Thanks Roger, It is good to know that the reactivity of both is reduced. The fact remains however, that some mercury is leached from the amalgam, and to the extent that it does occur, silver is likely to go with it. It turns out that the reduction potential of silver and mercury are almost identical Ag --> Ag+ + e- = .7991 2Hg --> Hg2++ + 2e- = .7955 So it looks like 2 Hg ions would be released for every 1 Ag ion. The reactivity of the mercury atom is higher than that of silver as the second ionisation level is very close to the first : Hg++ + 2e- --> Hg +0.8519 2Hg++ + 2e- --> Hg2++ +0.9083 And would tend to flip back and forth between the species reacting with tissue etc with very little energy input. Perhaps this is why mercury is so toxic.
Ivan ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, 18 October 2000 01:06 Subject: CS>On the Possibility of Leaching Mercury and Silver from Dental Fillings > Ivan: Let me try this communication again. Roger > > In a message dated 10/17/00 6:12:25 AM EST, [email protected] writes: > > << It would seem likely that silver does leach from the teeth, at what rate > depends on the reduction potential of both silver and mercury. If I > remember correctly mercury will leach at a lower potential than silver > and this is the reaction which would proceed at the greatest rate. > > Silver and mercury will act independently and while mercury depresses > the immune system and silver augments it, silver will not counteract the > toxicity of mercury as far as I know. > > Electrolysis generates the silver ion Ag+. > > Regards > Ivan >> > > Ivan: Whatever the reduction potential is, it's far less than that > corresponding to pure mercury or silver since silver and mercury react to > form an intermetallic compound that reduces the activity of each to a tiny > fraction of its standard state which, in this case, refers to the pure metal. > I believe your reduction potential comments were based on these metals being > in their standard states. Roger > > > -- > The silver-list is a moderated forum for discussion of colloidal silver. > > To join or quit silver-list or silver-digest send an e-mail message to: > [email protected] -or- [email protected] > with the word subscribe or unsubscribe in the SUBJECT line. > > To post, address your message to: [email protected] > Silver-list archive: http://escribe.com/health/thesilverlist/index.html > List maintainer: Mike Devour <[email protected]> >
