Our Services
Toxic Metal Testing
AiiMed offers the service of creating heavy metals panels for patients. This is a series of tests that measure the amount of certain potential toxic metals in the blood and urine.
Toxic metals are elements that, when present in excessive amounts in the body, can cause a range of health problems, ranging from acute poisoning to chronic diseases. Many of these metals accumulate over time and can damage organs, tissues, and even disrupt metabolic pathways. Some of the most concerning toxic metals include lead, mercury, arsenic, cadmium, and chromium. These metals can be introduced into the body through various routes, such as ingestion, inhalation, or dermal absorption.
Toxic chemicals like Arsenic, Lead, and mercury are the most common toxic heavy metals found in the body. Different panels can be created to individually detect other metals you might have lurking in your body.
AIIMed can offer several different groupings of heavy metals panels as well as tests for individual metals. See below for more details about metals that can be harmful to the body.
Metals that are harmful to the body
Aluminum
Aluminum is one of the most important toxic metals today. Hair mineral testing reveals that almost everyone has too much aluminum. The reason is that it is all over the environment. Aluminum is called the soft-in-the-head mineral because it affects the brain more than any other system of the body, impairing memory and cognition. The current epidemic of dementia in America and elsewhere is due, in part, to widespread aluminum toxicity.
Antimony
In general, how your body reacts to a toxic level of antimony will depend on how you were exposed. Those who breathed in the compound may suffer from symptoms like pneumoconiosis, gastrointestinal problems, antimony spots appearing on their skin, and respiratory irritation.
However, if you come into contact with actual antimony dust, you can experience symptoms like depression, dizziness, headaches, vomiting, kidney damage, or liver damage. One compound—antimony trioxide—is even believed to be carcinogenic, and antimony poisoning has also been known to lead to Adams-Stokes syndrome.
Arsenic
Arsenic is a natural component of the earth’s crust and is widely distributed throughout the environment in the air, water and land. It is highly toxic in its inorganic form.
People are exposed to elevated levels of inorganic arsenic through drinking contaminated water, using contaminated water in food preparation and irrigation of food crops, industrial processes, eating contaminated food and smoking tobacco.
Long-term exposure to inorganic arsenic, mainly through drinking-water and food, can lead to chronic arsenic poisoning. Skin lesions and skin cancer are the most characteristic effects.
Barium
This chemical may damage the heart and cardiovascular system, and is associated with high blood pressure in laboratory animals such as rats exposed to high levels during their lifetimes. In humans, the intake of very large amounts of barium that are water-soluble may cause paralyses and in some cases even death.
Small amounts of water-soluble barium may cause a person to experience breathing difficulties, increased blood pressure, heart rhythm changes, stomach irritation, muscle weakness, changes in nerve reflexes, swelling of brains and liver, kidney and heart damage. Barium has not been shown to cause cancer with humans. There is no proof that barium can cause infertility or birth defects.
Beryllium
Exposure to beryllium can affect the lungs and/or skin. However, not everyone will develop health effects from beryllium exposure.
People who work closely with beryllium as part of their employment have the greatest risk of developing health effects from beryllium. However, people who have had only infrequent exposure to beryllium may still develop health effects. Some individuals develop health effects shortly after exposure, while others may develop health effects many years after exposure has stopped.
Once a person has been exposed to beryllium, they have a lifelong risk of developing disease even if exposure stops.
Beryllium usually affects the respiratory system, although it can affect other parts of the body as well. Listed below are different types of illnesses or health effects associated with beryllium.
- Beryllium sensitization
- Chronic Beryllium Disease (CBD)
- Lung Cancer
- Acute Beryllium Disease
- Skin Diseases
Bismuth
Commonly used in over-the-counter stomach pain medicine, some people may say that bismuth is non-toxic in small amounts. However, sufficient exposure may cause nausea, headache, diarrhea, and pain. Bismuth can be inhaled, ingested, or absorbed through the skin. The most common exposure to bismuth happens by way of working in close proximity to the element. Consuming medications that contain bismuth, or using cosmetic products that contain bismuth will also put you at risk of exposure. Additionally, certain metals are known to reduce sperm metabolism and contribute to infertility in men. Bismuth has been suspected to be one of those metals.
Cadmium
Breathing air with very high levels of cadmium can severely damage the lungs and may cause death. Breathing air with lower levels of cadmium over long periods of time (for years) results in a build-up of cadmium in the kidney, and if sufficiently high, may result in kidney disease.
