Seriously misleading falsehoods about dental amalgam by Chief Dental Offier Barry Cockroft

Response to this request is long overdue. By law, under all circumstances, Department of Health and Social Care should have responded by now (details). You can complain by requesting an internal review.

Dear Department of Health,

The Chief Dental Officer Barry Cockroft declared (on ITV, see link below) that no mercury vapour is emitted from dental amalgams, or --on second thoughts-- at least "not measureably". Yet this is violently at odds with the real bleedingly obvious long-established facts of the matter, as per documentation below.

He further queried the point that dental amalgam is the main source of mercury exposure in humans. Again this flies in the face of the known evidence. As per documentation below.

In the context of the above, would you please tell me:

1. On what scientific basis did Barry Cockroft assert that no measurable mercury is emitted from amgalgams?

2. On what scientific basis did Barry Cockroft assert that dental amalgam is not the main source of mercury exposure?

3. In the absence of such a scientific basis, why did Barry Cockroft make these very seriously misleading assertions on the major ITV Tonight program?

4. Do you appoint utter incompetents/liars/idiots to your most senior positions as a matter of deliberate policy or did you make some mistake in the case of Barry Cockroft?

5. Why is Barry Cockroft still the Chief Dental Officer more than two years later?

6. Why do you everywhere keep the public in the dark about those two very important most basic points of amalgam toxicity (that measureable amounts of mercury are constantly emitted and that that is the main source of mercury exposure)?

Yours faithfully,

Mr Clarke

DOCUMENTATION:
This video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMI_em8UPo4
shows at 5-7 minutes: (a) two measurements; (b) CDO Barry Cockroft declaring that the measurements are impossible; (c) a further measurement.

Here are TEN studies from twenty years earlier, of the measurements that Chief Dental Officer Barry Cockroft says are impossible.

· Svare, C.W., Peterson, L.C., Reinihardt, J.W., et al. (1981): The effect of dental amalgams on mercury levels in expired air. J Dent Res 60:1668-1671.
· Patterson, J.E., Weissberg, B.G., Dennison, PJ. (1985): Mercury in human breath from dental amalgams. Bull Environ Contam Topical 34:459-468.
· Vimy, M.J., Lorscheider, F.L. (1985): Serial measurements of intra oral air mercury: estimation of daily dose from dental amalgam. J Dent Res 64:1072-1075.
· Berglund, A., Pohl, L., Olsson, S., Bergman M. (1988): Determination of the rate of release of intra-oral mercury vapor from amalgam. J Dent Res 67: 1235-1242.
· Vimy, MJ., Lorscheider, FL. (1985): Intraoral air mercury released from dental amalgam. J Dent Res 64:1069-1071.
· Clarkson, TW., Friberg, L., Hursh, JB., Nylander, M. (1988): The prediction of intake of mercury vapor from amalgams. In: Clarkson, TW., Friberg, L., Nordberg, GF., Sager, P.R. editors. Biological Monitoring of Toxic Metals, New York. Plenum Press: 247-260.
· Vimy, M.J., Lorscheider, F.L. (1990): Dental amalgam mercury daily dose estimated from intra oral vapor measurements: a predictor of mercury accumulation in human tissues. J Trace Elem Exp Med 3:111-123.
· Mackert, J.R., Jr. (1987): Factors affecting estimation of dental amalgam mercury exposure from measurements of mercury vapor levels in intra oral and expired air. J Dent Res 66:1775-1780.
· Olsson,, S., Berglund, A., Pohl, L., Bergman, M. (1989): Model of mercury vapor transport from amalgam restorations in the oral cavity. J Dent Res 68:50~508.
· Olsson, S., Bergman, M. (1987): Intraoral air and calculated inspired dose of mercury [Letter]. J Dent Res 66:1288-1289.

And here are EIGHT more studies from more than fifteen years ago, comparing these impossible measurements for differing types of amalgam:

Mahler DB, Adey JD, Fleming MA: Hg emission from dental amalgam as related to the amount of Sn in the Ag-Hg (g1) phase. J Dent Res 1994, 73:1663-1668.
Berglund A: An in vitro and in vivo study of the release of mercury vapor from different types of amalgam alloys. J Dent Res 1993, 72:939-946.
Boyer DB: Mercury vaporization from corroded dental amalgam. Dent Mater 1988, 4:89-93.; Psarras V, Derand T, Nilner K: Effect of selenium on mercury vapor released from dental amalgams: An in vitro study. Swed Dent J 1994, 18:15-23.
Ferracane JL, Adey JD, Nakajima H, Okabe T: Mercury vaporization from amalgams with varied alloy composition. J Dent Res 1995, 74:1414-1417.
Moberg LE: Long-term corrosion studies in vitro of amalgams and casting alloys in contact. Acta Odontol Scand 1985, 43:163-177.
Moberg LE: Corrosion products from dental alloys and effects of mercuric and cupric ions on a neuroeffector system [dissertation]. Stockholm; 1985.
Brune D, Gjerdet N, Paulsen G: Gastrointestinal and in vitro release of copper, cadmium, indium, mercury and zinc from conventional and copper-rich amalgams. Scand J Dent Res 1983 Feb, 91(1):66-71.

