CHARACTERIZATION OF METAL LOST FROM MERCURY-CONTAINING DENTAL AMALGAMS BY XAS

这个子项目是许多利用资源的研究子项目之一 由NIH/NCRR资助的中心拨款提供。子项目的主要支持 而子项目的主要调查员可能是由其他来源提供的， 包括其它NIH来源。 列出的子项目总成本可能 代表子项目使用的中心基础设施的估计数量， 而不是由NCRR赠款提供给子项目或子项目工作人员的直接资金。 几十年来，使用牙科汞合金作为直接修复材料一直存在争议，因为金属，特别是汞的浸出会对健康造成潜在危害。某些形式的汞（如甲基汞）比其他形式的汞（如元素汞）毒性大得多。因此，为了帮助评估牙科汞合金的潜在危害，不仅需要确定在各种条件下有多少特定元素被浸出，而且还需要确定该元素？的化学形式。在这项拟议的研究中，我们计划应用X射线吸收光谱（XAS）来研究在模拟正常口腔暴露（如原始唾液，食物和饮料，牙膏和漱口水）的各种处理下，不同年龄的牙科汞合金可能释放出哪些化学物质。从本研究中获得的信息将有助于理解在分子尺度上释放的金属毒理学行为，并将提供急需的见解的潜在危害或牙科汞合金的使用。

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. Primary support for the subproject and the subproject's principal investigator may have been provided by other sources, including other NIH sources. The Total Cost listed for the subproject likely represents the estimated amount of Center infrastructure utilized by the subproject, not direct funding provided by the NCRR grant to the subproject or subproject staff. The use of dental amalgam as a direct restoration material has been controversial for several decades because of potential health hazards caused by leeching of metals and in particular of mercury. Some mercury forms (such as methylmercury species) are considerably more toxic than others (such as the elemental form). Thus, in order to help assess the potential hazards of dental amalgam, it is necessary to establish not only how much of a given element is leeched under various conditions, but also the element?s chemical form. In this proposed research, we plan to apply X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) to study what chemical species may be released from dental amalgam of different ages under various treatments mimicking normal oral exposures such as pristine saliva, food and drink, toothpaste and mouthwash. Information obtained from this study will assist in understanding released metal toxicological behavior at the molecular scale, and will provide much-needed insights into the potential hazards or otherwise of the use of dental amalgam.