Gastrointestinal and in vitro release of copper, cadmium, indium, mercury and zinc from conventional and copper‐rich amalgams

Abstract

Particles of a conventional lathe-cut, a spherical non-gamma 2 and a Cu amalgam were gastrointestinally administered to rats for the purpose of evaluation of the dissolution resistance. The animals were sacrificed after 20 h. The contents of Cu, Cd, In, Hg and Zn in kidney, liver, lung or blood were measured using nuclear tracer techniques. From a Cu amalgam an extreme release of Cu was demonstrated. The clinical condition of elemental release from swallowed amalgam particles after amalgam insertion or after removal of old amalgam fillings is simulated. Specimens of the same types of amalgams were also exposed to artificial saliva for a period of 10 days. The amounts of Cu and Hg released were measured with flame and flameless atomic absorption spectrophotometry, respectively. The levels of Cu and Hg released from the Cu amalgam were .apprx. 50 times those of the other 2 amalgam types studied.