Salicylates are compounds found in fruits, vegetables, herbs, and medicines (aspirin is a salicylate), as well as beauty and cleaning products. You can absorb it by eating, breathing, or getting compounds on the skin. Some individuals are extremely sensitive and manifest a variety of symptoms. It's been implicated in ADHD (read about the Feingold diet), asthma, bed wetting, ear infections, fatigue, headaches, hives, hypoglycemia, reading/writing problems, sleep disorders, speech difficulties, swelling of face-hands-feet, tics, tinnitus, accident proneness, memory problems, depression, suicidal thoughts, unpredictability, and others.

The way to see if you're sensitive is to remove salicylates from your diet and wait for a week or so.

I'm sure that informed readers have realized the overlap of symptoms with those also attributable to mercury poisoning. I don't think that this is simply coincidental. Some symptoms are likely related to salicylates impact neurotransmitter metabolism by influencing the available sulphate. This is because your liver has to process salicylates and uses sulphate to do this -- a mercury-compromised liver will struggle with this and effectively increase the length and intensity of exposure and impact.

If you are interested in reading further, check-out the Feingold webpage and a webpage called Food Can Make You Ill. Also of interest to this forum: salicylates can exacerbate fibromyalgia and CFS by presumably blocking the action of guaifenesin: see Guaifenesin.com for further information and links to lists and lists of salicylate-free foods and products.