In the United States, even though it was known that coal plants were spewing more toxic pollutants into the air than any other industrial source—some 386,000 tons of 84 unique hazardous air pollutants including arsenic, lead, and mercury are released from over 400 U.S. plants each year alone—the EPA did not even formally introduce standards to limit this type of toxic pollution from power plants until December 2011.63
Arsenic interference in the body
Central to the issue of heavy metals in the body is their propensity to compete with essential nutrients. Phosphate, for example, is required by the body to build healthy bones and teeth; phosphate also makes muscles contract and helps nerves function properly. Both arsenic and phosphorus are in the same group on the periodic table, and both have five electrons on their outer shells; thus, they biochemically compete inside the body for binding and absorption.64 Because of this, arsenic can block the production of necessary enzymes and proteins by binding in places where phosphorus would normally go.
As with other toxic heavy metals such as mercury, arsenic has also been shown to inhibit thiol compounds including glutathione, which is one of the body’s key detoxification agents and mandatory for a properly functioning immune system and warding off disease. Arsenic compounds also alter the body’s ability to use pyruvate properly.65 This deficiency allows lactic acid to build up to toxic levels, leading to neurological problems including seizures, intellectual deficits, and problems with even basic motor skills like walking. Most children suffering from pyruvate dehydrogenase deficiency don’t live very long past childhood, and those who do suffer developmental disabilities.66
Treatments for arsenic toxicity
Arsenic is quickly metabolized and distributed throughout the body via the lungs, liver, and kidneys, where it settles into keratin-rich tissues like the hair, nails, and skin. While the half-life of inorganic arsenic in the body is relatively short—the majority of it is excreted within less than a day—chronic, repeated exposure to arsenic is where the real danger lies. Currently, there are no 100 percent cure-alls for mitigating arsenic’s carcinogenic effects.
Well-known treatments for arsenic poisoning include chelating the metalloid with several agents including British anti-Lewisite (BAL), sodium 2,3-dimercaptopropane 1-sulfonate (DMPS), and meso 2,3-dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA), among others. These chelation agents bind with arsenic and allow it to be flushed out of the body via excretion.67
In 1938, it was discovered that arsenic actually protected against selenium poisoning. Shortly after, arsenic began to be used as a tonic by industrial hygienists to cure workers of selenium poisoning.68 More recent research with animals has shown selenium is effective at countering arsenic toxicity, and studies are eying selenium supplementation as a low-cost way to counter chronic arsenic poisoning.69
Several studies have linked the use of garlic to decreased effects of arsenic toxicity on cells.70,71,72
Natural arsenic binders
My own laboratory research at the Natural News Forensic Food Labs (labs.naturalnews.com) has identified many substances that have a natural affinity for binding to arsenic. Throughout 2013, I developed a testing methodology called “Metals Capturing Capacity” (MCC), that is able to determine how well any given substance naturally binds with and captures free arsenic. Metals Capturing Capacity is explained in more detail in videos found at labs.naturalnews.com/videos.html.
After testing more than 1,000 substances for their natural arsenic binding properties, I found that the substances with the highest arsenic MCC were:
• Powdered fruit seeds
• Sodium alginate
• Dehydrated powders of certain rare seaweeds
After completing the research, I formulated a series of dietary supplements that maximize the binding and capturing of heavy metals, including arsenic. This resulted in the release of a fruit-based formula with an arsenic reduction of 14.8 percent, and then a much stronger “Metals Defense” formula with an arsenic reduction of 92.9 percent and an MCC of 6.0, meaning each gram of the formula binds with 6.0 micrograms of free arsenic. (See more scientific results at www.HeavyMetalsDefense.com.)
Importantly, this formula only binds with arsenic during digestion, before it is absorbed into the bloodstream. Once arsenic enters the blood and latches on to cells and tissues, it is extremely difficult to remove from the body without using aggressive interventions such as intravenous chelation agents. Hair, nail, and skin cells (where arsenic eventually settles) fall away on their own, of course, demonstrating one of the body’s elimination pathways. Ultimately, it is important to avoid ongoing exposure to arsenic (and other toxic elements) while giving the body time to rid itself of the offending elements through routine processes of growth and regeneration.
ATOMIC NUMBER: 80
GROUP 12: CADMIUM AND ZINC
Shiny, metallic, and intoxicatingly strange in its elemental liquid form, mercury has long been known as a poison, as intriguing as it is deadly. One of the most toxic elements on the planet—especially in organic form—mercury has long been known to be poisonous to humans, animals, and the environment.
With more than thirteen times the density of water, a sea of mercury would be dense enough to theoretically walk on, or break apart most things plunged into it. And that’s only the beginning of its unique properties. In the ancient, occult-driven pursuits of alchemy, it was thought to be an element of central importance to achieving transmutation to gold. It was even a key ingredient in a popular elixir-of-life formula, believed to bestow eternal life despite its toxic qualities.
Mercury is a particularly insidious heavy metal that appears in three forms: organic, inorganic, and elemental, the latter of which is familiar to most as the curious liquid metal that responds to air pressure, which has been widely used in thermometers. Like other harmful heavy metals, it is frequently extracted as a by-product alongside other ores, but it has also been mined deliberately for the useful pigment properties exhibited by the reddish cinnabar, a crystalline mercury-based ore formed by volcanic activity or alkaline conditions, such as those seen in hot springs. Crushed cinnabar is burned, separating sulfur from the alluring liquid mercury yielded for industrial production.
Legends say China’s first emperor, Qin Shi Huang, died after imbibing a powdered jade and mercury mixture his alchemists told him would bring eternal life. Although the location of his tomb has been discovered, archeologists are still unsure of how to go about excavating the site due to the underground moat of liquid mercury surrounding it and the cloud of toxic vapors that opening the area would surely unleash.73
Over the last several hundred years, the study of chemical reactions when mercury is combined with other elements has led to the development of mercurial compounds, believed to be useful in treating numerous diseases. Arabs created quicksilver ointments for the treatment of skin conditions based on knowledge of Greek medicine and other reputed remedies. After the Renaissance era, an understanding of the principles of metal oxidation lent to its use in apothecary drugs and attempts to create antiseptic treatments.74
While