A few weeks ago we had Gracie’s blood tested for lead, mercury, and arsenic levels, per the Stem Cell Institute’s request.  Good news:  no lead or mercury was detected.  Detection limits were 1 ug/dL.  That’s 1 microgram per deciliter, or .001 milligrams per 100 milliliters. 

Normal lead blood levels range from 0-9 ug/dL, however, lead blood levels in the range of 5-9 ug/dL have been associated with adverse health effects in children 6 years and younger.  Normal mercury blood levels range from 0-14.9 ug/dL, and for arsenic the normal range is 2-23 ug/dL.  Gracie did have arsenic present in her blood, however, her level was only 8 ug/dL.

Let me put this into context for everyone… imagine a vial about 3″ long and 3/8″ in diameter (76 mm long, 10 mm dia.)  That vial holds only 3 mL, so you need about 33 vials to hold 100 mL of blood.  Then, there’s about 5 mg in a teaspoon (yes, I know these are different units for measuring density and volume, but bear with me!).  Now there are 1,000 micrograms (ug) in a mg.  So take your teaspoon, divide it into 5 portions, and divide a fifth portion by 1,000.  That’s one microgram (ug).  A child’s lead blood levels should not exceed 4 ug’s in a volume of blood that would fill 33 vials!  Very toxic stuff, indeed.

Many alternative treatment advocates and some scientists think that at least a subset of autistic children have trouble with methylation.  Methylation has to do with chemical processes in the body where a methyl group (a molecule of  one carbon and three hydrogen atoms, CH3) is added to or removed from a compound or other element, and some of these processes detox the body of poisons like lead and mercury. Fortunately, Gracie doesn’t appear have methlyation issues.