Eating food or drinking water with very high cadmium levels severely irritates the stomach, leading to vomiting and diarrhea, and sometimes death. Eating lower levels of cadmium over a long period of time can lead to a build-up of cadmium in the kidneys. If the build-up of cadmium is high enough, it will damage the kidneys. Exposure to lower levels of cadmium for a long time can also cause bones to become fragile and break easily.
Cesium
You can absorb cesium by eating, drinking, breathing, or making skin contact with cesium or things containing its compounds. So the good news is that there are relatively few commercial uses for this dangerous metal and its compounds. The bad news is that its main commercial use can be extremely dangerous – nuclear energy. Due to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident, 300 tons of radioactive water containing cesium is going into the Pacific Ocean every day, this contaminates our fish and water. Cesium also traveled through the air after this accident and now contaminate sour food and plants.
Cesium is an incredibly toxic, radioactive metal that causes a plethora of symptoms and health conditions, namely fatigue. Some of the primary symptoms of radioactive cesium toxicity include:
- Chronic fatigue (1, 2)
- Decreased appetite (6)
- Nausea (6)
- Diarrhea (6)
- Vomiting
- Headache
- Seizures
- Cardiac arrhythmias
Copper
Gadolinium
Gadolinium is highly toxic to humans. While gadolinium has no known biological properties, and is not found naturally in the human body, its molecules are similar in size and shape to calcium, which has many biological functions. Because free gadolinium ions mimic calcium in the body, it interferes with the effects of calcium-dependent processes. Gadolinium can cause a host of toxic effects, including inflammation, oxidative stress, neurological damage, and damage to our genes, or DNA.
- Pain – aching; burning, tingling, and/or prickling pain (paresthesia); deep bone pain. Typically in extremities or joints, and sometimes in the location where the MRI occurred, like the head.
- Dermal changes – like tight skin, lesions, hyperpigmentation. Most often in extremities.
- Muscle issues – twitching – small, local, rapid contractions and weakness
- Ocular problems – worsening vision, dry eyes, bloodshot eyes
- Cognitive symptoms
- Ear, nose and throat – tinnitus, swallowing, and voice problems
- Low body temperature
- Hair loss
- Itchy skin
- Balance problems
- Swelling of extremities (edema)
Nickel
Nickel is one of many carcinogenic metals known to be an environmental and occupational pollutant. The New York University School of Medicine warns that chronic exposure has been connected with increased risk of lung cancer, cardiovascular disease, neurological deficits, developmental deficits in childhood, and high blood pressure. Nickel toxicity, specifically, was evaluated by researchers at Michigan State University who found it presented a multi-tiered toxic attack. First, nickel causes essential metal imbalances. It severely disrupts enzyme action and regulation. Finally, it causes and contributes to a high amount of oxidative stress.
Tests can be performed to determine the presence of nickel in the body but the resulting adverse health effects cannot be predicted. Minimizing your exposure risks is a solid course of action. Most people can simply avoid jewelry that contains nickel but but if you work in an affected industry, you may want to seriously consider your potential health hazards.
Palladium
Palladium is regarded as of low toxicity, being poorly adsorbed by the body when ingested. It may cause skin, eye or respiratory tract irritation, may cause skin sensitisation. Liquid may cause burns to skin and eyes. If swallowed, do not induce vomiting, if conscious give water, milk… In case of contact, flush eyes or skin with plenty of water.
Palladium compounds are encountered relatively rarely by most people. All palladium compounds should be regarded as highly toxic and as carcinogenic. Palladium chloride is toxic, harmful if swallowed, inhaled or absorbed through the skin. It causes bone marrow, liver and kidney damage in laboratory animals.
Platinum
The application of platinum in metal products is not known to cause many environmental problems, but we do know that it can cause serious health conditions in the working place environment. Platinum can be found in jewelry, from mining, in metal tooth filling amalgams, it is used in the making of silicone rubber and gels including medical implants such as breast implants, joint replacements and vehicle emission control devices.
Platinum can cause “platinum sensitivity symptoms”. Platinum toxicity has the ability to cause DNA alterations, cause cancer, allergic reactions of the skin and mucous membranes, it can cause damage to organs such as the kidneys and intestines and has been known to damage hearing ability. Listed are more symptoms of platinum toxicity:
- Allergic reactions of the skin & or mucous membranes
- Kidney disease’s
- Intestinal & digestive problems
- Muscle spasms
- High blood pressure (Hypertension)
- Deafness
- Cancer
- Adverse heath condition after medical implants
- Allergies to rubber, silicone & gels
Tellurium
Fortunately, tellurium compounds are encountered rarely by most people. They are teratogenic and should only be handled by competent chemists since ingestion in even small amounts causes dreadful smelling breath and appalling body odour.
