phase_dancer
Bluelight Crew
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although dentist did use mercury for fillings up until 20 or so years ago
And they still do.
Some mercury compounds are quite stable such as the Mercuric Sulphide aka cinnabar. Although cinnabar is listed as very toxic, it was once regarded as an important remedy in Chinese medicine and is still prescribed in some places for treatment of mouth ulcers.
Dental amalgams generally use a formula that produces what's regarded as a fairly stable amalgam, although controversy is still high on just how safe these fillings are.
From Wiki
After widespread adoption and wildly varying standards, the multitude of formulas for making amalgams were standardised into the gamma-2-phase amalgam formula in 1895.
The gamma-2-phase amalgams contain approximately equal parts 50% of liquid mercury and 50% of an alloy powder containing:
* > 65% silver (Ag)
* < 29% tin (Sn)
* < 6% copper (Cu)
* < 2% zinc (Zn)
* < 3% mercury (Hg)
Around 1970, the ingredients changed for manufacturing cost reasons to the new non-gamma-2 form. The gamma-2-free amalgams (sometimes referred to as "high-copper" amalgams) contain approximately equal parts 50% of liquid mercury and 50% of an alloy powder containing:
* > 40% silver (Ag)
* < 32% tin (Sn)
* < 30% copper (Cu)
* < 2% zinc (Zn)
* < 3% mercury (Hg)
While I believe that measured serum levels of mercury have been associated with Hg amalgams, I think that for most people this is not a problem. Mercury amalgam fillings certainly last longer than the newer synthetic composite types.
While orally consumed mercury metal is quite toxic, bioavailability would be lower than with soluble ionic forms. I'm not completely sure, but Mercury is also possibly methylated by bacteria in the colon. If so, this would present other problems as methylmercury is extremely toxic.
The difference with Hg as used in the MDMA process is that it's in an ionic form which is quite soluble (cinnabar -HgS - by comparison is practically insoluble and therefore much less toxic). The 2+ charge of the mercury II ion (Hg2+) allows it to be easily transported across the stomach and intestinal epithiliumin into the blood stream (bioavailability is ~15-20% ) where it will then concentrate in organs such as the liver and brain.
The aluminium used in the MDMA synth amalgam would be far less of a concern health wise.