What Makes Mercury so Toxic?
The membranes that surround the cells of the body are composed of fatty substances and it just so happens that elemental mercury vapor is highly fat-soluble. This characteristic allows it to readily pass through the cell membrane of cells of the general body, easily cross the blood brain barrier, and readily enter brain cells. Once inside any cell, mercury can attach to critically important enzymes, proteins, and other substances; disrupting the function of everything it bonds to. Once it has attached to a cell component, the bond it forms is very strong and not easily broken. The body does have the ability to get rid of mercury, but as more and more mercury accumulates it becomes increasingly deficient in the vital antioxidant chelators needed to do this job. Over time, its ability to take out mercury is diminished. Unless the source of mercury is removed and the body is supported in its efforts to eliminate the accumulated mercury, the damage and related symptoms will only worsen. In
