For many years, although the EPA acknowledged that effective screening for body burdens of heavy metals (e.g., lead and mercury) could be accomplished with tissue samples, such as fingernails and hair, conventional medicine demonized this practice by integrative practitioners.

About face! Conventional medical research now links body burden of lead not only to cognitive dysfunction but also to high blood pressure and other health problems. Likewise, the heart health of patients exposed to mercury has been shown to suffer. And the case of Dan Roehm, MD, hauled before the Florida Board of Medicine, has set the stage for allowing mineral analysis of the hair as a way to screen for exposure to heavy metals.

Cadmium is the latest metal of concern. Dr. Aimin Chen at the University of Cincinnati has concluded that cadmium exposure can lower IQ even more significantly than does lead.

Recent lab testing by the Associated Press found that cadmium could be present in children’s jewelry at levels exceeding 90 percent of the item’s total weight. What do children do with jewelry? As any parent can tell you: They put it in their mouths! According to Harvard professor Dr. Robert O. Wright, “Just small amounts of chemicals may radically alter development.” Wright’s work has demonstrated that as exposure to cadmium grows, children are more likely to manifest learning disabilities.

When is all of conventional medicine going to wake up?

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