The aerosol of this substance irritates the eyes and the respiratory tract. The substance may cause effects on the liver and central nervous system. Exposure may result in garlic-like breath. Medical observation is indicated. Ingestion: Abdominal pain. Constipation. Vomiting.
Thallium
Exposure to high levels of thallium can result in harmful health effects. A study on workers exposed on the job over several years reported nervous system effects, such as numbness of fingers and toes, from breathing thallium.
Studies in people who ingested large amounts of thallium over a short time have reported vomiting, diarrhea, temporary hair loss, and effects on the nervous system, lungs, heart, liver, and kidneys. It has caused death. It is not known what the effects are from ingesting low levels of thallium over a long time.
Thorium
People will always be exposed to small amounts of thorium through air, food and water, because it is found nearly everywhere on earth. People that work in the mining, milling or thorium industries or laboratories may also experience thorium exposure that exceeds natural thorium exposure.
Breathing in thorium in the workplace may increase the chances of development of lung diseases and lung and pancreas cancer many years after people have been exposed. Thorium has the ability to change genetic materials. People that are injected with thorium for special X-rays may develop liver disease. Thorium is radioactive and can be stored in bones. Because of these facts it has the ability to cause bone cancer many years after the exposure has taken place. Breathing in massive amounts of thorium may be lethal. People will often die of metal poisoning when massive exposure take place
Tin
Inorganic tin compounds are not known to cause cancer. Inhalation, oral, or dermal exposure to some organotin compounds has been shown to cause harmful effects in humans, but the maineffect will depend on the particular organotin compound. There have been reports of skin and eye irritation, respiratory irritation, gastrointestinal effects, and neurological problems in humans exposed for a short period of time to high amounts of certain organotin compounds. Some neurological problems have persisted for years after the poisoning occurred. Lethal cases have been reported following ingestion of very high amounts.
Tungsten
One way to learn whether a chemical will harm people is to determine how the body absorbs, uses, and releases the chemical. For some chemicals, animal testing may be necessary. Animal testing may also help identify health effects such as cancer or birth defects. Without laboratory animals, scientists would lose a basic method for getting information needed to make wise decisions that protect public health. Scientists have the responsibility to treat research animals with care and compassion. Scientists must comply with strict animal care guidelines because laws today protect the welfare of research animals.
You are not likely to experience any health effects that would be related to exposure to tungsten or tungsten compounds. Tungsten compounds have caused breathing problems and changed behavior in some animals given very large amounts of tungsten compounds, but you are not likely to be exposed to amounts of tungsten in the air you breathe or the food or water you take into your body that would be large enough to cause similar effects. If you are a worker who has inhaled tungsten heavy metal dust, your exposure would help determine if health effects similar to those seen in animals might occur.
Uranium
Zinc
Zinc is a nutrient that people need to stay healthy. Zinc is found in cells throughout the body. It helps the immune system fight off invading bacteria and viruses. The body also needs zinc to make proteins and DNA, the genetic material in all cells. During pregnancy, infancy, and childhood, the body needs zinc to grow and develop properly. Zinc also helps wounds heal and is important for proper senses of taste and smell.
However, too much intake of Zinc can potentially be harmful to your body. When people take too much zinc for a long time, they sometimes have problems such as low copper levels, lower immunity, and low levels of HDL cholesterol (the “good” cholesterol).
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Loss of Appetite
- Stomach Cramps
- Diarrhea
- Headaches
The holistic practitioners at AiiMed will determine which metals to test for based upon clinical symptoms or possibly what the patient might have been exposed to. Determining the levels of toxic metals in urine after the induction of a metal detoxing agent is a direct way to determine the buildup of toxic metals. Severe metal poisoning is rare and it’s more common to experience a continuing, low-level exposure to toxic metals that can create unwanted retention in the body. This can be associated with a vast array of adverse health effects and chronic disease.
Heavy metals can get into your system many ways – you can breathe them in, absorb them into your skin or by eating them. If too much gets into your system you can experience heavy metal poisoning that can affect many organs in the body. Heavy metals can be found in our water, in our food and in the air. AIIMed has a comprehensive plan of testing for these and helping you get them out of your bloodstream and on to a path of a healthy natural well being.
