documentary is not complete, they have released a trailer to whet your appetite:

This documentary was successfully funded via a Kickstarter campaign.

At the “2010 FDA Hearing on Amalgam Safety,” Dr. Benjamin Zander, conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, testified how the removal of his dental amalgam fillings gave him his life back. Following the removal of the dental amalgams, his diagnosed Meniere’s Disease condition completely cleared up.

Meniere’s Disease was one of the first diseases ruled out by every otolaryngologist I visited. While it was definitely good news for me, it still was not comforting knowing that my condition continued going undiagnosed.