Finally, references for amalgam being the main source of mercury:
-Criteria 118 WHO 1991 states that amalgam is up to 6x the other sources combined;
-Aposhian HV, Environ Health Perspect 1998: – 2/3 comes from amalgam.
-Richardson GM. Assessment of mercury exposure and risks from dental amalgam. Health Canada 1995. Tolerable Daily Intake is exceeded in adults with 4 or more amalgams.

Department of Health and Social Care

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Dear Department of Health,

Your reply contains not the slighest reply to the questions I asked. Instead it diverts to an irrelevant set of assertions that amalgam is harmless, which was not the point. And your reply consists entirely of a new set of nasty lies, ones which I had already debunked as indicated at http://www.amalgamlegal.blogspot.com. For instance you go on about that supposedly WHO 2009 report and yet you fail to mention that it was retracted by the WHO themselves eight months ago for being fraudulent trade propaganda.

And you are telling these lies to all your other victims. You should be in prison for these gigantic nasty crimes which are certainly not victimless.

Yours faithfully,

Mr Clarke

Department of Health and Social Care

Thank you for contacting the Department of Health.
This is an acknowledgement - please do not reply to this email.
Where a reply is appropriate we aim to send one within 20 working days.
If you have contacted the Department of Health about a current health or
social care campaign, please visit the [1]Department's website where a
response may have been published.

If your enquiry is about a medical matter, please contact NHS Direct on
0845 4647 or visit [2]NHS Choices, or contact your GP surgery.

For general health information you may also find it helpful to refer to
[3]Directgov, the UK Government’s Official information website, or the
Department of Health website’s [4]Frequently Asked Questions. 

Please note that the Department of Health does not process complaints
about the NHS or social services. If you wish to make a complaint about a
healthcare professional, an NHS organisation or a social care provider,
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Our ref: DE00000658049 

 

 

Dear Mr Clarke,
 
Thank you for your email of 9 November about dental amalgams.  I have been
asked to reply.

As my colleague wrote in a previous reply (DE00000655576), the Department
of Health is continuing to monitor research into the effects of dental
amalgam and the appropriateness of alternative materials.  The
Department’s position on dental amalgams is set out in my colleague’s
reply to your email of 1 November, and there is nothing further to add.  I
have attached this reply for your consideration.

I hope this reply is helpful.

Yours sincerely,
 

Hannah Dade
Customer Service Centre
Department of Health

 

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Dear Department of Health,

Thank you for your continuing non-reply to my questions. It makes clear that the DoH have no respectable answer and have no intention of providing an answer to any of these important questions which I asked at the top here. Namely:

1. On what scientific basis did Barry Cockroft assert that no measurable mercury is emitted from amgalgams?

2. On what scientific basis did Barry Cockroft assert that dental amalgam is not the main source of mercury exposure?

3. In the absence of such a scientific basis, why did Barry Cockroft make these very seriously misleading assertions on the major ITV Tonight program?

4. Do you appoint utter incompetents/liars/idiots to your most senior positions as a matter of deliberate policy or did you make some mistake in the case of Barry Cockroft?

5. Why is Barry Cockroft still the Chief Dental Officer more than two years later?

6. Why do you everywhere keep the public in the dark about those two very important most basic points of amalgam toxicity (that measureable amounts of mercury are constantly emitted and that that is the main source of mercury exposure)?

I must therefore conclude that you are intending to leave this request unanswered, in breach of the legal requirement to provide answers.

Yours faithfully,

Mr Clarke

Department of Health and Social Care

Thank you for contacting the Department of Health.
This is an acknowledgement - please do not reply to this email.
Where a reply is appropriate we aim to send one within 20 working days.
If you have contacted the Department of Health about a current health or
social care campaign, please visit the [1]Department's website where a
response may have been published.

If your enquiry is about a medical matter, please contact NHS Direct on
0845 4647 or visit [2]NHS Choices, or contact your GP surgery.

For general health information you may also find it helpful to refer to
[3]Directgov, the UK Government’s Official information website, or the
Department of Health website’s [4]Frequently Asked Questions. 

Please note that the Department of Health does not process complaints
about the NHS or social services. If you wish to make a complaint about a
healthcare professional, an NHS organisation or a social care provider,
please visit the '[5]Making a complaint' page on the Department's website.

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3. http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/index.htm
4. http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/FAQ/index.htm
5. http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/ContactUs/Compla...

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Dear Department of Health,

"I note that you have written to the Department previously on a number of occasions about this issue."

Not so. On those previous occasions I was writing about amalgams but not asking the questions stated above.

"The information given to you is the most up-to-date and accurate available, and there is nothing further I can add to this."

But they are in no way answers to the questions asked here. One can only conclude that you have no intention of answering those questions, and that that is because there are no respectable answers, but only disgraceful ones.

Yours faithfully,

Mr Clarke